Car Detailing Simulator Review

There’s something immensely satisfying about watching someone transform a ruined old object and making it look brand new. I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit watching restoration videos, with everything from old beat-up muscle cars to military rifles. So when I came across Car Detailing Simulator and had a look at some of the screenshots, I knew I had to give it a go! But is this game a fresh coat of paint for car enthusiasts, or a flat tyre?

The story in Car Detailing Simulator is presented via animated comic book-like images, although what it does show doesn’t often make much sense. The opening scene shows an award ceremony for… best-looking car, I think? You’re then whisked off to complete a tutorial before starting up your very own garage, with the occasional bit of narrative cropping up to keep the progression flowing. It’s odd and rather nonsensical at times, but it serves as a means for you to unlock new garages and progress through the game, so at least that’s something.

Car Detailing Simulator looks great, especially at max settings; every car — once spotless — looks stunning and reflects the lighting beautifully. This is most noticeable in the photo mode, an optional section that lets you take snaps of finished cars to go on a display board within your garage, where you can play around with an array of settings and filters to get that perfect picture. Even the environments provided more detail than I was expecting, the variety of garages and showrooms are unique and realistic looking. It isn’t all smooth sailing though, as I found the framerate to dip and experienced some serious lag on rare occasions. It was quickly fixed with a restart, but it was an annoyance considering the fact there is never that much happening on-screen to cause these drops.

I wasn’t as impressed by the audio however. Whilst the hum of a polisher or the scraping of a wire brush all sound fine, the music really grated on me after a short while. This is easily remedied of course by muting it in the sound options and playing your own tunes, but the generic-sounding folksy rock repeating on a loop wasn’t something I could stand for too long.

You’ll be contacted by clients with requests such as cleaning dusty headlights, reupholstering car interiors, and giving a car that looks like it’s just driven through a desert a full clean and service. Not every job will have the same tasks to perform, making the game less monotonous, and with an upgradable set of tools, you’ll constantly be discovering new facets of gameplay. Each completed request grants you some cash (used to purchase new cleaning tools, upgrade your garage, buy new showrooms, etc.) and experience points which, when a level is gained, unlocks more items to buy. Eventually you’ll even be able to purchase cars from an auction, and after giving them a touchup, can sell them on for huge profits, letting you rake in the cash to buy all the upgrades at a much faster rate.

As for the actual tasks you need to do, they’re actually quite enjoyable! I’m a huge PowerWash Simulator fan, so I instantly drew comparisons to that oh-so-satisfying title. Most requests will have you soaping up a vehicle before spraying it clean, and from here things only expand as you purchase more tools to take on new jobs. Cleaning tyres should not be this satisfying, and it is certainly more enjoyable than in real life! Each task can be simplified to the following: pick the correct toolbox, use each of the tools in sequence to complete every section of the checklist, wait for the parts you’re currently cleaning to glow green, rinse (literally, in some cases), and repeat. Thankfully you won’t be stuck trying to find that last little speck of dirt, as one click will flash up any missed spots in red, allowing you to quickly give it a polish. Unless that is, the car you’re detailing is also red; those cars caused me to take a lot longer than normal to find the last sliver of grime. Red on red is not easy to distinguish between!

There is a surprising amount of variety found in the vehicles as well, with a large amount of different cars to scrub up: from vintage pickup trucks to American muscle cars that Dominic Toretto would be proud to call family; the line-up of models styled on real-world automobiles is impressive. They do eventually start to repeat, but the tasks on each car differ, so in the end, it’s enough to keep you entertained.

I enjoyed my time spent playing Car Detailing Simulator, and spent a lot longer than I had initially anticipated with it. With a satisfying gameplay loop and enough incentive to keep playing, each car became a labour of love as I turned them from scrap heaps to works of mechanical art. Although the repetitive and generic audio and slight graphical blemishes were minor annoyances, I often found myself saying “just one more car” before sprucing up at least two or three more.