What it is
Every character starts with a free Blista and most go on to own more. A vehicle on Roleplay Project is a thing with a history: a VIN, an odometer, a logbook of every service and inspection, an insurance policy or the lack of one, keys that can be shared or copied, parts that wear, fluids that degrade, and a record of how you came by it. Cars get damaged, and mechanics are the people who fix them, service them, modify them, and, at the wrong kind of shop, do things to them that the police would like to know about.
This page is the owner's guide. It covers buying, insuring, storing and looking after a vehicle, what you can ask a mechanic to do, and what can go wrong. The mechanic's own tools (the workshop, the bench, the service desk, the order desk) are described from the customer's side, so you know what to expect when you drive in.
How to start
Buying. Dealerships sell new vehicles by category (compacts, sedans, SUVs, sports, motorcycles, trucks and so on) at a fixed price, with a test drive bay. Walk into a dealership, browse the catalogue, take the test drive, and pay from the bank. The car appears in /v with its acquisition recorded as a purchase. Second hand cars change hands between players with /givevehkeys and a sale conducted in character; the money side is yours to arrange.
The main car lot is Sunset Motors in Paleto Bay, on both servers:
What | Both servers |
|---|---|
Sunset Motors | Paleto Bay (-27.67, 6395.11) |
Test drives start | In the bay five metres out from the lot marker |
-27.67, 6395.11Both servers. The main car lot
Press E at the lot marker "to browse lot" for the catalogue and a test drive (ten minutes; /endtest brings the car back early). On the English server ten display cars stand on the lot at Paleto Bay and the stock changes every hour. Each carries a FOR SALE plate: walk up, press E "to inspect vehicle", and buy it from the inspect panel.
Insuring. The insurance office quotes from twelve providers. Each has its own appetite: some take anyone with any record and charge for it, some only write clean drivers, one only writes cars worth $120,000 or more, one is built for tuned cars and covers modifications as standard. A quote depends on the car's value and class, your driving record, your claims in the last year and what add-ons you pick.
-291.25, -430.11Quotes from twelve providers, policies, claims and renewals
Add-on | What it does |
|---|---|
Breakdown cover | Mechanic callout fees are paid by your insurer. Roadside repairs are still billed |
Glass cover | Window and windscreen repairs at any garage are free |
Modification cover | Engine, gearbox, turbo, suspension and tuning work survives a write-off. Without it a replacement comes back stock |
Better or sports courtesy car | A better car to drive while a claim is processed |
Zero excess | No deductible on any claim |
Fast-track claims | Claims are processed in half the time |
Theft cover | Adds theft cover to a plan that does not include it |
Policies can auto-renew from your bank the day before they expire; a provider can requote or refuse at renewal. A claim raises the premium on every live policy you hold with any provider, so claim for the big things.
Storing. /v lists everything you own. Spawn a car near you, park it back (within 50 m of it), mark favourites, label it, and read its history. Eight public garages around the map (Legion Square, Vinewood Boulevard, Mirror Park, Del Perro, LSIA Long Stay, Sandy Shores, Grapeseed and Paleto Bay) let you collect a car you left elsewhere: /vgarage shows the nearest, and for $250 a tow brings a parked vehicle to it, once every ten minutes.
On the English server, the public garages and /v spawns inside Los Santos are closed while the evacuation order is in force (until 2 October 2026 unless extended). See Los Santos evacuation.
Step by step: a repair
- Find an open shop
/mechanicslists which mechanic shops are open right now and how many mechanics are working. Los Santos Customs is always there; player-run shops open when their staff clock on. - Drive in, or call out
If the car moves, drive to the shop. If it does not,
/callmechanicputs your position in front of every working mechanic; one accepts, drives out, and you see them coming on the map. The callout fee is set by the shop and is billed when the job is done, unless your policy has breakdown cover. - Get a quote
Mechanic work is quoted before it is done. For parts, servicing and tuning the mechanic picks the work at the bench or the service desk and you see a quote with the labour and the parts; accept it and the work starts. Quotes expire after two minutes. For cosmetic and performance modifications you can place the order yourself with
/orderwhile standing by your car at the shop: pick the mods, the shop accepts and takes payment, a mechanic fits them, and you are refunded if the shop cancels. - Pay
When the work is finished a payment prompt opens on your screen: cash, bank or card. Unpaid work is logged against the car.
- Check the logbook
/logbookbeside any vehicle you hold keys to shows its VIN, odometer, service history, inspections and garage orders. A car with a full service history is worth more when you sell it, and a logbook with gaps tells a buyer something too. - Keep it serviced
Fluids degrade with mileage and faster with sport and race parts. A service at the desk restores them. A rushed job (you will see the mechanic's skill checks going badly) does not restore them fully, so choose your shop.
What a mechanic can do
Repairs. Engine and body repairs, window repairs, and roadside repairs on a callout. You can carry a repair kit yourself for emergencies, but it only gets the engine and body back to a driveable floor and it has a ten minute cooldown per vehicle; a shop repair is a proper repair.
Basic vehicle repair tools
Servicing and inspections. Twelve services at the desk: fluids, battery, diagnostics, valeting, an inspection that passes or fails and is written into the logbook, and more. Inspections matter for trucks and for anyone who wants a clean logbook.
Modifications. At the bench: engine, transmission, brakes, turbo and suspension upgrades, ECU tuning, five wheel families, four tyre compounds (street, sport, track and drift, each changing grip), tyre smoke colours, custom RGB headlights, a subwoofer, body kits, liveries, plates and a drift conversion on the models that can take one. Sport and race parts make the car faster and wear out faster.
