How to trigger GTA Online Phantom Car event in Halloween Haunts 2025

The GTA Online Phantom Car event is returning to Halloween Haunts 2025 this week (October 9 - 15). This is a random event where a spooky driverless Tornado Custom having a garnet red paint job and graphite roof chases the player around Los Santos. This is a fun Halloween event that can randomly occur for any player once certain criteria are met.

Here is a short guide on how to trigger the GTA Online Phantom Car event in Halloween Haunts 2025.

When does GTA Online Phantom Car event trigger in Halloween Haunts 2025?

Lobby criteria

Players need to be out in the open at night in a lobby with more than two players (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Rockstar Games)

To trigger the GTA Online Phantom Car event, you have to meet these requirements:

You must be in free roam and out in the world.
It must be nighttime, between 9 pm and 5 am.
You have to be on foot or in a normal vehicle. The Phantom Car event will not start when using helicopters, planes, boats, weaponized vehicles, or any other special vehicle.
The event will only start after 16 minutes have passed since you joined the session.
There must be at least a minimum of two players in a session. This means that the event can also happen in an invite-only session, which must contain at least two or more gamers.

Once you meet these requirements, the event will be randomly triggered.

When the Phantom Car becomes aggressive and how to beat it

The Phantom Car will become aggressive when the player is on foot (Image via Rockstar Games || GTA Wiki)

When the Phantom Car random event's requirements are met, the Tornado Custom will spawn and start following or attacking one of the players in the session. If they're in a vehicle, the Phantom Car will simply follow them around.

However, the moment the player gets out of their vehicle, the Phantom Car's hood will catch fire, and its lights will turn red. This means that the automobile is about become hostile and try to ram into the player.

To defeat the Phantom Car, gamers will have to blow it up using a grenade launcher, a homing launcher, sticky bombs, or any other explosive.

Also Read: GTA Online weekly update (October 9 - 15, 2025)

Where does the Phantom Car spawn?

Phantom Car event can start anywhere in the GTA Online map (Image via Rockstar Games || GTAWeb.eu)

While several random events occur in specific locations or missions, the GTA Online Phantom Car can spawn almost anywhere on the entire San Andreas island. Hence, players will only have to meet the aforementioned criteria to trigger the event.

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About the author

Akshat has been a Minecraft writer at Sportskeeda for almost three years. He has loved gaming since childhood, and the fact that Need For Speed Most Wanted is still installed on his PC is proof that the flame burns strong even today. This love for the racing franchise spilled over to F1 fandom, leading him to cover the sport as well for the company.

Akshat's articles have accrued over 19 million views so far at Sportskeeda. He prefers both solo and multiplayer titles and is a huge admirer of popular gamers Shroud and Philza. Akshat places huge emphasis on accurate, relevant, and ethical content, and does thorough research using social media, videos, and a multitude of websites before writing an article.

Akshat's other hobbies include cars, mechanical keyboards, psychology, and philosophy. He would recommend indie and Slice of Life games to a gaming skeptic because of their ease of play, compelling storyline, and message.

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Edited by Akshat Kabra