Cheap Car Repair (Auto Fuszerka)

I don't even know where to start when talking about Cheap Car Repair. At first glance, it may seem like just another simple mechanic workshop simulator, but it quickly shows that it is anything but an ordinary car repair game. This is not a title where you neatly clean the workshop, organize tools, order parts, and try to leave a professional impression. This is Auto Fušerka, a game where the goal is to fix vehicles for clients in the cheapest way possible while hoping they won't notice how poorly the job was actually done.

The title itself perfectly describes the whole idea. Cheap Car Repair is not a classic mechanic simulator, but a comedic improvisation where repairs often come down to resourcefulness, stealing, borrowing, and creatively using everything you can find at hand. One of the moments that immediately sold me was replacing the air filter with a Vileda sponge from the kitchen. That's about the level of seriousness the game embraces, and that's exactly why it works so well.

The action takes place in a place with a telling name, Bumfuck Nowhere, a village that looks like it’s made up of little houses, barns, yards, and makeshift storage filled with useful things. And those things, of course, are just waiting for someone to "borrow" them. The game quickly makes it clear that you don't necessarily have to spend money on materials needed for repairs. You can go to your neighbor's, peek into their yard, and find a V-belt, a steel brush for removing rust, small sponges for polishing paint, and various other items that will come in handy in the workshop.

Humor is one of the game's strongest assets. Side quests are often completely silly, but that's what makes them memorable. A neighbor and friend, for example, calls us because he knows we don't have money and suggests we go behind the house, find a place where cut wood is stored, "borrow" a few pieces, cut them on a saw, and bring him the logs. Along the way, he complains about how the police have a problem with people burning used tires. I wonder why.

An even better example is the neighbor down the street. She calls us and asks if we remember her husband who once climbed onto the roof, couldn't get down, fell, and died. Now her son has done the same thing, "that drunkard," and she asks us to find a way to get him down. For that, we need logs and a ladder that we first have to repair. Such tasks not only bring extra income but also a constant feeling that behind every corner lies some new nonsense that you simply have to see.

The main story also has enough crazy moments. It all starts with a race where the player drives their little car against a friend in a Golf 1. This is also the day when they learn an important life lesson: used brakes might not be the best idea after all. The little car ends up wrecked, and we have no choice but to start repairs and try to get it back on the road.

Later, among the clients, there’s a mafia boss whose car breaks down again after a visit to our workshop. He, of course, doesn't take it well, so he decides to send his men to teach us a lesson. After a black screen, we wake up in the trunk of their car, with the line: “Mechanic, get out of the trunk and fix our car!” From the trunk, we pull out a hose, pump out fuel mixed with water, and fill the tank with clean fuel. When the job is done, we simply tell them something like we're moving on and escape towards the village. They are, surprisingly, completely fine with that.

After that, another great moment follows. We find a bicycle, get on it, and the character in Polish, with English subtitles, says: “Ah shit... here we go again... Wait, I don’t know why I said that.” Anyone who has played GTA San Andreas will immediately recognize the reference, and such details show how well Cheap Car Repair understands its own humor.

The car repair mechanics are simple enough to get into quickly, but fun enough that they don’t feel empty. There’s our trusty universal wrench that removes and fits absolutely all types of screws. From rims, carburetors, and starters, to air filters, oil, trunk doors, and everything in between, one wrench solves almost every problem. One wrench to rule them all.

I especially liked the sloppiness meter of the completed job. The job doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it’s often preferable that it isn’t. If the meter is at least minimally in the green area, the client won’t have a clue how poorly everything was actually done. Additionally, alcohol also plays a role because after completing the job we can receive a drunkenness bonus, but also a sloppiness bonus. The game constantly rewards exactly what any serious simulator would punish.

Best of all, Cheap Car Repair doesn’t waste time on the typical simulator start. There’s no long introduction where you clean the space, set up tables, buy basic tools, and wait for the game to finally begin. The workshop is there, the chaos is there, the clients are there, and you are immediately thrown into a world where improvisation is worth more than professionalism. There’s also an option to name the workshop, which is quite enough for this type of experience.

Cheap Car Repair will appeal most to players who enjoy simulators but are tired of sterile and overly serious approaches. This is a game that isn’t afraid to be silly, messy, and exaggerated, but behind all that stands a very clear idea. Humor in Polish, strange tasks, shoddy repairs, and constant improvisation make it one of the more entertaining simulators I’ve played recently.

Of course, this is not a technically perfect game nor a simulator that will satisfy those looking for strict precision and a realistic depiction of mechanical work. But that’s not the goal here. Cheap Car Repair wants to be a fun, dirty, silly, and unpredictable game about fixing cars in the worst possible way. It succeeds at that almost from the first minute.

Cheap Car Repair is available on Steam for a price of €19.99. If you want a simulator that isn’t classic, but charmingly messy, humorous, and full of shoddy creativity, this is a title definitely worth giving a chance.

A copy of the PC version of the game for review purposes was provided by the publishers Simplicity Games, PlayWay S.A.