Project Zomboid: How to Hotwire Cars

Project Zomboid has recently added multiplayer. This has pushed the game in the limelight as nothing beats trying to survive the zombie apocalypse with your friends. However, Project Zomboid is by no means a simple game. The game features a lot of little and intricate mechanics from your character getting scared when suddenly seeing a zombie to being cut when climbing in through a window you broke. A major addition to the game was cars and many players can struggle to figure out how they work. Let’s go over how you can hotwire a car for your personal use in Project Zomboid.

How to Hotwire a Car in Project Zomboid

Before you can even think about getting your own car you will need to make sure you have the right skills. In order to even attempt to hotwire a car your character will need to have Electrical level 1 and Mechanics level 2. In order to level these skills, you will need to disassemble car parts for Mechanics levels and disassemble household appliances for Electrical levels. However, you can avoid the skill requirements for hotwiring cars if you pick the burglar as your starting job.

Once you have the required skill levels or picked the burglar job, you are well on your way to getting your car. Now you just need to find a car that is in good enough condition to drive and has fuel or repair and refuel one yourself. Either way, you may want to hotwire a car that can be driven once the deed is done.

Once you have the car you want to hotwire ready, simply get inside of it. This can be done by opening the radial menu, which is bound to V by default. Select the option to get inside the car. Once inside, open the radial menu again and select the hotwire option. This option should be on the top right of the menu and has a key icon on it.

You may not succeed the hotwire on your first attempt but you can keep trying until you manage to get it. When successful, you should notice that the key section of the car dashboard at the bottom of the screen has wires coming out of it. If you are still unsure if the hotwire worked simply try to drive the car forward. Even without gas, the check engine light should come on. If you have any more trouble with Project Zomboid make sure to check out our other guides.

Project Zomboid is available on PC.