GTA 6 Car Customization: Tuning, Mod Shops and Vehicle Upgrades

GTA 6 will feature vehicle customization, tuning shops and both visual and performance-oriented modifications.

Rob Nelson also confirms a practical split between services: Pay & Spray can repair vehicles and change their color, while more elaborate paintwork requires a tuning shop.

Rockstar has named two particularly detailed mod shops: Rideout Customs in Vice City and One-Eyed Willie’s in Lake Leonida.

Both are part of the Ultimate Edition content. That restricts those particular destinations. It does not establish that all GTA 6 vehicle customization requires Ultimate: Nelson separately discusses tuning shops as part of the broader vehicle system.

Quick answer

Question	Answer
Can you customize cars in GTA 6?	Yes
Are tuning shops confirmed?	Yes
Can Pay & Spray modify vehicles?	It can repair and repaint them
Is more elaborate paint handled elsewhere?	Yes, Nelson points to tuning shops
Is Rideout Customs confirmed?	Yes
Is One-Eyed Willie’s confirmed?	Yes
Are those two shops tied to Ultimate Edition?	Yes
Does all tuning require Ultimate?	Not established
Can interiors be customized?	Yes, documented at Rideout Customs
Are custom rims documented?	Yes
Is donk styling documented?	Yes
Are off-road modifications documented?	Yes, at One-Eyed Willie’s
Is custom automotive artwork documented?	Yes
Are performance mods documented?	The edition announcement described them, but no categories or stats have been published
Are engine levels, turbo or transmission upgrades confirmed?	No
Can every stolen car be fully modified?	Unknown
Is classic-car restoration confirmed?	Yes, through Wyman content attached to Ultimate
Does Jason’s Vapid Ganado have a custom build?	Yes

What we know about GTA 6 vehicle customization

The pre-release evidence currently gives us three layers.

General customization: Nelson confirms tuning shops and says more elaborate work exists beyond Pay & Spray’s basic repainting.

Named businesses: Rockstar has announced Rideout Customs and One-Eyed Willie’s.

Edition content: those two businesses are specifically offered as Ultimate Edition destinations alongside additional vehicles and activities.

The complete modification menu has not been published.

There is still no official list covering every part, price, statistic and compatible vehicle.

Pay & Spray and tuning shops have different jobs

In his Famitsu interview, Nelson says Pay & Spray can:

• repair a vehicle;
• change its color;
• help shed Heat through a repaint;
• take part in the process of registering a stolen vehicle as your own.

For more elaborate paintwork, he points players toward a tuning shop.

The known structure is therefore:

Pay & Spray → repair and basic repaint

tuning shop → more elaborate customization

The complete service list for either type of business remains unknown.

See:

GTA 6 car theft and registration

Rideout Customs focuses on detailed visual builds

Rockstar lists Rideout Customs Mod Shop as part of the Ultimate Edition Upgrade.

Published material describes vehicle transformations involving:

• detailed interiors;
• rims;
• donk styling.

The presentation is heavily visual.

Donk builds are associated with a distinctive stance and oversized wheels, but we should stop at the options Rockstar has actually documented for GTA 6.

The exact menus and number of variants remain unpublished.

One-Eyed Willie’s specializes in off-road work

The second named shop is One-Eyed Willie’s in Lake Leonida.

Rockstar describes it as specializing in:

• off-road modifications;
• hand-painted automotive artistry.

That gives the two shops different identities.

Rideout leans into highly styled street builds.

One-Eyed Willie’s focuses on off-road vehicles and painted work.

We do not yet know the full list of off-road parts.

Several visual modification categories are documented

The current evidence supports a useful list.

Modification	Status
Color changes at Pay & Spray	DIRECT ROB NELSON
More elaborate paint at tuning shops	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Detailed interiors	OFFICIAL / RIDEOUT CUSTOMS
Rims	OFFICIAL / RIDEOUT CUSTOMS
Donk styling	OFFICIAL / RIDEOUT CUSTOMS
Hand-painted automotive art	OFFICIAL / ONE-EYED WILLIE’S
Off-road mods	OFFICIAL / ONE-EYED WILLIE’S
Ganado Retro Build	OFFICIAL
Specific liveries/designs	SHOWN / EDITION MATERIAL

This is not the complete customization catalog.

