Borderlands 3: Finding Vehicle Components

Borderlands 3 includes 3 vehicle types, but each vehicle also has multiple customization options. Some of these are unlocked in missions, but others you can unlock by completing Hijack Target objectives, or by hijacking a vehicle while it is attacking you.

To hijack a vehicle while it is attacking you, you need to be on foot (not in a vehicle of your own) and press the Primary Use key (PC: E, Xbox: X, PS4: square) when you are near the driver and aiming in their direction. With Technicals you have to make sure you are on the correct side of the vehicle as the driver is only accessible from the vehicle's left hand side. Technicals and Outrunners will often stop a short distance away from you but move as you get closer. Wait until it stops then immediately run towards it and you'll usually get there before it moves again. Cyclones will come towards you then turn around before they get to you and drive away again. Wait until they are almost to the point where they turn around and run at them, you should be able to get to them as they are turning.

You can also capture vehicles by killing the driver (and other occupants). You can do by shooting them (and not the vehicle), which is easiest using a sniper rifle or other accurate weapon when they are driving directly towards you. Shoot the driver first if possible, otherwise they may just drive away again - then you can kill the other passengers or you can just run over and get into it. You can also use the Tesla Coil driver weapon in the Outrunner - the electricity will arc from the vehicle to the occupants, who will die before the vehicle is destroyed. Make sure you're not following the vehicle too closely or you may destroy by colliding with it when it stops moving.

With a few exceptions vehicles will tend to run away from you when you're in a vehicle, but run towards you if you're on foot. Getting out of your vehicle will generally make them turn around and come back toward you. There are three places I've found where this doesn't hold true. In Neon Arterial the vehicles tend to follow a set path, but will then stop and circulate at specific locations where you can get out of your vehicle and try to hijack them. In Devil's Razor vehicles from one spawn point do a loop and won't stop for you even if you're on foot - if you're in a group or solo, you can block their path with vehicles to slow them down so you can hijack them, and if you're on your own you can also use the Tesla Coil to kill the occupants. In Sandblast Scar, vehicles tend to run away from you (towards Devil's Razor) even if you are on foot, but there are sometimes places where they will stop and fight.

You can also (with some patience) use your vehicle to push an enemy vehicle sideways into an obstacle so they get stuck. This is the hardest way I've found to capture a vehicle as they are often able to recover and continue to move away from you. If you're a much higher level than the vehicle, or hit them too many times, the damage from the collisions can destroy the vehicle.

Issues with mission rewards

Some vehicle parts are given as mission rewards - but if you skip some story missions you may miss out - for example, if you kill the Rampager on a friend's game and then return to your own game and skip the mission. If that happens, you can still get it when you do that mission in True Vault Hunter Mode.

The Monster Wheels for the Technical are rumored to be a reward for the story mission Angels and Demons. That may be the case, but it seems to be bugged currently as it's not giving out the wheels.

Roadkill Paint Job

This is obtainable during the Pandora's Next Top Mouthpiece mission - but I had the problem that every time I went looking for the War Pig vehicle it was already destroyed before I got there. Here's how I was finally able to get it - I waited until I was a much higher level than the area, and turned off Mayhem mode so it was easy to clear everything in the area. I made sure everything was dead near the War Pig spawn area before I went and collected the mission. The first step in the mission is to pick up an echo log with the list of items you need to obtain for the mission. Before collecting that I made sure I was in an Outrunner with a Tesla Coil gun, and I went and double checked that the War Pig spawn area was empty. Then I grabbed the echo, and used my boost to race to the War Pig. Then a quick shot with the Tesla Coil was all that I needed to kill the driver and passengers. There weren't any cultists or monsters left to damage the vehicle as I drove it back to the Catch-a-Ride station.

Roadkill paint job in action

Spreadsheet

Here's the spreadsheet that shows where I've documented every component that I've found so far.

That's everything I know about vehicles in Borderlands 3. If you have any questions, or tips of your own, feel free to comment below.