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Cars are objects introduced in the The Sims 2: Nightlife expansion pack and The Sims 3 to serve as alternatives to the taxi and the carpool. A Sim who has a car can drive to work instead of taking the carpool and can even use it to go to work late.

Teens can drive to school, and children can be driven to school. In The Sims 2, if a player clicks on a car and selects a Sim as its owner, the carpool will not come for that Sim. Instead, he or she will autonomously head for the car. If the Sim is a teen, he or she will autonomously drive to school, though the school bus will still come. Selecting one Sim as the owner will not affect other family members' ability to use the car.

Sims with cars can drive to community lots whenever they like, or they can just take a spin around the neighborhood to relax. Sims can even WooHoo in cars, complete with rocking motion and Fogged up windows to hide the view from the player.

Cars are found in the miscellaneous section of the Buy mode catalog. There are five models in Nightlife, of varying price and specifications, and each one comes in several colors. In addition, FreeTime adds a junk car that can be restored.

The five Nightlife cars are drivable versions of carpool or service vehicles from the base game, but there are several carpool vehicles (other than service-themed cars like the police car or fire truck) that were not made buyable and drivable.

Cars can only be driven by teenage Sims or older. All cars have the option to have an alarm installed. A car alarm costs §250 and takes an hour in Sim time to be installed. An armed car alarm will go off whenever a burglar is near, even if the car happens to be inside a garage.

A car must be placed on a driveway or driveway extension for Sims to be able to use it. In The Sims 2 a driveway has a 5x8 section that a car can be placed on, a 5x2 section that connects it to the street, and a 12x3 section which is at right angles to rest of the driveway. That section is placed over the street, and is used when cars back out of, or pull into, the driveway. Some pre-made residential lots, as made, do not have room for a driveway. Normally, a driveway cannot be placed unless there is room for the entire street section, however, later expansions allow the player to override this by using the moveobjects on cheat. Since a driveway placed in this manner will not have room to show a car backing out into the street, or pulling into the driveway, a car placed on it will fade out when Sims drive off, and fade in when they return. In The Sims 3, the driveway is small and can be placed anywhere on the lot.

Some premade families in The Sims 3 and its expansion packs already own cars which are either on their lot or in their inventories: List of car owners.

The Sims 2 models
The five different models in The Sims 2 are:

Regardless of how many seats a particular model of car would have in real life, a car in The Sims 2 can hold any number of Sims. For example, a family of eight can ride in a Hunka, even though it looks like a two-seat sports car.

The player can see all these cars in neighborhood view. Taxis, garbage trucks, grey armored vans, and police cars can also be seen. Rarely, a blue and yellow wide-bodied car can be seen as well.

Other non-drivable vehicles
Some other cars are also in the game, but were not made buyable or drivable. Some may be available as custom content.
 * Limo: A stretch limousine resembling a Lincoln Town Car (1998-2003) that serves as carpool for some jobs, when a teen sneaks out with someone, or a college student is being taken to the secret society.
 * Town Car: A carpool sedan that resembles an older Lincoln Town Car (1990-1997) with a soft top.
 * Small Sports Car: It's a carpool car that appears in either bright red or bright blue, and is very small. It resembles a Maserati Coupe (2002-2007). The red car and the blue car are actually two separate cars that are almost identical, but this is only apparent if they are examined very closely.
 * Fire Truck. An average sized fire truck.
 * Ambulance. Paramedic carpool vehicle, and sometimes seen on television.
 * Large Truck: A delivery truck used by the grocery store, the Repo-man, and the exterminator. The grocery truck is blue with a yellow streak on the sides and rear. On close inspection, it can be seen that the streak is formed by a winged PlumbBob. The Repo-man's truck has sad faces on it, and has no rear doors. The exterminator's truck is yellow, has a picture of a bug and a "No" symbol on the sides, and an oversized model of a dead bug on the roof.
 * Bus: Kids go to school in a yellow school bus, and some jobs in the Athletic career track use a team bus as the carpool. The sports team bus is white with a red stripe, while the school bus is yellow with a black stripe, but they are otherwise identical.
 * UFO: Technically, it's a car. The design is available as custom content. It has yet to be turned into something more fitting, such as a helicopter.
 * HMV: A military truck, used as the carpool for many jobs in the Military career track.

Based on "Smoogo"

 * Delivery Guy's car....

Based on "Smord"

 * Gardener's Truck

Based on "Heavola"

 * Taxi
 * Maid's Van
 * Social Worker's Van

Based on "Yomoshoto"

 * Police Car

Downloadable cars
In April 2007 a driveway and garage set was made available for download at TheSims2.com allowing players with only the base game to have cars. Over the next year they released 7 download-able cars by Ford: the Ford Mustang GT, the Ford Focus, the Ford Fusion, the Ford Edge, the Ford Escape, and the Ford Escape Hybrid as well as HotRod Hauler Chop Socky Special.

