GTA V: I hope this heads-up will save someone a lot of wasted (actual) time and (virtual) money

[Shampoobra]

Possible SPOILERS below (unless you've already completed 21 percent of the game. If you've passed 21 percent, then they're not spoilers)...

I'll tell you the "what" (non-spoiler), then the "why" (spoilers) further down this page.

Here's how I wasted a whole bunch of time and money during the first 21 percent of my first play-through (I'm planning to start over from the beginning):

I upgraded two character's cars, spending each of their savings, thinking these vehicles would be safe in the character's safe-house garages. (After all, the game tells you to store your vehicles there, and it is a safe-house, so the player will naturally feel like the safe-house garage is a good place to store a vehicle they've invested a lot in.)

These vehicles are not safe in the safe-house garages. Do not upgrade your vehicles until you've purchased a separate garage for each character. These are separate from the garages attached to the safe-houses.

So buy a garage ($30,000), upgrade your vehicle, and then store it in the new garage.

Here's why (spoilers below)...

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SPOILERS:

I had spent almost all of the fortune Franklin had accumulated, tricked out a sports car in every way possible, parked it in his safe-house garage (in the run-down neighborhood where Franklin starts out), and went on a mission. The mission ended with a gift of free rent at a luxury property Michael had just purchased. Franklin got a phone call telling him about his new residence, and stating that a crew had already moved all of Franklin's belongings to the new house. But they hadn't moved everything. The garage at the new place was empty, and the garage at the old place would no longer open.

Something similar happened to Michael. Right after spending most of his money on a vehicle upgrade, he got a message from his son saying he borrowed the car, and would return it someday.

So I'm starting over, but not only because I accidentally wiped out two of the three characters' savings. I also want to see if Franklin can avoid the green motorcycle. I've tried blowing that thing up, riding it into the ocean, and leaving it in bad neighborhoods, but it always ends up back in my driveway. My million dollar cars are not safe in the safe-house garages, but this damn bike keeps following me around like a homeless dog!

[M0rpheus]

1. Upgrade the cars/bikes they give you...

Any stolen cars are just temporary.
I found that the default cars they give you are plenty fast enough when tricked out, especially Franklin's.

*Just my $.02 after finishing my first play through.

Edit - on your next playthrough, DO upgrade michael's car, It comes back to you eventually...
Maximize your cash, by paying attention during some of the missions and Going ALL IN on the stock that will benefit from your actions.

[Shampoobra]

2. I'm confused about the stock

After I blew up the tech mogul along with his phone, I was advised to buy stock in his company. I assumed the advice was based on the stock having already tanked, following the murder.

I invested exactly half of my savings, and from what I could tell when I checked it later, the stock had dropped about 25 percent since the purchase.

"Any stolen cars are just temporary." <-- Does that mean stolen cars are not even safe in the purchased garages?

[M0rpheus]

4. Stolen cars...

Are mostly safe in the garages, but if you blow them up/leave them/lose them/whatever, they will not return to you like the cars you are given will. Though I have noticed that sometimes, if you switch back to someone they'll have the car you were last driving, even if it blew up. I have no idea how that works, though.

For the stocks, Lester will tell you exactly what to buy, when he does that bet the farm, it's a 100% bet but don't let it ride for too long, as the stock may go back down in a day or 2.

[Shampoobra]

3. NEVER MIND ... after some research, I discovered it's a major glitch in the game

This could turn into a real news item if Rockstar doesn't fix it quickly.

From what I can tell, Rockstar is currently learning that GTA V is messed up in a very major way. It's a franchise that centers itself around cars, but buying and upgrading them is like flushing money down the toilet...

http://support.rockstargames.com/hc/en-us/articles/200218557-Vehicles-disappearing-from-the-GTA-V-garage-or-losing-upgrades

Vehicles disappearing from the GTA V garage, or losing upgrades

Question: I upgraded my car and then completed a mission, and now my car is gone. Help!

Question: I've lost some of my upgrades after completing some missions and then checking my garage. What should I do?

Answer: We have received some reports about problems with cars and garages, particularly after upgrading and then completing a mission, and are looking into this now. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a workaround to recover a car if it is missing. If you would like to receive an automatic email notification as soon as there is more information, please log into the Support Site and click Subscribe at the top of this page.

Until they fix this, there's no reason to buy cars, upgrade cars, or buy garages. What a major setback from an otherwise outstanding game. It knocks my opinion of the game from an A to about a B-.

[M0rpheus]

5. I don't think it's all that messed up.

I took it that that's the way it was supposed to be. I lost a couple of cars I didn't care about in Franklin's house switch, but it was no big deal to me. I was using each character's car almost exclusively, unless I got caught out. If they do fix it, that'll make it even better.

Once I finish 100% of the game, I'll definitely do it again.

[Shampoobra]

7. I'm finally 100% sold on the game, even with its current problems

I started over and didn't upgrade or even try to keep anything. After awhile, I realized this is still the most fun I've ever had on this console. Hopefully, they'll fix the current problems and it will be even better.

[M0rpheus]

9. Good!

Not trying to be fanboy-ish or anything, but this is a REALLY good game! It's deep & huge and there are all kinds of little easter eggs that make it worthwhile to put the time in.

Enjoy!

[Ohio Joe]

6. Looks like they are working on the fix...

With the temporary solution being, don't upgrade cars yet:

http://www.polygon.com/2013/9/23/4761314/rockstar-working-on-gta-5-fix-for-vanishing-vehicles

[Shampoobra]

8. Thanks for that link

I was called a liar somewhere else