Carjacking.

Car theft in GTA 6 links several systems: getting in, vehicle security, the owner’s reaction, police recognition and, in the end, keeping or selling the car. Rockstar’s Rob Nelson has described most of these in an interview. Access is progressive: not every parked vehicle is equally easy to take.

Scanning a vehicle shows its model, its value and the cost of registering it as a personal vehicle. The scanning app, Waink, also displays security information. Inspection is therefore about more than finding a desirable-looking car: the information can separate a potential sale from a vehicle the player wants to keep.

Parked cars and electronic keys

Older cars can be opened with a lock tool, while newer or more expensive vehicles need a key-cloning device obtained later. When Jason approaches a parked car, he can use a slim jim or break the window. Which method works on each named vehicle has not been revealed.

Breaking the window can set off an alarm. Higher-end vehicles may also carry more capable trackers, so getting in and getting away unreported are separate problems. Theft tools unlock progressively, but the mission that grants each device and the full sequence of tutorials have not been revealed.

Occupied vehicles and resistance

Some drivers leave when ordered out. Others resist, in some cases by shooting. Stealing an occupied car can therefore go several ways rather than always playing out the same.

A tracker may keep transmitting while the stolen vehicle is driven slowly, and later contacts can remove trackers. Nelson has also described seeing police go straight to an abandoned vehicle, so leaving a car behind does not make it safe to come back for. No speed threshold for trackers has been given.

Pay ’n’ Spray offers a resale valuation, repairs, repainting and personal registration. Damage lowers a vehicle’s value, and selling another car at the same location involves a waiting period. Neither the price formula nor the length of the wait has been revealed.

Temporary stolen transport is separate from registered personal vehicles. Early on, the player can store three cars, and garages expand that capacity; the three-car figure is the starting allowance, not the size of every garage. An unregistered stolen vehicle can stay for a while but does not become a personal vehicle just because the player has used it.

Theft is restricted at protected story locations and around safehouses.