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Where are the free cars in GTA? A Comprehensive Guide to Scoring Free Vehicles

As an avid Grand Theft Auto fan, I know acquiring cool cars is one of the best parts of the experience. Who doesn‘t love cruising around Los Santos in a supercar, armored vehicle or customized lowrider? Unfortunately, the high prices of premium rides can quickly drain your virtual bank account.

Not to worry! There are numerous methods for scoring free cars in GTA V and GTA Online so you can build an amazing collection without going broke. I‘ve played over 500 hours and am going to share all the tricks I‘ve learned for obtaining free wheels.

By taking advantage of special missions, hidden locations, glitches, leveling up and more, you‘ll be rolling in exotic cars in no time. Let‘s dive in and I‘ll walk you through how to find all the best free vehicles from supercars to helicopters so you can start living the GTA high life!

Spin the Lucky Wheel for a Free Weekly Car

Without a doubt, spinning the Lucky Wheel at The Diamond Casino is the easiest way to regularly score free vehicles. All you need to do is visit the lobby and press the prompt to give the wheel a spin, which can be done once per day.

Each week the main prize changes, giving you a random chance to win GTA$, RP, clothing, snacks, and even high-end cars! I‘ve won over a dozen free vehicles from the Lucky Wheel including sport bikes, weaponized trucks, vintage classics and more.

They also rotate in brand new exclusive rides like the Itali RSX sports car before they‘re available for purchase. The Lucky Wheel is the cornerstone of my free car strategy – over a year, it can add vehicles worth $20+ million GTA dollars to your collection. Here are the steps:

  1. Fast travel or drive to The Diamond Casino

  2. Walk up to the Lucky Wheel and press to activate

  3. Give it a strong spin and hope you hit the car prize!

  4. Drive it to your garage and its yours forever

Rockstar changes the car prize every Thursday when weekly updates occur. Be sure to check when you log in to see the new vehicle being offered.

Complete Casino Missions to Earn Armored Cars

Another great way to score free cars is by buying a Casino Penthouse and completing special story missions known as Casino Work. These exclusive missions unlocked by owning a penthouse let you team up with other characters for unique heists and jobs.

Completing all 6 story missions rewards you with the weaponized Armored Paragon R sports car worth $900k! The Paragon R can take five homing rockets before being destroyed, making it extremely durable.

You can also earn two other excellent armored cars from Casino Work:

  • Finish 5 Casino Work missions – Brute Armored Boxville (seats 4)
  • Complete 15 Casino Work missions – Impaler monster truck

Having a few armored cars for dangerous missions or fighting other players is essential. I love cruising around Los Santos in my nearly indestructible Impaler that I earned just by playing Casino Work jobs!

Steal Gang Cars for Free Custom Rides

Various gangs around Los Santos like the Ballas and the Families drive specially colored cars that can‘t be found anywhere else. These unique lowriders and tuners are prime targets to steal and make your own!

For example, green Tornados driven by the Ballas look amazing with a custom paint job and upgrades. Here are the gang cars to look out for:

Ballas – Green Declasse Tornado

Vagos – Blue Vapid Peyote

Families – Yellow Albany Manana

Use the in-game phone or minimap to locate gang activities, then sneak in quietly and snag one of their cars when the gang members aren‘t looking. Avoid getting blasted in a shootout – stealthily steal it and get away clean.

Once acquired, spend some cash at Los Santos Customs to erase the gang colors and logos. Then pimp the car out with custom rims, stereo system, hydraulics and more to create your own sweet lowrider or tuner totally free!

Search Obscure Locations for Hidden Gems

Cruising around the massive open world of Los Santos, you may stumble across rare and beautiful cars conveniently parked unattended. Finding them and taking off before the owner notices is a thrill!

These proudly displayed cars can be stolen if you‘re sneaky and taken directly to your garage. Some hidden gems I‘ve discovered include:

  • Coil Voltic – Parked near the Ferris wheel on Del Perro Pier, an electric sports car.

  • BF Surfer – Spawns driving around the Alamo Sea, an old VW hippie van.

  • Bravado Youga 4X4 – At the Cable Car station on Mount Chiliad, a rare off-road van.

I‘ve found secret stashes at the bottom of cliffs, near eerie shipwrecks, and in weird hippies-only enclaves. Part of the fun is exploring the enormous map and searching every corner to uncover what interesting cars might be waiting there.

Acquire Aircraft by Completing Flight School

Looking for free planes and helicopters? Complete all the lessons at the Los Santos Flight School located right at the airport. This will challenge your flying skills in all kinds of aircraft as you practice take offs, landings, low altitude flying and more.

