On this page
Scan the car with the WAINK phone app to see its security, the tool you need, its tracker and its value. Older cars open with a slim jim (on PS5, Triangle and then the right stick from 3 to 9 o'clock, as read from the Extended Look), while expensive modern cars need a key cloner.
Step by step
Our reading of the footage and previews. Inputs other than the PS5 slim jim prompt have not been shown.
- Scan it with WAINK. Use the phone app on a parked car. Previews say the app shows the security level, the theft tool it needs, its tracker tier, what it costs to register and what it will sell for.
- Check who is watching. Theft only draws police once someone reports it, but a stolen car’s tracker can report it for you.
- Get in with the right method (table below).
- Watch the tracker. Higher-tier trackers stay quiet while you drive fast and start beeping, then report your position, if you slow down (Vice, GTABase). Get it removed at a fence before you register or sell the car.
- Drive it clean. Damage lowers resale value.
- Sell it or keep it. Sell it, or pay the fee to register it as your personal car. High-end cars cannot be registered early in the game. Garages store what you keep; see our properties page.
Theft tools unlock by doing work for different fences, so the best cars come later.
Ways in
| Method | Works on | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Slim jim | Older cars; quiet | Prompt shown in the Extended Look; details reported |
| Smashing a window | Older cars; sets off the alarm and may alert police | Reported (Vice, GTABase) |
| Hotwiring | Some cars | Reported (Vice) |
| Key cloner | Expensive modern cars | Reported (Vice, KeenGamer) |
| Phone-hacking tools | High-end cars | Rumor (GTABase only, a fan database) |
| Pull the driver out | Occupied cars (KeenGamer); a quick-time event, and passengers may fight back (Vice) | Reported |
What Rockstar has shown
- WAINK on the phone. KeenGamer describes the scan showing a car’s value, its registration cost and whether it is locked.
- The slim jim minigame. Postmode reads the prompt as Triangle to start, then the right stick from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock. On Xbox we expect Y, the button in the same spot, but that is our assumption.
What previews reported
- Security tiers. Older cars take a slim jim; newer luxury cars need advanced equipment such as a key cloner (KeenGamer).
- Trackers. High-end cars carry them in tiers, and tracker removal and registration unlock as you progress with car fences (Vice). Every police car has one, which makes cruisers bad getaway cars (Vice).
- Registration. Pay a fee to make a stolen street car your own (Vice).
- Carjacking. Pulling someone out of the driver’s seat still works (KeenGamer). Vice reports that hijacking an occupied car starts a quick-time event to pull the driver out, and that passengers may fight back and try to drag you out of the car.
- Cargo space. Bigger vehicles carry more loot bags, which matters if the car is for a robbery; see how to rob a store.
- Fuel. Hold R2 for about 10 seconds at a gas station to refuel (Vice). More on our fuel page.
What we expect
- Cheap and unlocked early, expensive and equipped later. WAINK plus the fence unlocks suggest car theft grows with the story.
- Respray a car the police know. A Pay ‘n’ Spray reportedly clears vehicle heat; our wanted level guide covers the rest.
- Model names. Most cars spotted so far are fan identifications. Our vehicles page separates Rockstar’s official names from community guesses.
Sell the car, then bank the cash at an ATM. The full loop is in how to make money in GTA 6, and every app mentioned here is in our phone guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is WAINK in GTA 6?
A phone app that scans a parked car. Previews say it shows the security level, the theft tool you need, the tracker tier, the registration cost and the resale value. It appears on screen in the Extended Look.
How does the slim jim work in GTA 6?
Postmode read the Extended Look prompt as Triangle to start the minigame, then moving the right stick from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock. It is quiet and works on older cars. The Xbox input has not been shown.
Can you steal any car in GTA 6?
Not straight away. Expensive modern cars need a key cloner, and previews say theft tools unlock by working for fences. High-end cars also cannot be registered as your own early in the game.
Can you keep a stolen car in GTA 6?
Yes, according to Vice: you can register a stolen street car as a personal vehicle by paying a fee. Vice adds that tracker removal and registration unlock as you work with car fences.
Does the car's condition matter when you sell it?
Yes. Previews say damage lowers the resale value, so avoid crashes on the way to selling it.
Is there fuel in GTA 6?
Vice's preview report says yes: hold R2 for about 10 seconds at a gas station to refuel. Rockstar has not described the system itself.
What changed on this page
- The carjacking quick-time event and passengers who fight back are now credited to Vice's preview report (reported) instead of being tagged as a GTABase rumor.
- Added trackers, vehicle registration, hotwiring and window smashing from preview reports, dropped the fan-named Immobilizer Bypass, replaced the leak-based fuel answer with Vice's preview report, and removed car model years that other pages disagree on. Moved the tracker-removal detail to Vice's report and tagged GTABase-only claims (phone hacking, carjacking quick-time events) as rumor.
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