Performance-based modifications have also been described

Rockstar’s June edition announcement was reproduced by multiple outlets with wording describing the mod shops as offering both artistic and performance-based vehicle mods.

That supports the existence of a performance-upgrade category.

The actual categories remain unpublished.

Rockstar has not confirmed a GTA 6 list containing:

• engine levels;
• brakes;
• transmission;
• turbo;
• suspension;
• armor;
• bulletproof tires.

Their existence in GTA V or GTA Online is not evidence that they return unchanged here.

Visual changes and performance stats need separate evidence

The existence of performance tuning does not mean every visual modification affects vehicle statistics.

For now, keep the distinction simple:

visual → changes how the vehicle looks

performance → changes how it behaves

Rockstar has not published the exact effects on:

• acceleration;
• top speed;
• braking;
• grip;
• durability;
• weight;
• off-road performance;
• individual upgrade values.

Jason’s Vapid Ganado has a Retro Build

Rockstar has announced the Ganado Retro Build for Jason’s well-worn Vapid Ganado pickup.

The current official description says it adds exclusive modifications with more muscle and classic styling.

Copies of the original announcement preserved by multiple outlets also described details including a cab spoiler, rear aerials and a special livery.

For this guide, the important fact is simpler:

GTA 6 already has at least one documented example of a specific vehicle receiving its own named custom build.

The Ganado Retro Build is Ultimate Edition content.

We do not yet know whether each of its parts can also be purchased separately for the standard Ganado.

Ultimate Edition includes two special mod shops

Rockstar Support lists the following inside the Ultimate Edition Upgrade:

• Rideout Customs Mod Shop;
• One-Eyed Willie’s Mod Shop;
• Ganado Retro Build;
• Classic Car Collection;
• other vehicles and businesses.

Xbox goes further and describes Rideout and One-Eyed Willie’s as special destinations that only open with Ultimate Edition.

That gives us a firm boundary:

Rideout Customs and One-Eyed Willie’s are Ultimate-linked destinations.

It does not define the entire GTA 6 tuning system.

Ultimate Edition does not establish that all tuning is paywalled

Nelson discusses tuning shops while describing normal vehicle ownership, Pay & Spray and repainting.

He does not restrict that general function to Ultimate.

The safest current wording is:

Rockstar has announced specific customization shops and content associated with the Ultimate Edition. It has not yet publicly detailed the full tuning system available in the Standard Edition.

We should not write:

You need Ultimate Edition to customize cars.

We also do not yet know how many standard tuning shops exist.

Personal vehicles connect tuning with persistence

GTA 6 distinguishes between a temporarily stolen vehicle and a registered personal vehicle.

Nelson says a stolen car can be registered as your own.

Players begin with three storage slots, while garages purchased around Leonida allow them to own more vehicles.

That creates a clear vehicle loop:

get a car → register it → make it personal → store it → keep using it

Customization fits naturally into that ownership loop, although Rockstar has not published every rule connecting registration and tuning.

See:

GTA 6 safehouses and garages

We do not know whether registration is required for deep tuning

This remains an important gap.

Nelson’s interview does place stolen vehicles inside the Pay & Spray loop for:

• valuation;
• repair;
• repainting;
• registration.

It does not establish a universal rule saying:

only registered vehicles can enter tuning shops.

It also does not establish:

any stolen car can receive every advanced modification before registration.

Current status:

advanced customization of unregistered stolen vehicles → UNKNOWN.

Stolen cars can become personal vehicles

This part is documented.

Nelson says stolen vehicles can be registered and converted into personal vehicles.

Registered vehicles have different persistence from temporary stolen cars.

An unregistered stolen vehicle can remain around temporarily but disappear after restarting the game.

Ownership therefore matters for a car you intend to keep.

The tuning rules at each stage remain partly undocumented.

Garages increase how many vehicles you can keep

Players begin with storage for three registered vehicles.