Finish all 16 flight school challenges successfully, and you‘ll be rewarded with a free Western Company Maverick helicopter worth $780k! Plus you‘ll gain the flight skills needed to earn big bucks as a pilot in missions, heists, and smuggling runs.

I attend flight school between big jobs to refine my chopper skills so I‘m ready for demanding aerial combat and stunts. The free helicopter for graduating makes it very worthwhile.

Subscribe to GTA+ for Monthly Free Cars

Recently, Rockstar debuted GTA+, a premium subscription for $5.99 a month that grants extra bonuses and perks. One of the best perks for car lovers? Access to free vehicles that rotate monthly!

Previous free monthly cars have included:

  • Lampadati Corsita sports car
  • HSW Time Trial Vehicle – Pegassi Weaponized Ignus
  • Übermacht Zion Classic

Plus members get extra GTA$ bonuses to purchase even more cars and properties. If you play regularly, the perks easily outweigh the small subscription cost. Having new free cars continuously added to your collection is a dream!

Participate in Limited Time Events

Rockstar loves putting special limited time events that offer all kinds of bonuses, discounts, and free items. Log in during holiday events to receive exclusive vehicles for free like armored trucks on Independence Day or muscle cars on Memorial Day.

Contests and collaborations also give away cars – for instance players got the amazing Grotti Brioso 300 for free just for logging in during a F1 racing event week. I never miss a holiday or special event for the chance at new wheels to show off!

Loot Junkyards and Impound Lots

If you don‘t mind getting your hands dirty, both junkyards and police impound lots contain worn out, damaged cars that can be looted for free.

The Harmony junkyard north of the Grand Senora desert has piles of abandoned junkers to dig through. And the impound lot under Olympic Freeway in La Mesa always has suspects‘ seized tuner cars.

These wrecks need serious mechanical work and customization to function, but with enough time and cash spent you can transform them into truly unique rides. I love taking busted cars and fully restoring them into gems – it just takes some dedicated elbow grease!

Exploit Glitches at Your Own Risk

While I don‘t recommend cheating or violating the game‘s Terms of Service, occasionally bizarre glitches have allowed players to obtain pricey vehicles for free or very cheap. A few past exploits include:

  • Using the car duplication glitch to create copies of purchased vehicles from garages and sell the copies for cash.

  • Repeatedly entering/exiting the casino garage before the timer expires to win the Lucky Wheel podium vehicle over and over.

  • Overflowing the limit of Personal Vehicles stored to win multiple free podium cars.

Again, I‘m absolutely not recommending exploiting glitches – just presenting them for informational purposes. Personally I play clean to avoid any chance of a ban. But knowledge is power!

Progress to Unlock Free Car Rewards

Simply by leveling up and gaining reputation in GTA Online, you‘ll unlock access to some incredible free vehicles! These serve both as milestones and as gifts for dedicated players.

  • Reach rank 100 – Free Nagasaki Buzzard attack helicopter

  • Achieve maximum Reputation Points – Free Declasse Mamba sports car

  • Become a VIP – Free Buckingham Luxor Deluxe private jet

  • Buy an Executive Office – Free Volatus luxury helicopter

I highly recommend focusing on boosting your RP early on to hit these unlocks ASAP. Having an attack helicopter at your beck and call is incredibly helpful during all kinds of missions and it didn‘t cost me a dime!

Score Free Cars with Property Ownership

Owning certain properties and businesses around Los Santos comes with complimentary vehicles to utilize:

  • Buy a Hangar – Free Western Company Cuban 800 plane for air smuggling

  • Purchase a Facility – Free Bravado Rune FAV armored truck

  • Get a Nightclub – Free Speedo Custom armored van

  • Acquire an Arcade – Free Vapid Retinue Mk II muscle car

Always check what free car comes with any business you buy – it‘s a huge bonus on top of the property. I exclusively choose ones with sweet free rides to expand my collection.

Choose a Returning Player Bonus Car

If you take a break from GTA Online for a while, Rockstar entices you back with free stuff! I make sure to go on hiatus for a month or two, then return so I can pick a free car as a reward.

The vehicles they offer rotate frequently, and can include rare supercars, motorcycles and more. As long as I keep taking strategic breaks, I can earn multiple amazing free cars from returning player bonuses.

Borrow Vehicles as an Associate/Bodyguard

Here‘s a great trick: join another player‘s organization or motorcycle club as an associate or bodyguard. You‘ll gain access to borrow their personal vehicle at any time!

Just open the interaction menu and request their car. You can drive it freely until you leave their MC. It‘s an easy way to take incredible rare cars acquired by other players out for a spin.

