If you’re like many Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 players, there’s nothing more satisfying than pulling a rusted wreck from the junkyard, tearing it down, and restoring it to showroom quality—or at least good enough to turn a solid profit. Whether you’re looking to expand your garage empire or just keep funding your next passion project, this guide will walk you through a streamlined method for flipping cars fast without needing to do full restorations.

Laying the Groundwork: Tools, Levels, and Preparation

Before diving into junkyard flips, it’s critical to get some foundational upgrades in place. Ideally, you’ll want to unlock and install the following:

• Renovator Upgrades: The higher you are in this skill tree, the more parts you’ll be able to repair. Getting to the top tier allows you to restore body parts, which can make a significant difference in resale value.
• Wash Bay: At just 1,750 credits, it’s one of the easiest and most cost-effective upgrades to install.
• Work Benches and Brake Lathe: These will let you repair key mechanical parts—both around 1,500–1,750 credits.
• Welder: For 500 credits, you can drastically improve a car’s resale value by repairing its body.
• Body Repair Station: Useful once you hit Renovator level 6, this tool allows for part restoration that’s otherwise off-limits.

Unlocking access to the Junkyard at level 5 is also crucial. The Barn (level 10) and Car Auction (level 15) come later, but junkyard flips are a solid entry point for earning reliable early cash.

The Junkyard Flip Strategy

Your goal isn’t to fully restore a car—you’re just looking to increase its resale value enough to make a profit. Start by heading to the junkyard (500 credit entry fee). You’ll want to scout out cars that are undervalued but still have enough salvageable parts to work with.

Pro Tip: Some models, like the Ribson Starline, are known to have a high potential resale value. If you can snag one for 11,000 credits and do a few basic fixes, you can easily push it over 18,000 credits in resale value.

Be mindful of what’s repairable. You can only restore parts that are at least 15% in condition. Look for cars where the engine block, transmission, and a few body parts meet this threshold.

Step-by-Step Process: Flip a Car in 15 Minutes

1. Buy and Wash the Car:
   • Head to the junkyard, pick a decent vehicle (preferably with resale potential), and bring it home.
   • Use the wash bay for both exterior and interior cleaning.
   • Some cars will yield a small profit just from cleaning—although this is inconsistent.
2. Remove Key Components:
   • Focus on high-value, repairable parts: the engine, gearbox, and any body panels (hood, bumpers) that can be fixed.
   • Skip the lights, glass, and other low-value or unrepairable parts—they’re not worth the time.
3. Repair What You Can:
   • Head to your Repair Tables and fix anything with a high enough base condition.
   • If you’ve got the welder, use it to improve body condition—it only costs 500 credits.
   • Repairing engine components is especially worthwhile due to their strong impact on car value.
4. Reassemble and Sell:
   • Put everything you fixed back into the car.
   • Leave out unrepairable or low-value parts—they don’t move the needle much.
   • Once it’s reassembled, sell it through the car status menu.

In the walkthrough example, a Ribson Starline purchased for 11,114 credits was sold for 18,301 credits. After minor expenses like the welder and cleaning, the total profit was nearly $5,000—all in roughly 15 minutes.

Why Not Strip Everything?

It might seem logical to strip a car down to the bolts, repair everything, and sell the pieces individually—but that’s usually less profitable. Once you factor in time, tool durability, and low resale value on many small parts, your return often dips. Instead, targeting key components gives you the best ROI per minute of work.

Final Thoughts: Efficiency Over Perfection

This isn’t about building the perfect showroom car—it’s about creating fast turnover. Once you’ve mastered the flip process, it becomes a reliable cash engine that can fund your more ambitious projects later on. Experiment with different models and see which ones consistently offer the highest returns.

Every car is different, and so are the profits. But with this streamlined flipping strategy, you can reliably build your funds, improve your garage, and take on bigger projects as your CMS journey continues.

Happy wrenching, and see you in the shop!