Buying garages around the map expands that capacity.

The garage and the mod shop therefore solve different problems:

garage → ownership and storage

mod shop → customization

Specific locations may combine functions, but we should not assume that by default.

Rockstar has also announced edition-specific garages tied to particular vehicles.

Vehicle appearance can matter during Heat

A vehicle is part of the police identification system.

Nelson says police can search for a suspect using information about the vehicle being driven.

He also confirms that repainting at Pay & Spray can help the player escape Heat.

The practical sequence can be:

crime → police know the vehicle → repaint it → part of the description stops matching

That gives vehicle appearance a gameplay use beyond style.

See:

GTA 6 police and wanted system

A repaint does not automatically erase every police problem

Changing color helps alter the description.

It does not establish that any customization instantly turns a wanted vehicle into a completely clean one.

Nelson also describes trackers on higher-end stolen cars and the risk of police recognizing wanted vehicles later.

Registration, trackers, vehicle descriptions and customization are connected systems.

They are not interchangeable.

Rideout and One-Eyed Willie’s do not replace Pay & Spray

The published evidence currently points to different roles.

Location	Documented role
Pay & Spray	Repairs, basic repainting, registration and part of the stolen-car selling loop
Generic tuning shop	More elaborate paintwork
Rideout Customs	Interiors, rims, donk and detailed customization
One-Eyed Willie’s	Off-road modifications and hand-painted automotive art
Garage	Personal-vehicle storage

This table only covers currently documented functions.

Services may overlap in the final game.

Wyman has a classic-car restoration activity

Ultimate Edition includes a Classic Car Collection connected to Wyman.

The official description tells players to track down project cars and revitalize them as part of a commission for the eccentric collector and local fixer.

That establishes:

• searching for project cars;
• restoring or revitalizing them;
• Wyman as the person commissioning the activity.

The technical restoration process has not been described.

Restoration does not confirm a full parts simulator

The word “restore” leaves many mechanics open.

We do not know whether the activity includes:

• buying individual parts;
• dismantling engines;
• repairing body panels separately;
• choosing mechanical components;
• auctions;
• buying and selling restored cars;
• restoration grades;
• quality scores;
• a permanent collection display.

The activity is confirmed.

Its full process is not.

The Classic Car Collection is also Ultimate content

Rockstar Support lists Classic Car Collection inside the Ultimate Edition Upgrade.

The Wyman activity currently described by Rockstar is therefore tied to that package.

That does not prove the base game lacks classic cars, project vehicles, workshops or every possible form of restoration.

It only defines the specific activity Rockstar has announced.

What Ultimate adds and what we know about Standard Edition

Feature	Current status
Tuning shops as a general concept	CONFIRMED by Nelson
Advanced paint through tuning shop	CONFIRMED by Nelson
Rideout Customs	ULTIMATE EDITION
One-Eyed Willie’s	ULTIMATE EDITION
Ganado Retro Build	ULTIMATE EDITION
Wyman Classic Car Collection	ULTIMATE EDITION
Full Standard Edition tuning catalog	NOT PUBLISHED
Named Standard Edition tuning shops	NOT PUBLISHED in these sources
Specific performance upgrades	NOT PUBLISHED
Prices	NOT PUBLISHED

That distinction matters because current search results frequently mix premium destinations with the entire customization system.

What remains unconfirmed

Rockstar has not published a complete list covering:

• engine upgrades;
• transmission;
• turbo;
• brakes;
• suspension;
• armor;
• bulletproof tires;
• neon;
• hydraulics;
• custom license plates;
• number of wheels;
• number of paint options;
• number of interiors;
• exact statistics;
• prices;
• unlock requirements;
• vehicle compatibility;
• whether any stolen car can be fully customized;
• whether registration is required first;
• insurance;
• workshop-installed trackers;
• selling directly from mod shops;
• tuning in any future online mode.

We should also avoid calling any GTA 6 location Los Santos Customs or Benny’s unless Rockstar does so.

