Grand Theft Auto 6 turns your car into an extension of your inventory. Jason and Lucia can keep spare weapons, backup gear, and a change of clothes in the trunk, and that storage plugs directly into the reworked wanted system that tracks what you look like and what you drive. Instead of flooring it in a straight line until the stars fade, you can use the vehicle to alter your description and slip a pursuit.
Quick answer: Return to your personal vehicle, swap the outfit and loadout stored in the trunk, and change or ditch the car itself. This breaks the physical description the police are matching against, though it does not instantly clear an active wanted level.
How car trunk storage works in GTA 6
The trunk acts as a mobile stash for both protagonists. Rather than hauling every weapon everywhere, you carry a limited loadout on your person and keep the rest of your gear in the vehicle. That means you prepare the car before heading into a risky job, loading it with heavier weapons, backup equipment, and spare outfits you might need later.
The setup mirrors how Red Dead Redemption 2 uses your horse as a mobile inventory. Your ride effectively becomes the container for anything you cannot carry on foot, so keeping it nearby matters when a situation turns hot.
What the police can identify about you
The wanted system runs on information rather than a simple star count. A crime only draws heat if someone witnesses it or an alarm goes off. Once that happens, the police build a profile of you from details like your face, your hair, your clothing, and your vehicle. The more they know, the harder you are to lose.
The HUD shows this with red icons sitting below the star level. Each icon tells you exactly what the authorities have on you, so you know which detail to change.
| HUD icon | What it means |
|---|---|
| Single person | The police know your physical description. |
| Clothes hanger | The police know what you are wearing. |
| Two people | The police know Jason and Lucia are together. |
| Car | The police know the vehicle you are driving. |
| Camera | CCTV footage of you exists. |
There is also a “hollow” star that appears when a crime has been reported but the police have no information on who did it. Committing a crime in front of CCTV, or harming someone, pushes your profile up fast. Keeping things bloodless keeps the heat lower.
Use the trunk to change your description
Note: Changing clothes at a clothing store works the same way as the trunk if your car is not close by. The trunk simply lets you do it on the move.
Does changing clothes remove your wanted level?
Changing your outfit does not wipe an active wanted level on its own. What it does is strip away the details the police are matching against, making it harder for them to pin you as the suspect. Combine that with a new vehicle and a broken line of sight, and the pursuit loses the thread it was following.
Be aware of the area rule. If you were wanted somewhere and you return to that same spot, your wanted level can spike back up. Waiting for the heat to fade, altering your appearance, or separating from your partner are the levers you have to bring it down.
Other ways to escape a pursuit
The trunk trick is one tool among several. Speed still matters, but a random car will not save you once things escalate. Past the third star, you need one of the faster vehicles to have a real chance of outrunning the cops. Going on foot through dense areas that cars cannot reach is the alternative, letting you ghost a pursuit that vehicles simply cannot follow.
Splitting up is another option built around the two protagonists. When the police know Jason and Lucia are a pair, you can have them separate so one takes the heat while the other slips away. This divides police attention, and if you commit to it, you stay on the character drawing the chase until your partner signals they are clear.
Together, these mechanics reward planning over panic. Load the trunk before a job, keep an eye on which red icons light up, and change the specific detail the police are tracking rather than just driving faster. Grand Theft Auto 6 launches November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
