Vehicles & mechanics

• Driveways, car parks and the roadside. Check the condition of each part on the mechanics screen before you fall in love.
• Build 42 adds vehicles with their own liveries and loot: police cars, sponsored race cars, work vans.
• A car with a flat tyre and no battery is a free car if you can carry a jack, a lug wrench and a spare.

• Keys turn up in the ignition, in the glove box, in nearby houses and on the zombies that used to own the car.
• Hotwire with Electrical 1 and Mechanics 2, or the Burglar occupation, which skips the skill check. Open the vehicle menu (V), choose hotwire, then start the engine with W. It can take a few tries.
• A hotwired car shows a pair of wires in the ignition slot, and in multiplayer anyone can drive it.

Check the fuel gauge before you hotwire. An empty tank is a loud way to stand still.

• Gas pumps work while the power is on. After the cut, a generator next to the pump brings it back.
• Siphon fuel from other cars with an empty gas can. Since 42.18 a jerry can holds 20 litres.
• Keep a full can in the trunk. Fuel is the thing that strands people in week three.

• Open the mechanics screen next to a car to see every part: engine, battery, tyres, brakes, muffler, windows, doors, seats and trunk.
• Mechanics skill gates what you can remove and install. A Mechanic occupation and the car repair magazines are the fast route.
• Tools: wrench and screwdriver for most parts, jack and lug wrench for wheels, a welding torch for some bodywork.
• Parts come from other cars of the same type. Strip wrecks in the same model family for spares.
• Since 42.20 the parts list no longer shows duplicate entries for parts in your backpack.

• Line up a second vehicle behind the first and attach it from the vehicle menu to tow a dead car home.
• 42.20 reworked towing: trailers can now detach if you turn too sharply or too fast. Slow down on corners.
• Livestock trailers move animals between farms. Yes, you can butcher in them, and since 42.20 you cannot butcher the same animal twice.

• Engines and alarms are loud. Never start a car beside a crowd; drive off if an alarm triggers.
• Hitting zombies damages the car, and since 42.20 crawlers no longer wreck your trunk.
• Look where the road goes before you commit. A crowd around a blind corner at speed is how cars become coffins.
• Park facing the exit, lock the doors, and keep the keys on you, not in the ignition.
• In multiplayer, high ping used to make roads load late in front of you; 42.21 improved it.

• Open the vehicle menu with V.
• Hotwiring needs Electrical 1 plus Mechanics 2, or the Burglar trait.
• After a successful hotwire, press W to start the engine.
• Engines and alarms are loud. Do it away from crowds.

• Mechanics recipes come in Basic, Intermediate and Advanced tiers.
• Read the matching mechanics books before you try Advanced work.
• Welding is a separate skill for scrap and torch work.

• Generators work outdoors only.
• Running one indoors fills the room with lethal exhaust.
• Keep fuel in a safe container away from your sleeping area.

Most parts use shared templates. Individual vehicles can raise the recipe class to Intermediate or Advanced.

• A successful install or uninstall gives XP once per unique part, vehicle and action. Repeating the same part on the same car gives nothing more; a different car counts as new.
• A failed install or uninstall gives 1 XP and can damage the part.
• Carzone VHS tapes give media XP, up to the Maximum Media XP Level (default 3 on the stock presets).
• Skill books multiply XP only inside the book's level band, and they also boost failure and media XP.
• Keep a parts car, a tool roll, and spare tyres and batteries at base.

Mechanics books

Laines Auto Manuals

Hotwiring needs Mechanics 2 and Electricity 1, or the Burglar trait. The older Mechanics 3 and Electricity 2 requirement is not used in 42.20.4.

• Check the ignition first. Some cars have the key in it.
• Then the glove box, then the ground around the car once it is clear.
• Zombies near a car may drop its key. Houses are not a reliable source.
• Each key fits one vehicle only. House and padlock keys are separate.
• The key must be in your inventory, on a key ring you carry, or in a bag you are wearing.
• If the driver door is jammed, get in another seat and switch to the driver's seat.
• No key? Hotwire with Electrical 1 and Mechanics 2, or as a Burglar.
• Sandbox settings control how often cars are locked and how rare keys are.

1. Starting an engine next to a crowd. Engines and alarms are loud.
2. Setting off without checking fuel and battery.
3. Driving into groups of zombies. It damages the car and can stall it.
4. Parking in the open overnight, then finding it surrounded.
5. Leaving loot in the trunk without locking the doors.
6. Skipping basic repairs until a part fails on the road.

• Knox Country map: plan routes and find garages and gas stations
• Crafting in B42: tools and parts
• First week guide: day 6 is about wheels
• Item database: tools and fuel containers