Want to fully mod your favorite ride in Grand Theft Auto 5 without spending a dime of your hard-earned in-game cash? You’re in the right place! While “repairing” cars for free in GTA 5 isn’t exactly what this trick achieves, it does allow you to get those expensive Los Santos Customs upgrades for Michael’s or Trevor’s personal vehicles practically free. Forget about grinding missions for cash – this guide will show you a clever method to max out your car mods for just a measly $250 impound fee.
This method leverages a bit of in-game trickery involving Franklin, the impound lot, and a friend hangout. It might sound a little convoluted at first, but trust us, it’s much easier than repeatedly switching characters and causing mayhem to steal and mod cars! Let’s break down exactly how you can take advantage of this GTA 5 glitch to get free car upgrades.
Stage One: Setting Up the Glitch
This first stage is all about setting the stage for the free upgrades. You’ll need to initiate a friend hangout with Franklin while driving the car you want to upgrade for either Michael or Trevor.
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Choose Your Character and Car: Start by playing as either Michael or Trevor. Get into the personal vehicle you want to upgrade. Remember, this trick works with standard personal vehicles, not special vehicles like the Elegy RH8 or vehicles from the Beach Bum Pack.
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Call Franklin for a Hangout: Open your phone and call Franklin to invite him to hang out.
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Switch to Franklin: As soon as you’ve called Franklin, switch characters and take control of him. Franklin will automatically meet up with Michael or Trevor (whoever you called). They’ll ask Franklin to drive – make sure you accept and take the wheel.
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Drive to Los Santos Customs: Now, with Franklin driving and Michael or Trevor as a passenger in their car, drive straight to the nearest Los Santos Customs.
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Upgrade the Vehicle: Once you arrive at LS Customs, go ahead and mod the car to your heart’s content! Install all the upgrades you desire – engine, brakes, suspension, transmission, turbo, visual mods – go all out! Franklin will pay for all these upgrades.
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Complete the Hangout (Partially): After upgrading the car, you need to progress the hangout slightly. A quick and easy way to do this is to play a game of darts. After darts, proceed towards the designated drop-off point for the friend hangout.
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Drop Off Your Friend: Drive to the drop-off location. When you drop off Michael or Trevor, it will appear as if they are taking back their newly upgraded car and driving off. You’ll be left controlling Franklin, seemingly without the upgraded vehicle.
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Character Switch (Again): Switch back to the character (Michael or Trevor) whose car you just “upgraded.” You’ll find them on foot, and their car will be gone! Don’t worry; this is exactly what’s supposed to happen. There will be no impound marker for the vehicle at this stage – it seems like the car has vanished.
Stage Two: Claiming Your Free Upgrades from the Impound
Now for the magic! In this stage, you’ll use Franklin to retrieve the upgraded car from the impound, essentially getting all those mods for just the impound retrieval fee.
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Switch Back to Franklin and Head to the Impound: Change your character back to Franklin. You now need to get to the police impound lot. A quick way to get there is if you’ve purchased the Downtown Cab Co. as Franklin, as you can fast travel there for free. Otherwise, just drive to the impound. Make sure Franklin has at least $250. Also, ensure Franklin has an open spot in the impound beforehand. Impounding a random vehicle as Franklin before starting this whole process can guarantee an open spot.
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Retrieve the Upgraded Car: At the impound, you’ll see that the car you upgraded in the previous stage is now impounded under Franklin’s custody! Pay the $250 impound fee. Voila! The fully upgraded car is now yours (well, Franklin’s for the moment). Get in and drive it out of the impound.
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Call Back Your Friend (Reverse Hangout): Now, as Franklin, call the original character (Michael or Trevor) again to invite them to hang out – essentially reversing the initial hangout setup.
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Switch Back and Store Your Upgraded Ride: Switch back to Michael or Trevor. Franklin will pick them up. This time, they will be asked to drive. Take the wheel and drive to their personal garage or lock-up.
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Store the Upgraded Vehicle: Drive into the garage and store the fully upgraded vehicle. Get out of the car inside the garage to save it.
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Complete the Hangout: Finally, leave the garage and find any random vehicle for Franklin to get in with you to properly end the friend hangout encounter.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully used this GTA 5 glitch to get free car upgrades for Michael or Trevor’s vehicle, only paying the $250 impound fee.
Important Notes for Free Car Upgrades in GTA 5
- $250 Fee: While we call this “free car upgrades,” remember you do need $250 to retrieve the car from the impound. Still, this is a tiny fraction of the cost of fully upgrading a vehicle at Los Santos Customs.
- Impound Space: Ensure Franklin has space in his impound. Impound a cheap car beforehand if needed to create space.
- Personal Vehicles Only: This method is confirmed to work with Michael and Trevor’s personal vehicles, not special vehicles or reward cars.
- Repeat as Needed: You can repeat this process to upgrade multiple cars for Michael and Trevor.
This glitch offers a fantastic way to deck out your favorite персонажей’s cars without breaking the bank in GTA 5. Enjoy cruising around Los Santos in your newly upgraded, practically free, ride!
