As an open, post-apocalyptic world, Project Zomboid has a massive map with plenty of locations to discover. That said, getting a car means a lot for transportation.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to get a car in Project Zomboid.
Recommended Read: How to Increase Strength in Project Zomboid
To get a car in Project Zomboid, you must first find its key to enter and drive it. The key can be found in several places around the car, such as on the ground, in zombie corpses, in nearby building containers, or even inside the car. However, if you choose the Burglar occupation, you can directly get a car with the Hotwire skill.
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How to Get A Car in Project Zomboid
Owing a car is a must in Project Zomboid if you want to lengthen your survival, as the car provides a massive capacity for looting items and reduces traveling time.
Read on to learn how to get a car in Project Zomboid.
1. Find A Car
Cars are pretty common and can be found almost everywhere. On top of that, consider taking a look at residential garages, parking areas, downtowns, and highways to get the most out of them.
Regardless of your chosen occupation or traits, your character can always drive a car. However, there are 2 opposite traits in Project Zomboid that have a significant effect on your driving experience: Speed Demon and Sunday Driver.
While Speed Demon increases gear switching speed and top speed by 115% for all vehicles, the Sunday Driver trait limits the speed to 30km/h and reduces acceleration by 40%.
2. Check The Car’s Condition
The next step is to inspect the car’s condition. First, you should take a glimpse at the car’s appearance. If the car has too much damage or scratches, then it’s better to skip it and find another one.
Once you find the car you want, stand in front of it, right-click on its windshield, and select “Vehicle Mechanics”. The next window will show you the details of the car’s condition.
There are 3 primary colors that indicate the current state of each part of the car. And a car is considered in good condition if all or most of its parts are green.
Although all parts of the car can be replaced or repaired, pay close attention to the “Overall Condition”, “Battery”, and “Gas Tank”, as they determine whether the car can be powered and used.
Moreover, you should note which part is displayed in red in order to find the replacements later. Most car parts can be found in gas stations, sheds, garages, or by removing them from other vehicles.
Remember that you must choose the Mechanic occupation to repair the car. Additionally, a bunch of tools and items, such as a jack, lug wrench, tire pump, wrench, screwdriver, etc, are required to fix your vehicle.
3. Get Inside the Car
First, stand at the driver’s seat and press “E” to get inside. If the door shakes, it’s locked.
You’ll need to find the key nearby or break the car’s window by right-clicking on it and selecting “Break Left/Right Window”. In this case, you should use any weapon instead of your arms to avoid injuries.
The car’s key usually spawns near the car, so make sure to scour the surrounding area. Some of the places are:
- Inside the car’s ignition slot, glove box, or seats. Obtaining the key this way, of course, requires you to break the windows and get inside the car first.
- From wandering zombies near the car.
- Inside the containers of the nearby building.
- Or even on the ground near the car.
On the other hand, you can access the car in any direction and press “V”, select “Switch Seat”, and choose the driver’s seat (The no.1 seat in the pop-up window).
In the driving dashboard (only visible if you sit in the driver’s seat), move your cursor to the key ignition on the bottom right corner, and left-click on it to insert the key.
The lack of the key will prevent you from turning on the car. However, if finding the key is nearly impossible, you can try to hotwire the car instead.
After hotwiring or putting the key on, you can left-click on the engine status to instantly turn the car on or off without disabling the battery.
There is a heater in the car, which can maintain your body temperature during winter. To adjust the heater, locate and select it on the dashboard (near the headlights icon).
You can also open or lock the trunk to easily access the car’s storage.
4. Drive Your Car
To drive a car in Project Zomboid, make sure you turn the engine on, then simply use W/A/S/D to move the car in your desired direction.
Although driving the car is relatively straightforward, it’s worth noting that any damage from driving carelessly (hitting objects) or caused by zombies can break the car severely.
The fuel will drop after driving for a while. To refuel, get out of the car, press “V”, then select “Add Gasoline”. This option is only available when you have a Gas Can (with gas, not an empty one) in your inventory.
That’s how to get a car in Project Zomboid.
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