GTA Online: Auto Shop Money Guide (Los Santos Tuners DLC)

The Los Santos Tuners update is one of the most impressive updates ever added to GTA Online. Not only did it give us a new instanced interior for showing off your ride without fear of griefers, it also added new cars, missions, and even a brand new business: the auto shop.

Below is our complete Auto Shop Money Guide for GTA Online. This walkthrough includes tips on how to get started, how to make money with your auto shop, and how to launch the newly added contract missions. Strap in, because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

Getting Started with the Auto Shop

Maze Bank gta online
Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

To purchase your very own auto shop, the first thing you’ll need to do is pull out your in-game phone and head to Maze Bank Foreclosures. From here, just select the “auto shop” category and take a look at your options. The prices of these auto shops range from $1.67M to $1.92M, and there are five different locations to choose from.

Every location can be found in Los Santos, and they are all viable for vehicle deliveries and missions. If you’re looking for the best location, however, I recommend the one in Burton. This location is great as most of the contract missions take place all around the city and in Blane County. The Burton auto shop is located right in the center of it all, which makes missions and deliveries a breeze.

Now that you’ve made your purchase, it’s time to head over to your auto shop and complete the setup mission. Keep in mind that you’ll need to be registered as a CEO or own a motorcycle club in order to complete it. Just walk upstairs to the big white board in the back of the room and interact with it to start.

The set up mission is very straightforward. Sessanta’s car has been impounded by the police, and she needs you to steal it back. Head over to the police station and snag the car when no one is looking (or go in guns blazing, if that’s your thing), and drive it back to your auto shop. Now that everything is ready, we can get onto the fun part: making money.

Repair Business

Every now and then, a car will spawn inside of your auto shop. These cars are brought in by customers asking for specific upgrades and customizations for their rides. After you receive a text from Sessanta saying a new car has arrived, go to your auto shop. Then just walk up to one and press the interact button to being pimping it out.

From there, just read the white text at the bottom of the screen. This will tell you what upgrades the customer wants for their car. Get everything just right, and you can start the delivery mission. Delivering cars is pretty easy to do. Just follow the GPS marker to the customer’s house, and try not to scratch the car! The repair costs are subtracted from your final pay if the vehicle is damaged.

Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

Generally, this is a pretty slow process, and it takes a while to make decent money with it. But if you’re willing to buy the right upgrades for your business. you can make good passive income in no time. For starters, you’ll want to buy a second car lift so you can hold two cars at once.

Next, you’ll need the staff upgrade. Your staff members will drive the car to the buyer’s house for you, leaving you free to engage in other activities. There is a small chance that your staff could damage the cars during delivery, however. Since using staff frees you up to do other things, I’d say this risk is worth the reward. Both of these upgrades can be acquired from Maze Bank Foreclosures, the same site you can buy your auto shop from.

Profits can range from $20,000 to $30,000 for each vehicle (after paying the delivery fees), and depend on whether the car is low, mid, or high tier. It isn’t the best way to make it big, but it is a nice side gig to have running while you are out doing other money making activities.

Exotic Exports

Exotic exports — not to be confused with Import/Export — is another way you can make money with your auto shop. To get started, walk up the stairs of your auto shop and turn to the right. Here, you will find a blackboard labeled “Exotic Exports” at the top. Underneath the title is a list of ten cars that are scattered randomly across the map.

Exotic Exports list
Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

If you happen to find any of these cars in free roam, all you have to do is steal them like any other vehicle. Upon entering one, you will be notified in the top left corner of your screen that this is a car on the Exotic Exports list, and that you should deliver it to the docks in Los Santos. Drive the car down to the marker at the docks and drop it off. Just be sure to avoid griefers and other players wanting to take it for themselves!

Delivering just one car will net you a profit of $20,000. Players that snag all ten cars will be given a bonus payout of $100,000. After a hard day’s work, you’ll come home with a combined paycheck of $300,000 just for stealing cars! Just be sure that you deliver all the cars in the same day, as the blackboard will reset every twenty-four hours with new cars to deliver. It is another nice side gig to pull off if you want to make some quick money, or are looking to mix things up a bit.

Auto Shop Contract Missions

Working with cars is a great way to make money in the world of GTA Online, but if you’re really looking to make it big, you’re going to need to do something a little more… risky. Contract missions are here to fulfill that role, and they are one of the most exciting additions of the new Los Santos Tuners update.

Contract missions are essentially miniature heists that can usually be completed in less than an hour with minimal effort. While they are not as replayable and lack the level of player choice offered by the Diamond Casino and Cayo Perico heists, they offer the same explosive action and high-risk, high-reward gameplay of any good old-fashioned robbery.

Auto Shop Contract Missions
Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

To begin any contract mission, just walk up the stairs of your auto shop and head to the very back of the room. You’ll find a big whiteboard with three different contracts for you to choose from. Just like with Exotic Exports, the options change every twenty-four hours. If you don’t like any of the options given to you, just log back in another day!

Every contract mission will consist of three parts: the first and second prep missions and the final job. As previously mentioned, there is little player choice in terms of what you will be doing and how you will pull off your final job. Don’t stress too much about any strategies for getting the best payout — just focus on getting the job done.

Payouts for each of the contract missions will vary. The lowest-paying mission will give you a net profit of $153,000 after KDJ and Sessanta take their cuts. The highest-paying mission, on the other hand, will grant you a total sum of $270,000! When you are done reading this GTA Online autoshop money guide, check out our full walkthrough on the highest-paying contract (the Union Depository heist) here.

Auto Shop Customization Options

No property in GTA Online would be complete without customizing it and making it your own. These customizations are just that: customizations. I would only recommend buying them after you have purchased all of the upgrades to make the most money.

Auto Shop Customization
Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

There are eight different styles to choose from (not including the default look). You can give your auto shop a shiny and clean modern look with the “Flawless” style, or an old-school design with “Route 68.” The most popular style seems to be street racer-themed “Race and Chase,” which is also the most expensive option. Prices for styles range from $265,000 all the way up to $450,000!

Just like with hangars, you can also choose a tint for your auto shop’s guardrails. It will cost you $187,500 for each option, and there are many different colors to choose from. Additionally, there are up to nine different emblems you can select for your shop. If you are apart of a CREW, you can use their official logo instead! These are generally very cheap, and can be free of charge or up to $104,500.

Other Useful Features

In addition to visual changes for your auto shop, there is also an optional upgrade for a personal quarters. This is a very useful feature, as it allows you to set your spawn point inside your auto shop. If you are willing to server swap, this will essentially become a fast travel point!

Auto Shop guide other features
Image: Rockstar Games via HGG / Koby Gibson Ross

The personal quarters also comes with a closet to change your clothes on the fly. There is also a gun locker for customizing your arsenal of weapons. Not only is your auto shop stylish, but functional as well!

One very useful feature of your auto shop (which requires no extra purchases) is the ability to customize your rides like you would at a Los Santos Customs. The nice thing about modding your cars in your own personal auto shop is that all classic and crew paint jobs are completely free of charge!

Not only that, but you also receive a 5% discount on all other modifications. No more listening to the same mechanic yell, “What’s wrong with her now?!” every time you want to change your window tint.

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