Want to turn a stolen sports car or an unused garage vehicle into cash? Here is how to sell cars in GTA 5, in short: you can only do it in GTA Online, by driving the vehicle into a Los Santos Customs garage and choosing Sell. Story Mode has no sell option at all. Below are the steps, the payouts and the limits Rockstar has added.
A quick note if you came from our GTA 5 apk page: Grand Theft Auto V officially runs on PC, PlayStation and Xbox only. Everything in this guide applies to those versions.
Can You Sell Cars in Story Mode?
No. In Story Mode, Los Santos Customs only repairs, resprays and upgrades vehicles. Michael, Franklin and Trevor can buy cars from the in-game websites, but there is no way to get money back for them. To get rid of one, destroy it or leave it on the street to be impounded. Everything below applies to GTA Online.
How to Sell a Car at Los Santos Customs
- Get the car. It can be a vehicle you own or one you take off the street.
- Drive to a Los Santos Customs garage. There are four on the map: near Los Santos International Airport, in La Mesa, in Burton and on Route 68 in the Grand Senora Desert. The spray-can icon marks each one.
- Drive inside. If the car is damaged, the repair is paid first, so a clean car earns more.
- Open the Sell option in the menu, check the price on the confirmation screen and confirm.
The menu uses your normal confirm and back buttons: Enter and Backspace on PC, Cross and Circle on PlayStation, A and B on Xbox. If Sell is greyed out or you get a message that the shop does not need any vehicles, you have hit one of the limits below.
Selling Stolen Street Cars
According to the GTA Wiki, stolen cars follow their own rules:
- You can sell one street car per in-game day, which is 48 real minutes.
- An undamaged car pays about 10% of its value when new, so a $30,000 car earns roughly $3,000.
- Cars worth more than $100,000 new are “too hot” and cannot be sold if stolen. Motorbikes have a lower cap.
- Vehicles that spawn during freemode activities cannot enter the garage at all.
- The cash goes to your wallet rather than your bank, so deposit it from your phone before someone robs you.
Some pre-modified cars that appear around the map, such as the visually customised gang cars in south and east Los Santos, sell for more because the payout includes their upgrades. Rockstar Support also notes a separate daily limit on selling stolen vehicles for profit: if you see “daily limit reached”, wait at least 24 hours, and longer if you sell often.
Selling Personal Vehicles
A car you bought and stored in your garage is a personal vehicle. When you sell it at Los Santos Customs, the GTA Wiki lists the return as 60% of the purchase price plus 50% of what you spent on upgrades. The money goes straight to your bank.
Two changes make mass selling much less profitable than it used to be. Data miners reported in 2023 that the number of personal vehicles you can sell in 24 hours was cut, and in February 2024 RockstarINTEL reported a sliding scale: the first car you sell gets the full price, the second 50%, the third 20% and any more just 5%, until 18 real hours have passed. Rockstar has not published these figures, so always check the price on the confirmation screen.
Free vehicles, such as event rewards, are worth far less than their store price, so check the offer first.
Other Ways to Make Money From Cars
Los Santos Customs is only the simplest route. GTA Online also has dedicated vehicle businesses:
- Export requests from Simeon, sent by text, which pay for delivering specific cars.
- Vehicle Cargo, the import and export business run from a CEO Vehicle Warehouse.
- Exotic Exports, a daily list of cars to deliver once you own an Auto Shop.
- Salvage Yard robberies, added in The Chop Shop update in December 2023.
Each needs its own GTA Online property, so they suit players who already have some income.
Tips for Getting the Best Price
- Avoid damage on the way. Every repair comes out of your payout.
- Sell your most valuable personal vehicle first, while you still get the full price.
- Do not upgrade a car just to sell it. Upgrades return only half their cost.
These rules are the same in GTA Online on the original and the new PC builds. If you are still choosing between them, see our Legacy vs Enhanced comparison next.
FAQs
Can you sell cars in GTA 5 Story Mode?
No. Story Mode has no sell option. Los Santos Customs only repairs and upgrades cars there.
Where do you sell cars in GTA Online?
At any of the four Los Santos Customs garages: near the airport, in La Mesa, in Burton and on Route 68 in the Grand Senora Desert.
Why can’t I sell a stolen car?
It is probably “too hot”. Street cars worth more than $100,000 new cannot be sold, and you can only sell one stolen car per in-game day.
How much do personal vehicles sell for?
About 60% of the purchase price plus 50% of the upgrade cost for the first sale. Later sales within a day reportedly pay less.
Is there a daily selling limit?
Yes. Rockstar Support says frequent stolen-car sales trigger a daily limit; wait at least 24 hours. Personal vehicle sales also have a 24-hour cap.
Pranav Iyengar is a long-time gamer who first explored Los Santos on a borrowed PS3 in 2013 and has replayed GTA V on PC and PS5 many times since. He writes the guides on GTA Pocket Hub in plain language, covering official ways to play, phone and PC settings, missions and safety. He holds no gaming qualifications; every tip comes from his own playthroughs and testing.
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