The Sims 3 models
Cars play a much more important role in The Sims 3, as they are used to travel around to places (otherwise the player can use a taxi, walk/jog, or bike). However, the Sims will not autonomously drive to work, as the carpool will still arrive for them, even if there is a vehicle assigned to the Sim. The game comes with 11 cars. In addition, a Sim who reaches level 5 in the Law Enforcement career will receive a Police Cruiser based on the Yomoshoto Evasion as a bonus. In Ambitions, a player who reaches level 10 in the Firefighter profession will receive a Woo Woo 4000 Fire Truck.

Car prices are more realistic and reflect real-life prices more than those in The Sims 2. They range from §950 to §105,000.

As with bikes, the car will go into the Sim's inventory after a Sim has driven it to another lot, unless that lot has a parking lot. It can be dragged and dropped into the inventory of other family members, or double clicked to allow the Sim to drive to a new location.

Unlike in The Sims 2, there are no animations which show a Sim getting in a car or backing it out of a driveway.

A Sim who is a kleptomaniac can steal parked cars and drive and/or use them. Sims cannot die as a result of a car crash or being run over by a car. If a car or a Sim is blocking the road the car will simply pass through like a ghost. This also means that traffic jams are not possible. When buying the Collector´s Edition of the game, the owner can unlock two new cars with a special code: The Montalcino Fandango SE, a luxury sports car that seems to resemble a Ferrari 360, and the Vorn Stallion, an American muscle car that resembles a tuned Plymouth Barracuda.

Also, as of April 2010, TheSims3.com has been offering a free download of a Renault car for Europe, which is aimed to promote environmental awareness. A Toyota Prius and Ford Fiesta are offered for free download for the United States.

Other non-drivable cars
Here are some non-drivable cars in The Sims 3. Some may be available as custom content.
 * Police car: A 4-Door Yomoshoto Evasion with black and white paintjob (LAPD) and blue police letters on the side (NYPD) (police car is driveable if the player has a Sim in the Law Enforcement career)
 * Taxi: A free service to move to another lot, based on 4-Door Yomoshoto Evasion and painted yellow
 * School Bus: A regular school bus with yellow paint and black stripes
 * Limo: Replace Sim's own vehicle at level 10 of Music, Political and Business Career. Also in Sims 3 Late Night if your sim has a high enough star power, your sim will be escorted around in a limo that seems to replace the taxi. You can use your own car.
 * Tour Bus: Replace Sim's own vehicle at level 6 - 9 of Music Career (Rock Career)
 * Maid Car: A Sloppy Jalopy with white paint and maid badge on it
 * Pizza car: A Sloppy Jalopy with brown paint
 * Repo Truck: A Truck with green paint and a cross through images of furniture pictured on it
 * Fire Truck: A red Vorn P328 with higher wheelbase and red siren on roof, in The Sims 3: Ambitions, the firetruck is the same one as in The Sims 2.. (The fire truck is drivable if the player has a Sim reach level 10 in the firefighter profession)
 * Repair Truck: A blue Vorn P238 with a rack on it

The junked car in Riverview is a prototype of the Sloppy Jalopy. It has no left door, a crumpled roof and body, no wheels, and is rusted and undrivable. It is found at the riverbank and back of the Broke's house. It is available as a decoration in The Sims 3: Ambitions. Another junker may be found under one of the bridges leading to the main island. In Twinbrook, there the same car on the neighborhood, one in a mudslide. At the Bayless Memorial Junkyard in Twinbrook, there is a large scrap pile with a yellowish-green front half of a Big Lemon. It appears that the Roof and dashboard have been ripped off, and the car has grungy textures.
 * Junked car in Riverview
 * Scrap Big Lemon

Fast Lane Stuff Pack
In June 2010, EA announced, a new stuff pack for The Sims 3, Fast Lane Stuff, that would be centered around cars. It includes 12 new cars, and new fashion and decor styles that center around them. Pictures have gone out showing a Formula 1 ride, a Lamborghini-like sports car, and several classic models from the 50s.

Custom Content
Early fan-made content for The Sims allowed Sims to have a car. Normally, this would be one from the carpool that would not otherwise be accessible, and would have no use other than as a decorative object that might affect Room score.

In April 2007, a driveway and garage set was made available for download at TheSims2.com, allowing players with only the base game to have cars. Over the next year they released 7 download-able cars by Ford: the Ford Mustang GT, the Ford Focus, the Ford Fusion, the Ford Edge, the Ford Escape, and the Ford Escape Hybrid as well as HotRod Hauler Chop Socky Special. This set, and these cars, are available in the Exchange->Objects section of TheSims2.com.

Over the years, many custom-content vehicles have been made for The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. The list below is only a small sample of what is available.


 * The Fiat Punto - Formerly available at http://thesims2.co.uk, now available from the Sims2 Graveyard.
 * A recolorable version is available at ModTheSims.
 * ModTheSims has an extensive range of actual cars, such as a Honda Fit and the Mazda Mazda3; a limousine; and drivable versions of the town car and both the blue and red versions of the small sports car from the carpool.
 * MTS also has ownable versions of most non-ownable cars for The Sims 3.