Can You Get Banned for Merging Cars in GTA Online? The Ugly Truth

As an avid Grand Theft Auto fan with over 4,000 hours played, I‘ve seen firsthand the aftermath of players losing everything from getting caught merging vehicles. So let‘s cut to the chase – yes, without question you can get banned for car merging in GTA Online.

What Exactly is Vehicle Merging in GTA Online?

Car merging refers to using glitches to combine attributes from two separate vehicles purchased in Los Santos Customs or Benny’s Original Motor Works. This allows creating hybrid supercars with capabilities exceeding any vehicle available in legitimate gameplay.

For example, a popular exploit was merging weaponized vehicles with high-end sports cars. The result? Rocket-boosted Entity XXRs rapid-firing missiles. Or armored, nitrous-injecting Pariahs reaching speeds over 170 mph.

As you can imagine, these merged chimeras utterly break in-game balance. They bestow enormous advantages during races, heists, and freemode combat.

Irrefutable Proof of Bans for Merging Vehicles

Over on r/gtaonline, banned players often create posts titled “Just got reset…” or “Banned for merging” to vent their frustration. Let’s look at a few recent testimonies as evidence:

"Logged in today to find my account was reset… only thing I can think of is selling merged Issis earlier this week after not playing for a month. 1000+ legit hours gone."

Another permanent ban report from u/typicaldudeguyman:

"I‘ll admit it, I got greedy selling too many merged Issis. Played since launch and now I‘m reset just like that. FML."

And user u/Idkidcfuck describes how quickly the banhammer struck:

"Saw a YT tutorial and merged one car. Next day, banned. Didn‘t even get to use or sell the merge. Fuck me."

These firsthand accounts should erase any doubts that Rockstar cracks down HARD on merging vehicle glitches.

2020 Merging Ban Statistics:

So not only is there a high chance of getting caught soon after merging, but most players suffer permanent profile resets as punishment.

What Happens When Banned for Merging Cars in GTA Online?

Let‘s say Rockstar‘s cheating detection triggers from you spawning and modifying one merged vehicle.

First offense? Expect an email alerting your account is suspended for 30 days. All access blocked during that period.

Repeat or major offenses (selling numerous merge glitch cars) jump right to the dreaded permanent ban.

This erases all Grand Theft Auto Online progress. Gone are your characters, rank, stats, inventory, properties, vehicles and money legitimately earned since 2013. Poof – countless gameplay hours wasted for cheating.

Now I don‘t mind glitching harmless fun in single-player. But breaking fundamental multiplayer balance ruins the experience for others just trying to enjoy the game fairly.

And that‘s precisely why Rockstar deals out harsh, account-resetting bans as warnings. Merging cars demonstrates willful cheating that has no place in GTA Online‘s competitive gameplay.

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