GTA San Andreas holds a special place in the hearts of many GTA fans. Its world is filled with places to explore and back when it came out, it had the biggest vehicle variety in the series, which is especially impressive for a PS2-era title. If you spend enough time playing then you may even be lucky enough to discover or unlock some of the rarer cars in the game.
It's not limited to mere sports cars either. Some of the more unique vehicles from San Andreas can be pretty difficult to find or unlock, but that also makes it all the more satisfying. Here are some of the best and where you can expect to find them.
Updated on July 17, 2023, by David Kinder: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas has quite a few rare and hard-to-find vehicles. If you used cheats, you may not have known how rare some of these vehicles were. Many of these cars required winning races with unfair odds or searching far and wide as the map slowly unlocked.
If you plan to search for these cars, make sure you've either beaten the game or made ample progress. You wouldn't want to waste your time because of a small oversight. Besides, you'll want to fill your garages with cars worth your time. And nothing says worthwhile like a rare vehicle.
14 Bandito
Location: West of San Fierro City Hall towards the pier.
The Bandito is an unconventional-looking vehicle, but it's fast and fun to race around San Andreas. There are a handful of ways to pick up this car, but most options require cutting through a large portion of the game. The fastest way to get a Bandito is by finishing "The Green Sabre" mission.
It unlocks access to San Fierro. Once you get there, go to the beach on the west side of the San Fierro City Hall. You'll see the Bandito parked by the pier's corner. Go ahead and add it to your collection: no one's going to stop you.
13 Monster Trucks
Location: Flint Intersection in Flint County.
Who doesn't love Monster Trucks? It's the ultimate off-road vehicle that makes free-roam even more enjoyable. There are only two ways to get a Monster Truck that don't involve cheats, and this option is way less effort. After Officer Tenpenny drags you out to the Back o' Beyond, drive to Flint Intersection.
Inside the trailer park is the Monster Truck. Go ahead and take the vehicle to a safe house. Don't worry if you wreck your truck. It'll always spawn in the trailer park, so you can slowly amass a fleet of Monster Trucks.
12 Dune
Location: Outside Las Venturas Stadium.
The Dune is an enormous rally truck based on the real-world KAMAZ 4911. This behemoth of a vehicle has phenomenal handling, braking, and speed, given its size, and it's also incredibly strong. You could survive an extended shoot-out with Ballas and Vagos.
However, there's only one in the whole game, and the only way to unlock it is by completing the Kickstart stadium mission in Las Venturas (which requires earning 25 points out of the possible 45). And even then, it doesn't appear on Mondays and Wednesdays (in-game). Fortunately, this mission isn't too strenuous.
11 Enforcer
Location: Only appears during a four-star wanted level.
The Enforcer is an armored police van used by the in-game SWAT teams, but it doesn't have a standard spawn point in San Andreas. It shows up during a few missions, such as "Small Town Bank," but other than that, it spawns when you have a four-star wanted level.
Once you get that many stars, it's going to take a lot of work to claim an Enforcer for your garage. It may be easier to make your escape by applying some wanted-level cheats, but if that's not your style, then sheer determination will be your only route.
10 Dumper
Location: Hunter Quarry in Bone County.
The Dumper is a giant dumper truck that's potentially the largest land vehicle in the game (after the train). You can initially drive it during the quarry missions (which are unlocked after the mission "Explosive Situation"), and upon completing them all, the Dumper becomes a permanent unlock at the quarry. Note that the quarry is the only location where the Dumper will spawn.
As can be expected, the Dumper is very strong but not that fast, so be mindful of getting into a police chase while driving one. You won't be able to get away forever.
9 Go-Kart
Location: Varies, Under the Storm Drains near Ganton.
Karts are so fun to drive around San Fierro and Los Santos. Too bad the game isn't well-optimized for them. You might find yourself getting caught on the sidewalk way more often than necessary. For such a fun little car, they sure are buggy. They don't start spawning until you complete "Cut Throat Business."
From there, you can find Karts hidden all over San Andreas. However, their locations seem to be temperamental. The most surefire way to find a Kart is at Mad Dogg's Mansion and the Storm Drain near Ganton. If you're fast, you can steal one from a race.
