How To Install Custom Cars (FiveM)

This is the authoritative, no‑fluff guide to installing custom cars on a FiveM server—safely, correctly, and with production‑ready configs you can copy‑paste. We’ll cover one‑off add‑on cars, multi‑car packs, converting single‑player DLCs, and wiring vehicles into ESX/QBCore shops.

This guide is part of our complete FiveM content creation guide, covering everything from MLO design to scripting, vehicle modding, and building your creator brand.

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What you’ll need (prereqs)

• A running FiveM server and FTP/FS access to the resources folder.
• Basic text editor (VS Code) and the ability to restart the server.
• (Optional for conversions) OpenIV to unpack SP DLCs → use our safe link: https://vertexmods.com/en/blog/openiv-download
• (Recommended) An admin menu or spawn tool (e.g., vMenu) for testing: https://vertexmods.com/vmenu
• (Performance) Know how to use Resmon to spot heavy cars: https://vertexmods.com/en/blog/how-to-use-resmon-in-fivem-optimize-resources

Opinionated best practice: Group all vehicles under a resource category folder like resources/[cars]/.... This keeps your server tidy and lets you ensure [cars] to start every pack at once.

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Quick map — pick your path

• I have a FiveM‑ready add‑on car (it already ships with fxmanifest.lua and metas): jump to Install a single add‑on car.
• I have an SP DLC (only dlc.rpf with metas and models): go to Convert SP DLC to FiveM.
• I want many cars in one pack: see Multi‑car resource (batch).
• I want cars purchasable in‑game: see Wire into ESX/QBCore vehicle shops.

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Install a single add‑on car (the 90% case)

Let’s assume your car is named elegy and you received YFT/YTD model files and standard vehicle meta files.

1) Create the resource structure