My Garage — guide

Getting started

In My Garage you inherit grandpa's old garage. It has one inspection pit, a reception desk and a small waiting room. One mechanic works for you. You have 25,000 PLN. Your goal is the best car service in town.

An inspection pit is a hole in the floor. The mechanic stands in it and fixes the car from below.

The garage is open from 8:00 to 18:00. At night it is closed.

Your first minutes

Cars arrive along the street and park in the yard, in bays with a yellow “waiting” sign. The customer walks to the desk and tells you what is wrong with the car.

1. Click Jobs in the menu on the left.
2. When a customer reaches the desk, click Diagnose.
3. Choose how you look for the fault.
4. Set the price and the deadline, then click Offer the price.
5. A mechanic takes the car into the hall and fixes it.
6. The finished car waits in the “ready” bay. The customer pays at the desk and drives off.

Controls

On a computer:

• Drag with the mouse to move the view.
• Right button, or Shift and drag, rotates the view. You can also press Q and E.
• The mouse wheel zooms in and out.
• Space pauses the game. Keys 1, 2 and 3 change the speed.
• Key B opens building, and Esc opens the menu.
• Click a customer at the desk or their car to open the quote.

On a phone, one finger moves the view and two fingers rotate and zoom. Tap a customer or a car to open the quote. The ☰ button opens the menu.

Two ways to start

When you begin a New game, you pick one of two starts.

• Grandpa's garage: the old hall is ready. You have less money, but you can take in cars at once.
• Empty plot: you get a fenced yard and 90,000 PLN. You build the hall, the bays and the office from scratch.

How it works

Diagnosis: finding the fault

A customer will not tell you, “the shock absorber is broken.” They say, “something knocks at the front.” The same sound can have several causes. You have to find the real one.

After you click Diagnose you have three choices:

• Educated guess: instant and free. An experienced mechanic gets it right more often.
• Inspection and test drive: a free mechanic checks the car for about half an hour. It is more accurate.
• Diagnostic computer: a sure result. The customer pays a small fee. You must first buy the computer and place it in the hall.

What happens if you get it wrong? The mechanic replaces the wrong part. The real fault stays. The customer returns with a complaint, and you fix the car for free. Nothing terrible happened. Everybody learns this at the start. Next time, pick a more careful method.

Quotes and deadlines

The price has two parts: the mechanic's work and the parts. The work is the hourly rate times the repair time. On the parts you add your own profit, called the markup.

The quote window also shows:

• the market price, which is the usual price in town,
• the chance that the customer says yes,
• the parts in stock and what is missing,
• the estimated time when the car will be ready.

Every customer has a different wallet. A student counts every penny. A sales rep pays with a company card. A collector does not haggle over genuine parts.

A short deadline makes the customer more willing to agree. But being late lowers your rating. Promise only what you can really do.

You set your rate and markup in the Prices panel. They are the default for every quote. Too expensive: customers refuse and leave bad reviews. Too cheap: you earn little.

Parts and wholesalers

Parts sit on shelving. Without shelves, very little fits. Tyres have their own rack. It also works as storage for customers' tyres.

You order parts in the Parts panel. There are three wholesalers:

• Budget “Nut & Bolt”: prices 15 percent lower, no delivery fee. Delivery tomorrow at 10:00.
• “Piston & Son”: the courier comes at 10:00 and 15:00. You pay 30 PLN per trip.
• Authorised “Genuine”: genuine parts, prices 25 percent higher. Delivery in an hour and a half, 60 PLN fee.

Next to every part there is a storekeeper threshold. It is the number below which new items should be ordered.

A car that waits for parts takes up a bay in the yard. So always keep a stock of the things that sell fastest: oil, filters, pads and bulbs.

Mechanics and staff

A new worker starts as an Apprentice. They do oil, tyres, bulbs, batteries and washing. With experience they become a Mechanic. Then they grow into a Senior mechanic, and finally a Master.

A senior mechanic picks a specialisation:

• Engine
• Suspension & brakes
• Electrics
• Tyres & alignment
• Body & paint

Matching jobs then go a quarter faster. They are also diagnosed better.

Click Training and the mechanic gets experience at once. It costs 1,500 PLN.

There are also three helper roles:

• A Service advisor takes in customers at the desk.
• A Storekeeper orders parts for you.
• A Car washer washes cars in the car wash.

Every worker gets paid every day. Do not hire too many people at once, because wages can eat your profit.

Building

Open Build. It has these tabs: Zones, Hall, Storage, Office and Yard.

In the Zones tab you mark one rectangle for the hall and another for the office with the lounge. On a computer you drag with the mouse. On a phone you tap the first corner, then the second. Walls go up by themselves.

Then you must place a few things:

• A sectional door inside the hall, facing the yard. Cars drive in through it.
• Doors connect the office with the yard and the hall.
• A reception desk in the office. Without it you cannot take in cars.
• “Waiting” and “ready” bays in the yard.

Key R rotates the object you place. On a phone use the ⟳ button. Demolish gives back half the price.

