Running a Mechanic Shop
For owners and foremen - placing lifts, workbench, kiosk, booth, dyno, wash and tow spot, labour prices and stock.
A mechanic shop is a player-owned business of the type Mechanic / garage. The city has several of them, such as the Tuner Auto Shop, Autoexotic and Sandy Shores Mechanic.
As owner or foreman you place the work spots, set your labour prices, keep the stock room full of parts and materials, and keep the shop open so customers and NPC jobs come to you.
This guide is for owners and foremen. Day-to-day repair work is in Mechanic Job.
Before you begin
- A Mechanic / garage business, handed out by staff (ask in a Discord ticket). The basics are in Owning a Business.
- Ranks: Apprentice, Mechanic, Senior mechanic, Foreman and Owner. Foreman and Owner are boss ranks.
- Permission: "Build parts at the workbench (from the stock room)" - ordinary ranks have it by default, and you can take it away per rank.
- Money in the business balance for materials, tow truck deposits and refunds.
Setting up the shop
Sign in at your office computer → Locations and place the mechanic spots. None of them spawn a prop - each one is a floating [E] text, so put them where your building already has the right furniture.
| Spot | Where to stand when placing | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Car lift | Middle of a bay, facing the way cars drive in | Raises cars for clutch and suspension jobs. Up to 6 |
| Parts workbench | At the bench | Mechanics build parts here from the stock room |
| Customs kiosk | Where customers park | Customers design paint, wheels, body kits and lights and send you a work order |
| Paint booth | Middle of the booth | Once you have one, paint jobs must be done inside it |
| Dyno | Middle of the rollers, facing the way cars drive on | Dyno runs and printed dyno sheets |
| Wash bay | Middle of the bay | Self-service car wash that pays the shop |
| Tow truck spot | Where trucks park, facing the exit | Mechanics take out a flatbed or hook truck here |
Also place a Delivery spot - that's where suppliers drop off when you post requests on the supply board.
Start with a lift, the workbench and the tow spot. Those three let your mechanics do every repair. Add the kiosk, booth, dyno and wash bay as you grow.
Setting your labour prices
- Office computer → Mechanic page.
- Set a price for every kind of job. The city's allowed range is shown under each one.
- A price above the city's maximum is saved at the maximum.
When a part from your stock goes on a work order, its value is added on top of your labour price. Better tiers are worth more.
The Mechanic page also shows the shop's work orders and 7-day stats.
Keeping the stock room full
Your mechanics fit part items and build new ones from materials, all from the shop's stock room (Parts on the office computer).
Materials a garage uses: Steel,
Iron,
Metal Scrap,
Rubber,
Plastic,
Aluminium,
Copper,
Glass,
Copper Wire,
Electronic Kit,
Engine Oil, and for top-tier parts
Silver Bar and
Gold Nugget.
- Supply board: post a request from the Supply page and let players (miners, recyclers, dumpster divers) bring it. The money is held from your balance and paid when they deliver.
- Orders: if a request had no takers for an hour, you can order that item from an NPC supplier at a markup and do the delivery run.
- Mechanics can also put materials they found themselves into the stock room.
Parts built at the workbench go straight back into the stock room.
Opening hours and the phone line
Set the shop open when someone is working. A lot only works while you're open:
- the customs kiosk (closed shops show "... is closed right now"),
- the wash bay,
- NPC jobs - breakdowns and drop-off customers only come to open shops with someone on duty.
Customers also reach you through Phone → Services. If nobody answers within a couple of minutes, the caller is offered an NPC tow instead. Police impound tows go to any on-duty mechanic, open or not.
Costs & rewards
| Job | City default | Allowed range |
|---|---|---|
| Quick patch (per part) | $150 | $50 - $600 |
| Fit a part (per part) | $250 | $100 - $1,200 |
| Bodywork | $300 | $100 - $1,500 |
| Paint (per colour slot) | $400 | $150 - $2,500 |
| Wheels / tyres | $300 | $100 - $2,000 |
| Body kit piece | $350 | $100 - $2,500 |
| Livery | $500 | $150 - $3,000 |
| Xenons / neons | $250 | $50 - $1,500 |
| Window tint | $200 | $50 - $1,000 |
| Plate style / horn | $100 | $25 - $500 |
| Interior / dash colour | $200 | $50 - $1,000 |
| Fit a turbo | $1,500 | $500 - $6,000 |
| Fit a nitrous kit / refill | $800 / $300 | $200 - $4,000 / $100 - $1,500 |
| Engine sound swap | $1,200 | $400 - $6,000 |
| Dyno run + sheet | $150 | $0 - $1,000 |
| Car wash | $60 | $10 - $400 |
Money in: work orders and customs orders (paid on the customer's phone), the car wash, NPC breakdowns and drop-off customers, police impound tows, and filling other businesses' supply requests "For the business".
Money out: a $500 tow truck deposit while a truck is out (back when it's returned at the tow spot), refunds on work order lines, supply requests and NPC orders, and your staff's pay.
Common problems
- "... is closed right now" at the kiosk - set the shop to open on the office computer.
- No NPC jobs coming in - the shop must be open and someone must be on duty.
- A refund failed - the business balance can't cover it. Keep some money in the business.
- Paint jobs are refused - you have a paint booth, so the car has to be inside it.
- Can't take out a tow truck - the balance can't cover the deposit, or the tow spot isn't placed.
- Unpaid work orders vanished - unpaid orders are cancelled after 48 hours.
Thanks! Staff will look at it.