Checked 26 October 2026. Current features and announced rebuild plans are different stages of development.
1 What the game actually asks of you
You wake up at a house with a garage, and inside the garage is a car that does not work. Nothing in the opening tells you to race anyone or beat a timer. The whole task is to make the car run, then keep it running while the road takes you further from anywhere that can help.
That framing matters, because it changes what counts as progress. A session where you drove nowhere but filled the radiator, found a battery and got the engine to turn over is a good session. This is a repair loop first and a driving game second, and players who arrive expecting a racer tend to bounce off the opening hour.
2 Everything a car needs before it moves
Most of the frustration people report in their first session comes from treating the car as one object that is either broken or fixed. It is not. It is a list of separate requirements, and missing any single one produces a different failure. Learning the list is the biggest jump in competence you can make.
| Requirement | What happens without it |
|---|---|
| Battery, charged and fitted | Nothing at all when you turn the key |
| Ignition component | Nothing at all when you turn the key |
| Engine installed | Electrics wake up, but silence |
| Engine oil | Cranks over but never fires |
| Correct fuel in the tank | Cranks over but never fires |
| Water in the radiator | Runs, then cooks itself on the road |
| Brake, accelerator, clutch pedals | Engine runs, car stays put |
| Gear shifter | Crawls at best |
| Handbrake released | Engine runs, car stays put |
Read that table as a diagnostic tool rather than a checklist. The symptom tells you which row to look at, so you stop guessing and start narrowing down. Total silence is electrical. A crank with no fire is fluid. A running engine that will not move is a control linkage or the handbrake.
3 Your first half hour in the garage
Do not leave the property early. Everything the opening scenario needs is already around the house, and going out under-supplied is how a first run ends with a dead car in the middle of nowhere.
Parts and containers sit on shelves and in corners, and there is usually a wooden box above eye level that is easy to walk straight past. Look at the ceiling and the tops of the shelving before you decide the room is empty.
Canisters can hold oil, petrol, diesel or a mixture, and the container a liquid sits in does not guarantee what is inside. Check each one and keep them separated in your head before the first pour.
Oil goes in the engine, water in the radiator, fuel in the tank. The filler for the tank sits near the rear of the car, on one side or by the rear bumper depending on the model. A small amount of oil is enough to start the engine, but fill it properly if you plan to drive any distance.
Loose panels, mirrors and trim attach to the car, and there is usually a radio on the first table by the left wall that goes into the centre console. None of this is required to drive, but it costs nothing and the car stops looking like scrap.
4 Starting the engine, step by step
There are three ways to crank the engine and they all do the same thing: hold the accelerator key, press the ignition key, or click the ignition switch itself in the cabin. Use whichever you find first. If the car has sat with the lights or radio on, switch them off before you try, because a weak battery will click instead of cranking.
5 What to load before you leave
Use the boot or rear seats for supplies, and check how objects are secured before driving. Take the consumables from the house before the first trip rather than after the first emergency.
The water canister earns its place twice over. It is the lightest liquid container in the game at roughly two kilograms empty, and water is what the radiator drinks. Carrying one turns an overheating scare on the road into an inconvenience rather than the end of the run.
6 Mistakes almost everyone makes once
7 Where money comes from
Money is not earned by driving well. There are two sources: cash and gold bars found at points of interest out in the world, and rewards from Horizon Express jobs. Exploration and the job board are the economy, which means a thorough lap of the map is worth more than a fast one.
What you collect is spent through the in-game computer, which trades money for items, parts and accessories, or withdrawn at an ATM if you want physical stacks of cash. Buying a part you keep failing to scavenge is often quicker than another salvage run once you have a few jobs behind you.
Since the garage system arrived you can also store vehicles and items there instead of towing everything you own behind you. If you are still dragging a train of donor cars around out of habit, stop. Park the spares and take only what the trip needs. The reviewed official updates do not establish that towing a donor car improves part spawn rates. Use known loot and store availability rather than treating that claim as a mechanic.
Current activities and the rebuild
The 19 October Tuning Update adds a circuit with a garage, drift scoring and a leaderboard. These are optional activities beyond the opening repair trip. Free object attachment is also available; check how supplies are secured before driving.
The 18 September development announcement describes a separate rebuild. Kilometer 80 is the planned replacement milestone, followed later by 1.0. It is not a claim that the current public game has already changed to the rebuilt systems. The team continues supporting the existing version while developing that replacement. Do not plan a trip around promised future physics or performance.
Sources: 19 October Tuning Update and 18 September Next Kilometer. Checked 26 October 2026.
Treat the car as nine separate requirements rather than one broken object, because the symptom always tells you which one is missing. Strip the house before the first trip and keep a fuel container and a water canister aboard for the rest of the run. Money comes from exploring points of interest and taking Horizon Express jobs, not from driving quickly.
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