Bays in the hall

• The inspection pit (6,000 PLN) is the basis: oil, brakes, exhaust, clutch and, in season, tyres.
• Two-post and scissor lifts speed up suspension work.
• The four-post lift (16,000 PLN) raises the whole car. Only it takes vans.
• Alignment sets the wheels.
• The frame bench is for bodywork.
• The paint booth is for painting.
• The tyre changer changes tyres. A balancer speeds up the job.

Reviews and regulars

After pick-up the customer gives 1 to 5 stars. The deadline, the price, the waiting comfort, a free wash and whether the fault really went away all count. You can see everything in the Reviews panel.

A good rating brings new customers. Happy customers become regulars. They come back, are more patient and trust your prices more.

Lounge comfort makes customers more patient. Chairs, a coffee machine, a TV, water, magazines and plants all help.

Good tips

• Build a second bay early. With one pit, cars wait in a queue.
• Buy a parts rack. Without it your stock is almost empty.
• Watch the seasons. October and March start the tyre season. A queue of cars stands in the yard. You need a tyre changer and a tyre rack.
• Batteries die in winter, air-con fails in summer. The first snow and heatwaves bring more customers.
• Offer tyre storage. With a seasonal swap, the customer can leave the other set with you. They pay a fee for it.
• Call with an “and while we're at it” offer. Sometimes a mechanic spots an extra fault. Call the customer and offer it for an extra charge.

Bodyshop, paint and car wash

A car after a bump has a dent. A car with rust also needs repair. In both cases you need two steps: bodywork on the frame bench and painting in the booth.

The car wash in the yard takes “wash only” customers. Also turn on Free wash after repair. Then every repaired car leaves clean, and customers rate you higher.

Tips for pros

Automation

The service advisor stands behind the desk. They diagnose with the method you choose and quote from your price list. You set it in the Prices panel.

The storekeeper tops up parts at 9:00 and at 14:00. They also order parts right after a job is accepted. You set the thresholds and prices, and they do the rest.

Technology

In the Technology panel you buy permanent upgrades. There are nine. Some need earlier ones. For example:

• Customer app (12,000 PLN) brings more customers.
• Tyre robot (30,000 PLN) changes tyres twice as fast in season.
• Autonomous car service (40,000 PLN) is the last step of the tree.

Business

The Business panel has several big things.

• Fleet contracts: companies leave you many cars at once. You get a bonus for the whole batch. If you are late, you pay a fine for every car not done. Vans need a four-post lift.
• Vehicle inspection station (MOT): you buy a licence and hire an inspector. You run roadworthiness tests. Sometimes you find a fault to repair.
• Car lot and scrapyard: you buy cars from ads, fix them and sell them. Or you strip them for parts.
• Electric cars: a mechanic needs an HV licence, a course for working with high voltage. It costs 3,000 PLN. You also need an EV bay.

The Auto-Blitz rival

A chain called Auto-Blitz opens across the street. It is cheap and quick, but sloppy. It takes some of your customers. Sometimes it tempts your staff with better pay. Then you have a day to decide: a pay rise, or let them go.

How can you defend yourself?

• Keep a good rating and fair prices.
• Buy flyers. For five days the rival loses customers.
• Buy the loyalty card. Regulars come back more often.
• When the rival has at most 12 percent of customers, you can take over its branch. Then you earn extra money every day.

Campaign

The Campaign has eight scenarios. Each has a goal and a day limit. The next one unlocks after you finish the one before. When you win, you can keep playing with no limit.

1. Grandpa's garage: serve 40 happy customers in 15 days.
2. Tyre season: do 45 tyre changes in 14 days. A second bay will help.
3. Something's knocking: do 55 repairs in 15 days, with at most 2 complaints. Diagnose carefully.
4. Fleet contract: service 16 vans in 8 days. They only fit on a four-post lift.
5. Hailstorm: do 85 paint repairs in 15 days. You start on an empty plot with a frame bench and a paint booth. Build more.
6. Inspection station: do 25 inspections in 20 days. Get the licence and hire an inspector.
7. Auto-Blitz: buy out the chain in 30 days. Push its market share down to 12 percent and save up the money.
8. Volts instead of petrol: do 36 electric car repairs in 20 days. Start with the HV licence and an EV bay.

Outside the campaign there is a free New game with no goals. You can also earn Achievements, for example “First customer”, “Hundred” or “No complaints”. The menu also has a photo mode and a timelapse.

Watch out

• Do not rip customers off. A too-high price or refusing a complaint gives quick money. But it ruins your reputation for good.
• Do not leave cars with no space. A car with no free “waiting” bay leaves upset.
• Do not forget the extinguisher and the waste container. Inspections are announced a day ahead. The health and safety check looks for an extinguisher in the hall. The environmental check looks for a container. If it is missing, you get a fine.
• Equipment breaks. Sometimes a lift breaks. A quick repair costs 800 PLN. A storm cuts the power for two hours.

FAQ