GTA 6 car stealing explained

Stealing cars in GTA 6 is, unsurprisingly, going to be a big part of the time Jason and Lucia spend in Leonida. From needing specific tools to get into cars, to contending with modern-day tracking technology helping the police stay hot on your heels, car theft has been designed to be more challenging than its predecessors. On that note, here’s everything we know about stealing cars in GTA 6.

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Important: Everything on this page is based on information gained from previews and the Extended Look released in August 2026. Information below is subject to change and will be updated when the full game is released in November.

GTA 6 car stealing explained

Stealing cars in GTA 6 has evolved since its predecessor and, as Rockstar have put a big focus on realism, it’s shaping up to be much harder than we’re used to.

'So now, you start off the game and there are certain parked cars that are not accessible to you until you get a bit further along with the story and you acquire certain tools to get into them, but you can always carjack any driver you see.' - Rockstar's co-studio head Rob Nelson warns in IGN’s GTA 6 preview.

You can still steal the car from any vehicle you see in the classic 'pulling driver out of the seat at gunpoint and throwing them into traffic before speeding off' style - but there are more ways to steal a vehicle than just smashing a window now.

In the Extended Look, we got a glimpse of stealing cars with two options available on the vehicle Jason was targeting: slimjim or smash window. Slimjim is one of the tools you’ll be able to use to boost cars in Leonida, and then the classic smash window option is a less elegant way of getting into your target. These are just two of what seems like multiple ways of stealing vehicles. In the Extended Look we get a glimpse of the Slimjim's controls, it seems you'll need to follow a command and get the timing right to be able to use it successfully.

Now, the approach for stealing a car will depend on the model of the car itself. For example, some high-end vehicles will have electronic locks that will need a Key Cloner tool to get into. The classic smash, hotwire, speed away tactics won’t always work. Also, some will also come with an advanced GPS tracking system that will help police pinpoint you quickly - another nod to the modern times that GTA 6 has been modelled around. At the time of writing, it seems the only way around this is to drive fast enough to avoid being caught.

Adding to the modern technology you can use to break into cars, there's an app for it. Jason and Lucia have a scanner app called 'WAINK' on their phones. This gives you a handful of useful details about the vehicle you’re thinking of stealing. This information includes if the vehicle has any technology you need to consider before breaking into it (like the GPS tracker). The app will also tell you how much money the car is worth, and how much it will cost to convert it into one of Jason or Lucia’s personal vehicles.

Carjacking is a crime (surprise surprise), if you're spotted committing a crime the cops will get a description of you, your car, clothing, and whether it’s just you or both of you as a couple. However, if you’re spotted stealing a car, then it seems ditching your car and going on foot can be a way to get the heat off of you. In the Extended Look, we got a glimpse of Lucia using a Molotov to destroy a car to get the police off their tail as part of a mission - whether this works for open-world thefts is yet to be confirmed.

'The streets in this game are narrower and more realistic in terms of scale. Which, in addition to all the density of the traffic on the roads, makes driving slightly more challenging and requires a bit of skill' - Nelson revealed while talking to IGN. Carjacking will inevitably end up with you having to speed away with your boost, but in a step up from the streets of Los Santos in GTA 5, it seems that you’re going to have to deal with far more densely populated streets and narrower roads - making carjacking successfully more skill based than ever before.

For more on GTA 6, take a look at our roundup of everything shown during the GTA 6 Extended Look.