Evidence status

Claim	Status
Tuning shops exist	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Pay & Spray repairs vehicles	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Pay & Spray can repaint vehicles	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Elaborate paint requires a tuning shop	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Rideout Customs exists	OFFICIAL
One-Eyed Willie’s exists	OFFICIAL
Rideout offers interiors, rims and donk styling	OFFICIAL / XBOX
One-Eyed specializes in off-road work and hand-painted art	OFFICIAL / XBOX
Rideout and One-Eyed are Ultimate destinations	OFFICIAL
Artistic and performance-based mods	REPORTED / REPRODUCED ROCKSTAR ANNOUNCEMENT
Ganado Retro Build has exclusive mods	OFFICIAL
Stolen vehicles can be registered	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Garages expand vehicle capacity	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Repainting can help with Heat	DIRECT ROB NELSON
Wyman commissions project-car restoration	OFFICIAL / XBOX
Classic Car Collection is Ultimate content	OFFICIAL
All tuning is Ultimate-exclusive	NOT CONFIRMED
Every stolen vehicle can be customized	NOT CONFIRMED
Specific engine/turbo/transmission upgrades	NOT CONFIRMED
System identical to GTA Online	NOT CONFIRMED

What we will test at launch

Mod shops

• locations;
• access;
• opening hours;
• services;
• differences between shops.

Visual customization

• paint;
• liveries;
• bodywork;
• interiors;
• wheels;
• donk builds;
• off-road parts;
• accessories.

Performance

• acceleration;
• top speed;
• braking;
• grip;
• durability;
• off-road behavior;
• measurable effect of each upgrade.

Ownership

• stolen vehicles;
• registration;
• personal vehicles;
• garages;
• persistence;
• loss and recovery.

Police

• repainting;
• identification;
• Heat;
• trackers;
• wanted vehicles.

Classic cars

• Wyman;
• project cars;
• restoration;
• parts;
• storage;
• rewards.

FAQ

Can you customize cars in GTA 6?

Yes.

Rob Nelson confirms tuning shops, while Rockstar has announced several specific customization locations and builds.

Are there mod shops in GTA 6?

Yes.

Pay & Spray returns, and Rockstar has also announced Rideout Customs and One-Eyed Willie’s.

What can you customize?

Documented examples include repainting, detailed interiors, rims, donk styling, off-road modifications, hand-painted work and specific custom builds.

Rockstar has not published the full catalog.

Are there performance upgrades?

The edition announcement described artistic and performance-based vehicle mods.

Specific categories and statistics remain unpublished.

Does Rideout Customs require Ultimate Edition?

Yes.

Rockstar presents Rideout as a special Ultimate Edition destination.

Does One-Eyed Willie’s require Ultimate Edition?

Yes.

Do you need Ultimate Edition to customize any car?

That has not been established.

Nelson discusses tuning shops as part of the game’s broader vehicle systems.

Can you customize a stolen car?

We know stolen vehicles can be repaired, repainted and registered.

The exact rules for advanced customization before registration are still unknown.

Can you keep a stolen car?

Yes.

It can be registered as a personal vehicle if you have storage space.

Do garages store personal cars?

Yes.

Purchasing garages expands the number of vehicles you can keep.

Can repainting help you escape police?

Yes.

Nelson says a repaint can help the vehicle stop matching the description used during Heat.

Is classic-car restoration in GTA 6?

Yes.

Ultimate Edition includes a Wyman commission involving tracking down and revitalizing project cars.

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More GTA 6 guides

GTA 6 car theft and registration

GTA 6 safehouses and garages

GTA 6 police and wanted system

GTA 6 fast travel and RydeMe

GTA 6 character customization

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Sources

Rockstar Games — Grand Theft Auto VI: Editions

Rockstar Support — Grand Theft Auto VI Platforms, Editions and Versions

Xbox — Grand Theft Auto VI: Ultimate Edition

Famitsu — direct Rob Nelson interview, August 28, 2026

Rockstar June 2026 edition announcement as contemporaneously reproduced by multiple outlets — vehicle mod shops and artistic/performance-based modifications

Last checked: October 5, 2026.