8 Hotknife
Location: San Fierro Driving School or the Las Venturas Strip.
This hot rod is very difficult to come across in San Andreas, which makes finding one all the more special. Luckily there are a few ways to do so. If you manage to get all gold medals in the driving school challenges, the Hotknife becomes a permanent unlock outside the driving school.
If you're a bad driver, head to Las Venturas and hope it appears on the Strip. Keep in mind the Hot Knife is a rare spawn. Your last option is to run through Vigilante missions until one appears. Unfortunately, you can't customize the car.
7 S.W.A.T.
Location: Appears in the final mission of the game.
The SWAT is an APC that only appears in the final mission, "End of the Line." While you can find two, only one can be saved in a garage. You have to take the APC to your garage and destroy it because if you pass the mission, you'll never be able to find one again.
It may seem like a lot of effort, but the SWAT is a remarkable vehicle. Despite its size, it's fast and great at cornering. Don't forget its water cannon and high armor. It's the next best thing to the Rhino.
6 Berkley's RC Van
Location: Rarely spawns around The Sherman Dam, Las Venturas, and various industrial areas.
Why does Berkley's RC van have such a low spawn rate? It doesn't have any impressive stats or features. While you can try and prompt the game to spawn a van by driving other vehicles, it won't do much. Due to San Andreas's age and RAM limitations, whatever vehicle you drive influences other spawning cars.
Another method is to intentionally fail the "Beefy Baron" side mission (which unlocks after completing all the other Zero missions) and try to hijack one of the vans as it passes by Zero's shop, but this may not always work.
5 Phoenix
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&dpr=1.5)
Location: Rarely spawns inside the impound lot of the San Fierro Police Headquarters.
Despite appearing regularly along Vice City's Ocean Beach, the Phoenix is harder to find in San Andreas. The San Fierro impound lot requires that you sneak in or enter while in a police car to avoid a three-star wanted level (if it's even there).
You could enter the San Fierro street race and intentionally fail to try and keep it. Your only other opportunity is where it appears during the mission "A Home In The Hills," but it's difficult to get due to how erratically Big Poppa drives. It's more likely the car will be destroyed than recovered.
4 Bloodring Banger
Location: Outside Corvin Stadium in San Fierro.
The Bloodring Banger can be incredibly difficult to unlock because you need to complete the Blood Ring stadium mission. The mission involves collecting as many checkpoints as possible in the Banger while 20 other vehicles try to do the same.
Given that the other vehicles will likely be faster than yours, it can feel more like luck than skill, but if you manage to win, the Banger permanently appears outside the stadium. If it gets too frustrating, you can always use cheats to spawn one anytime. Some things aren't always worth the effort.
3 Sandking
Location: Underneath The Big Ear in Bone County.
The Sandking is another classic from Vice City. It's also just as rare since it only spawns in one location. Its placement is arguably better in San Andreas because some versions come with hydraulics, which is perfect if you want to take it off-road (and there are many places where that's possible).
Funnily enough, the Sandking makes it easier for CJ to get girlfriends as it massively increases CJ's sex appeal. The only drawback is that you can't customize the Sandking. You also have to make substantial story progress to obtain the car.
2 The Mothership
Location: Truth's Farm in Flint County.
The Mothership is Truth's one-of-a-kind camper van. Its paint job is unique, and you can't customize any old van to have it. Since we're all about having rare vehicles, we might as well steal Truth's van. During the mission "Are You Going To San Fierro," if Truth dies, you can steal his van and take it home.
Your last chance is during "Riot," where you can push his van from Madd Dogg's house to a nearby garage. However, since it's a riot, you should expect to repeat this sequence several times. Pedestrians can be a real pain.
1 Hotring Racer
Location: Outside the Los Santos Stadium.
Just like in Vice City, the Hotring Racer is found during a racing challenge in Los Santos. It only unlocks once you win the 8-track race. The race is quite difficult, so you shouldn't anticipate winning on your first try. When you win, you'll have one of the fastest cars in the game.
However, it has some unreasonable handling which makes turning corners at high speeds unwieldy. You might be better off using the Bullet or Sabre GT. They're easier to obtain and won't end in burnout if you get too careless.