Customizing Your Ride - GTA 5 Guide - IGN (2024)

There are multiple ways that you can customize your ride while playing GTA 5. Long gone are the days of Pay 'n' Spray; Los Santos Customs are now the one stop shop for car resprays and, just like original San Andreas, car customization. Keep in mind that the more valuable the Vehicles, the more expensive the upgrades.

Aircraft, Bicycles, Police, Fire Department, Ambulance, Taxi, FIB and Military vehicles are not customizable.

Note that respraying your vehicle still works for evading cops of any star difficulty, but you have to have broken line of sight will all cops before entering Los Santos Customs.

WARNING: At the current time, vehicle saving and garages are an unreliable service, and it is recommended that you wait until Rockstar Games address these issues before spending large sums of money on customizing vehicles.

How to Create Custom License Plates

You can create a "vanity plate" or a customizable license plate in the IFruit app. These plates are limited -- you can create a unique plate that nobody else has -- so you'll want to create a plate as soon as possible to reserve one.

Repair

Before you can modify your vehicle, you must repair it if any damage has been sustained. The price varies on the extent of the damage and the vehicle type. Once you do a full body repair and engine service, vehicle modification can begin. You are unable to make any modification whatsoever to your vehicle until it is repaired.

The window you break while stealing a vehicle counts as "damage", and must be repaired before customization is available.

Armor

Once unlocked,there are five armor options available from 20% to a full 100% armor upgrade. This makes your vehicle extremely durable. However, a 100% armor increase does not make your vehicle invulnerable, it only doubles its durability, by adding 100% of the original durability. Keep in mind that this does not bulletproof your windows. Make sure to bulletproof your tires to get the full effect. Armor upgrade prices range from $500 to $25,000 depending on vehicle type. Armor does not increase any base vehicle stats or change the aesthetics of your vehicle.

Brakes

If you're going to tune your vehicle and increase speed and acceleration, some quality brakes are needed to stop the rocket. Notice that the effect of new brakes does not dramatically increase the braking base stat, but it does add a little extra stopping power. The brakes available are Stock, Street, Sport, and Race Brakes. The prices range from $1,000 to $17,500 depending on the vehicle type.

Bumpers

Chassis

Engine

Engine upgrades increase your base horsepower, which increases the acceleration stat. By altering the Engine Monitoring System (EMS), you can get more power out of your vehicle. Thre are four levels of upgrades that range from $900 to $2350 depending on the vehicle. These upgrades slightly increase the acceleration stat. At level four, expect around a 15% increase in acceleration.

Exhaust

Explosives

Fender

Grille

Hood

Horn

Lights

Loss/Theft Protection

Plate

Respray

Roll Cage

Roof

Side Step

Skirts

Spoiler

Suspension

Suspension does not affect any of the base vehicle stats, but it does change the handling of your vehicle by giving it a lower center of gravity, improving its cornering ability. There are four suspension options available from $500 to $2200. These are the options from lowest to highest: Lowered, Street, Sport, and Competition Suspension. The more expensive the Suspension, the lower your vehicle sits relative to the ground.

Tailgate

Transmission

Turbo

Adding Turbo Tuning to your vehicle changes both Top Speed and Acceleration. Costs $2000 and upwards depending on the model of car.

Wheels

Windows/Tint

Aesthetic Upgrades

Aesthetic Upgrades include any Color, Hood, Front and Back Bumper, Roof, Spoiler, Tire Smoke, Tire Color, Tire, Rim, Exhaust, Window and Side upgrades. Saddle Bag, Fuel Tank and Frame customizations are also available for motorcycles

These upgrades mean nothing towards your vehicle's performance whilst driving, and instead are there to change the way your vehicle looks into something that you like.

• Note - The exception to this is Bulletproof Tires.

How to get free parts

There is a Los Santos customs on Route 68 just below the Grand Senora Desert. You have to purchase this with Franklin. You will get an income of $1,600 but all upgrades will be free from that location only for Franklin.