Trade Race Wins to Unlock Mods Fast

Want to upgrade and customize cars but hate the slow pace of unlocking mods through racing? Find a friend and trade wins during street races to speed up the process.

Simply let them win first, then you win, repeating back and forth. Every win unlocks new visual and performance mods to customize your car. Trading wins accelerates the unlocking tremendously – then apply all the best mods to your car for free!

Steal Mission-Specific Cars

During some missions, unique NPC-controlled cars will appear that don‘t normally spawn in the game world. If you can steal one of these rare whips and store it before the mission ends, you can keep an exclusive ride!

For example, intercept the armored Enus XLS limo during the Prison Break – Station heist finale and store it during the mission, and its yours. The XLS is the perfect combination of speed and armor. Just don‘t fail the mission trying to grab a car.

Wait for Discounts on Your Dream Rides

Every week Rockstar offers new discounts on properties, vehicles, upgrades and more. By waiting patiently for supercars and other hot vehicles to get discounted, you can snag them for way less money.

I have email notifications turned on for Rockstar‘s Newswire so I instantly see the latest deals. Then I pounce on any car I‘ve had my eye on when it goes 25-50% off! With this strategy I‘ve bought $3 million supers for only $1.5 million. A little patience goes a long way.

Earn Cash Rewards from Stone Hatchet/Revolver

Complete the special Red Dead Redemption 2 themed challenges in GTA Online to earn serious bank – over half a million dollars!

The Stone Hatchet challenge pays out $250k, while the Double Action Revolver challenge nets you another $250k. Knock them both out back-to-back. Then you can spend your $500k earnings on any amazing new car.

I did these immediately on a new character to give my bank account a major boost right off the bat. That cash gave me a huge leg up on buying weapons, businesses, and vehicles early on.

Start Small With Starter Cars

When initially starting Grand Theft Auto Online, you‘ll want to purchase affordable low-end cars while saving up for bigger things. Here are some great options for starter whips:

  • BF Bifta buggy – $75,000

  • Bravado Banshee sports – $105,000

  • Albany Primo sedan – $9,000

  • Dinka Blista compact – $80,000

Don‘t waste money on anything fancy until your bank account grows. Focus on cheap but versatile cars you can use for all kinds of missions and jobs. Once you start successfully building wealth, trade up to higher-end vehicles.

Score the Free Elegy RH8 Super Car

Here‘s an amazing deal – visit Legendary Motorsport and get the Elegy RH8 supercar for $95,000. Wait, did I say get it for FREE? That‘s right, the Elegy RH8 is entirely free and insanely good.

Despite costing nothing, it has great speed and handling, plus tons of customization options. Every GTA Online player should immediately grab this free sports car to roam Los Santos in speed and style. Treat it well until you can afford more expensive rides.

Amass Wealth and Buy Whatever You Want

While less exciting than exploits, the tried and true way to get free cars in GTA Online is simply making money. By earning cash through missions, heists, businesses and levelling up, you‘ll eventually amass enough wealth to purchase anything you want!

It just takes time and discipline – avoid unnecessary purchases, invest cash into profitable properties, take advantage of weekly bonuses, and keep grinding jobs. The more money in your account, the more fabulous cars you can add to your collection.

Slowly build your bank account and one day you‘ll afford that $4 million flying DeLorean you‘ve always dreamed of!

In Conclusion

Thanks for joining me on this tour of all the best ways to get free cars in GTA Online! Let‘s do a quick recap:

  • Utilize the Diamond Casino Lucky Wheel‘s free weekly cars
  • Complete Casino Story and Work missions
  • Steal rare gang and hidden vehicles
  • Graduate flight school for free helicopters
  • Subscribe to GTA+ for monthly car perks
  • Cash in on limited time events and contests
  • Explore junkyards and impound lots for forgotten gems
  • Unlock milestone car rewards by levelling up
  • Receive free property vehicles like helicopters and planes
  • Take advantage of returning player bonuses
  • Borrow cars as an associate/bodyguard
  • Trade race wins with friends to unlock modification discounts
  • Carefully exploit certain glitches at your own risk
  • Save up money through missions to eventually buy anything

With all these strategies, you‘ll be rolling in exotic supercars, armored muscle beasts, weaponized trucks, customized tuners, and luxurious aircraft before you know it. Just play regularly and take advantage of every opportunity. Patience and dedication pays off!

Now get out there, grind some missions, and start filling the most amazing virtual dream garage ever assembled. I‘ll see you on the road!

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Michael

Michael Reddy is a tech enthusiast, entertainment buff, and avid traveler who loves exploring Linux and sharing unique insights with readers.