I saw an amazing MOC of the Tuning Workshop (60258) once. So, despite being an older set, customization potential inspired me to get it. I would love to build something similar for my city. As such, I requested this set from the LEGO® Group. Truthfully, I am not that into City theme cars. Tuning Workshop has a lot of them. However, it also has a nice workshop and a couple of other cute add-ons. This week, we take a closer look at the set before I delve into customizing it 😉
NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. I will use my usual rating system (click here for more information) and provide my honest opinion.
TUNING WORKSHOP (60258) SUMMARY
- NAME: Tuning Workshop
- SET #: 60258
- THEME: City
- COST: $139.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 897
- MINIFIGURES: 7
- RELEASE DATE: January 2, 2020
TUNING WORKSHOP (60258) QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 89% (Average cost-per-brick, great family build time.)
- BUILD: 80% (No new pieces or techniques, but the shop looks nice.)
- MINIFIGURES: 83% (Satisfactory number of figs with nice designs and loads of accessories.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 85% (Inspiration for AFOLs, good playability for kids.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 84% (Good set.)
TUNING WORKSHOP (60258) REVIEW
VALUE: 89%
Tuning Workshop retails for $139.99 in Canada and consists of 897 pieces. Consequently, the cost-per-brick works out to $0.156. For the City theme, that is actually quite good. These sets tend to cost more per brick than other themes. On that note, the cost-per-brick compared to other themes in general is only satisfactory. I rate Tuning Workshop at 81% in this category.
My build experience with this set was a little different from usual. I did not build it by myself. My nieces came over and we built it together. As such, the build time is not representative of what I would normally achieve. This time around, we divided up the instruction books and all built at the same time. Adding up the people-hours spent on the kit, we built for three hours and 42 minutes. Keeping in mind that I did not measure this build time in my usual way, the cost-per-minute was $0.63. No matter how you look at that, it is great. I rate the cost-per-minute at 96%. Averaged with the cost-per-brick score gives an overall value rating of 89%.
BUILD: 80%
Tuning Workshop includes four cars. You build a mini car, a tow truck, a street racer, and a hot rod. The tow truck is the nicest in my opinion. The mini car is similar in design to others we have seen. In terms of the hot rod, the one from 40409 was nicer. In all likelihood, I will recycle this one and park 40409 in front of this shop. The same goes for the street racer. The car itself is not bad. However, Speed Champions cars are nicer.
Other small builds in the set include a trailer and a doghouse. The trailer functions as the office for a used car salesman. There is not much inside, just a chair and a little fridge. However, the set looks great from the outside. It fits the used car sales vibe really well. Tuning Workshop also comes with one of the newish bulldog figurines. Naturally, he needs s a doghouse. The build is simple but fun.
The main build is the set’s namesake. The shop’s name is “Tread’s Tuning”. The garage features a break area and a service area with a moving winch for lifting and lowering engines. Additionally, the shop has welding equipment, a tool bin, and a large sliding door. I particularly like the exterior of the building, and the large number of windows. Finally, the shop’s sign is particularly nice. With that said, the building is typical City-fare with two open sides. However, it is one of the nicer buildings I have seen in the theme.
The garage, trailer, and doghouse are the highlights of this set. The cars are not terrible for the most part. However, they are what you would expect from City. One-off cars from GWP sets or Speed Champions will look nicer in a custom version of this set. Ultimately, Tuning Workshop stays true to its name without straying due to unnecessary side builds. There are no really novel techniques nor new pieces though. I rate the build at 80%.
MINIFIGURES: 83%
Tuning Workshop includes seven Minifigures. Each one has all the standard parts. I’m rejoicing at the lack of stumpy kid figurines. Additionally, all characters feature front and back torso printing. However, only three have double-sided faces and one has leg printing. On the plus side, you get about 20 accessories. I will not list them all, but there are a variety of tools, two nicely printed welding helmets, a few printed tiles, and a motorbike. Perhaps my favorite accessory is the bulldog. I rate the Minifigure design at 90%.
Seven Minifigures in an 897-piece kit translates into 128 bricks per minifig. Compared to LEGO® sets in general, that is fairly good. On average, I get about 166 bricks/fig at this point. However, City sets tend to include a lot of Minifigures. In a direct theme comparison, Tuning Workshop fares much worse. In terms of City sets, I usual get 83 bricks/fig. Considering both comparisons, I rate the number of Minifigures included in this kit at 73%. Averaged with the design score, this set earns 83% as a Minifigure grade.
ENTERTAINMENT: 85%
I am not a huge fan of the cars in this set. However, I like the trailer and the actual workshop quite a bit. As mentioned earlier, I have seen some great MOCs online that adapt this garage. It is an inspiring set for city builders. It does require some work in order to become modular though. Since the cars are not particularly interesting for me and they make up half the set, I rate the AFOL entertainment value at 80%.
I built this set with my nieces, and they liked it quite a bit. Unlike me, both of them enjoyed the variety of cars. Additionally, they found play value in driving the cars into the shop through the large opening door. The female mechanic was a big hit. Finally, we had a lot of fun team-building this set. Having multiple, separate manuals allowed everyone to build a different section of the kit. Tuning Workshop was not their typical set. Harry Potter, Friends, and Disney sets are their go-to themes. However, they liked this one, even though they did not play with it long. From a KFOL perspective I rate it at 90%. Averaging this with the AFOL score gives Tuning Workshop and overall entertainment rating of 85%.
OVERALL SCORE: 84%
Tuning Workshop is a good set, but not a great one. Kids will enjoy it more than adults. However, the set offers customization potential to adults as well. The garage build is nice, and there are some great MOCs out there for further inspiration. The value is also good, as are the Minifigures. I am not a fan of the cars, but I have a bunch of great ones to fill the lot with instead. What are your thoughts on Tuning Workshop? Please comment below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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