Quick Answer
There are a few ways to permanently keep a car in GTA 5:
- Store it in a purchased garage
- Make it your personal vehicle
- Use a trainer or mod menu (PC only)
The best method is to purchase a garage and store the car inside. This will save the car permanently as long as you don’t replace it with another vehicle. You can also use mods or trainers on PC to lock the car in place so it doesn’t despawn.
Storing the Car in a Purchased Garage
The most reliable way to permanently keep a car in GTA 5 is to purchase a garage and store the car inside. Here’s how it works:
- Buy a garage. You can purchase garages at the Dynasty 8 Real Estate website on your in-game phone. There are several locations to choose from.
- Drive the car you want to keep into the garage. Exit the vehicle so it saves.
- Do not drive any other vehicles into the same garage or you will overwrite the saved car. Each garage can hold only one vehicle.
As long as you don’t replace the car, it will remain permanently stored in the garage. You can retrieve it anytime by simply walking into the garage. This is the best way to hang onto rare or customized vehicles long-term.
Some tips for storing vehicles:
- The most car storage slots can be obtained at the Eclipse Towers garage, Unit 31.
- Try storing expensive or rare cars to get your money’s worth from the garage.
- You don’t have to purchase the most expensive garages. Even a cheap 2-car garage will do.
Important Notes on Garage Storage
There are some caveats to be aware of when storing a car in a garage:
– If the car is a special vehicle like a police cruiser or taxi, it may still eventually despawn even if stored.
– Destroyed or damaged vehicles may disappear even from garages in certain situations. Try to store only undamaged cars.
– If the garage fills up with too many wrecked cars, some may start despawning again. Keep only pristine vehicles inside.
– Storing expensive or upgraded cars is recommended. With normal cars it may not be worth buying a garage just to keep them.
But in general, purchasing a garage and parking your car of choice inside is the surest way to keep it. Just don’t drive any other cars into the same garage unit and your vehicle will remain permanently saved.
Making the Car Your Personal Vehicle
Another option is to make the car your personal vehicle. This locks it as your default car that will usually spawn near you:
- Drive the car you want to keep.
- Open the Interaction Menu by holding down the Back/Select button.
- Scroll down to Vehicles and select Request Personal Vehicle.
Now your current car is set as your personal vehicle. It will spawn parked near your location in most situations.
However, this method isn’t as reliable as garage storage. The personal vehicle will still periodically despawn and respawn. But it should always respawn provided you don’t change it or destroy it.
Tips for Personal Vehicles
- You can only have one personal vehicle at a time.
- Avoid setting special vehicles like police cars as you may not be able to respawn them.
- Your personal vehicle will spawn a short distance away rather than directly next to you.
Having a car as your default personal vehicle won’t permanently save it like a garage, but it does make the car more persistent. Just don’t expect it to be immune from all despawning.
Using Mods and Trainers (PC Only)
On PC, you can use mods or trainers to manipulate vehicle spawning in GTA 5:
- Spawn mods – These mods let you spawn any vehicle at will. The car won’t despawn unless you get rid of it manually. Useful for spawning rare cars.
- Vehicle save mods – These force the game to permanently save a car in its current state. Makes any vehicle 100% persistent.
- Trainers – Menu-based game mods with options to fix cars in place, prevent despawning, and more. Similar to save mods.
These methods are only available on PC. Console players unfortunately cannot use mods or trainers. But for PC, they provide the most control over permanently saving vehicles.
The main downsides are mods and trainers disable earning GTA Online achievements. And poorly made mods may cause bugs or crashes. But reputable mods are safe and let you keep any car infinitely.
Finding Good Vehicle Mods
Some recommendations for spawn/save mods and trainers:
- Menyoo SP – Includes vehicle save and lock options plus extensive spawning.
- Enhanced Native Trainer – Feature-packed trainer with anti-despawn settings.
- Simple Trainer – More lightweight trainer with vehicle saving features.
Always get mods from trusted sources like GTA5-Mods.com. Avoid shady sites to prevent downloading malware or viruses.
Preventing Despawning When Parked
Even if you can’t permanently save a car, there are some tricks to keep parked vehicles from disappearing in the short term:
– Park your car in your purchased garage. It won’t stay forever but is less likely to vanish.
– Upgrade or customize the vehicle. More heavily modified cars are less prone to despawning.
– Leave the engine running. Vehicles left idling are less likely to be removed by the game.
– Park in hidden locations off the street. Cars left on roads and paths are more prone to vanishing.
– Enable passive mode. Other players can’t destroy your unoccupied car in passive.
– Use the Interaction Menu to turn on vehicle access so no one can steal your car. They still can destroy it though.
These tricks only prevent short term despawning. But they do help extend the time a car will stick around when left parked in the open world.
Conclusion
To summarize the key points:
– Purchasing a garage and storing your car inside is the only true way to permanently save a vehicle in GTA Online.
– Making a car your personal vehicle helps by respawning it nearby, but doesn’t prevent all despawning.
– Mods and trainers offer unlimited saving and spawning on PC, but aren’t available on console.
– Various parking tricks like idling the engine and enabling passive mode can temporarily delay despawning.
So invest in a garage if you really want to keep that rare supercar forever! And try parking tricks if you need a non-permanent solution. With the right methods, you’ll never have to lose your favorite GTA 5 vehicles again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does blowing up a personal vehicle make it go away permanently?
No, your personal vehicle will respawn after being destroyed. However, it may take some time to respawn. Repeatedly blowing up your personal car can increase the time it takes to come back.
Can other players take a car from your garage?
No, other players cannot steal cars stored in your purchased garages. Your garage vehicles are safe from being taken. However, they could still destroy personal vehicles parked outside.
What’s the best garage for storing cars in GTA Online?
The Eclipse Towers garage is popular since it provides up to 31 parking spaces depending on your purchased unit. This provides room to amass a large collection of stored vehicles.
Do special vehicles like police cars stay permanently in garages?
Unfortunately no – cars with unique spawning like police vehicles will still eventually disappear even when stored in a garage. For full permanence, store standard civilian vehicles.
Can I use mods to get free garages and save any car?
Some mods may allow spawning free garages or saving without needing to purchase parking. But use mods at your own risk – cheating or hacking the game can lead to account bans.