Stance and lifts. Suspension height and wheel offset from the workshop panel; a car up on jacks with /lift while they work underneath.
Nitrous and care. A nitrous kit and bottles fitted at the shop, used on Shift with a purge that can be tinted. Wax, cleaning kits and anti-lag are workshop extras.
One bottle, lines and a solenoid. A mechanic fits it; the driver then has a single bottle of nitrous to burn.
Plates and trackers. A plate kit lets a car carry a second registered plate and swap it with /plateflip, or block the plate from cameras. A GPS tracker hidden on a vehicle reports its position to whoever planted it (/trackers follows one on the map); a tracker sweeper finds one on your own car. Both are sold by the pawn broker.
A magnetic tracker. Use it beside a car to stick it underneath, then /trackers shows where the car is. From the pawn supplier.
Hidden compartment. A shop can fit a small stash under the boot floor. /compartment opens it for anyone with keys, and a police boot search does not.
Engine building. Mechanic shops can build engines from parts crates and fit them.
Some of that is legal and some is not. Plate blockers, hidden compartments, nitrous and certain tuning show up as illegal modifications when police run the car, and a shop that offers odometer rollbacks and VIN grinding at its service desk is committing crimes with you as the accomplice. See the laws before you nod.
Keys and the risk of cloned keys
/givevehkeys shares keys to the car you are in or standing beside. Keyholders can lock, unlock and drive it. Keys can be taken back from the /v panel.
There is also a key cloning device. Anyone holding one can copy a key they hold in nine seconds, making a cloned key that opens and starts that car for ever. Lend your keys to someone with a cloner and they can keep a copy. Worse, a mechanic with your VIN scratched, a different plate on the car and a cloned key can re-register the car to themselves: it disappears from your garage and reappears in theirs, and your /v shows it as stolen with the choice to claim on your insurance (theft cover needed) or write it off.
Reads a transponder key and burns a copy. Anyone holding a copy can open the car whenever they like. Use it to open the device.
A burned copy of someone's car key. Use it near the car to lock or unlock it. Nothing about it looks legitimate.
The scrapyard
Rogers Salvage and Scrap on the south side buys vehicles for scrap: /v scrap or /vscrap at the yard pays 15 percent of the catalogue price adjusted for engine and body condition and mileage, never less than $100. A car with no catalogue price is scrapped on a flat base. Prize cars, admin grants, company and faction vehicles cannot be sold for scrap: they can only be deleted, and the panel asks you to type the plate to confirm.
-452.60, -1699.30Scrap a car for cash, or delete one that cannot be sold
Tips
Related commands
/vEveryoneOpen the vehicle menu, or use /v find, /v list, /v setspawn, /v <number|#dbId|plate>.
/lockEveryoneLock or unlock the door, vehicle, property or apartment you are at.
/insuranceEveryoneOpen the insurance UI.
/mechanicsEveryoneSee which mechanic shops are open and how many mechanics are working.
/callmechanicEveryoneCall a working mechanic out to your vehicle. They see your position and bill a callout fee when done.
/orderEveryoneOrder work on your car at a mechanic garage: pick the mods, the shop accepts and you pay, the mechanic fits it.
/logbookEveryoneRead the logbook of the vehicle beside you: VIN, odometer, service history, inspections and garage orders.
/givevehkeysEveryoneGive another player keys to your vehicle: sit in it or stand next to it first.
/vgarageEveryoneShow the nearest public garage, or bring a parked vehicle there.
/vscrapEveryoneScrap or delete one of your vehicles at a scrapyard.
Worked example
Dev Malik has just put his Sultan into the barrier on the Olympic Freeway. The engine is dead, the bonnet is folded, and his policy with Los Santos Mutual has breakdown cover because a friend told him to tick it.
/callmechanic
A working mechanic at Vespucci Auto Works, a woman called Rosa, gets the callout with his position. Her map shows him on the freeway; his shows a wrench icon coming his way. Six minutes later a flatbed pulls up.
Rosa: Right. What happened?
Dev: Lorry braked, I didn't.
/me crouches by the front wing and runs a hand along the crumpled panel.
Rosa opens the roadside repair and a quote appears on Dev's screen: roadside repair, labour and parts, $640. He accepts. The engine turns over. Then the callout fee: $150, which the prompt says is covered by his insurer. He pays nothing for the callout.
Rosa: That'll get you to the shop. It won't get you through an inspection. Follow me in.
At the shop she opens the service desk beside the Sultan. Diagnostics shows the fluids low and a battery on its last legs after the crash. She quotes a full service and a battery, $1,120; he accepts, the payment prompt opens, and he pays by card. The logbook now reads: roadside repair (Vespucci Auto Works), full service, battery replaced, all today, odometer 14,212.
/do The mechanic slides a printout across the counter: a stamped service record.
Dev, feeling flush, asks about the wheels. Rosa tells him to place the order himself so it is on the books: /order beside the car opens the bench in order mode, he picks a set of Benny's Originals and a sport tyre compound, and the shop accepts. Rosa fits them while he waits.
Dev: And the engine?
Rosa: Sport parts wear quicker. Insure the mods first. You've got glass and breakdown; you haven't got mods.
He drives to the insurance office on the way home and adds modification cover for $75 a month. Six weeks later, when a joyrider writes the Sultan off, the replacement comes back with the wheels, the tyres and the tune intact.
See also
Companies for how a mechanic shop is run as a business.
Underground racing for what the tuning is for.
Banking and finance for cards and the payment prompt.
Custody and the law for what happens when the police find the hidden compartment.