Vehicle scanning is a new mechanic in Borderlands 3. After hijacking a vehicle, you will be able to take it to a Catch-a-ride station and have it scanned by Ellie.
Once a vehicle is scanned, all the unique parts and cosmetics on that vehicle will be unlocked. Therefor, when you next use a catch-a-ride to deploy, vehicles will have these new components to use.
Below, we’ll show you how to hijack and scan vehicles in-game. For more Borderlands 3 Guides & Best-of content for PS4, PC and Xbox One, make sure to check out our dedicated area here!
Scanning Vehicles
First, you will need to hijack a vehicle you want to scan. To do that, get within practically touching distance and interact with a vehicle. On PC, you can do this by pressing E. Your character will jump in, throw out the driver and take control of the vehicle.

Once you have the vehicle, drive it to any catch-a-ride station on the map. These are indicated with the keys minimap icon.

All you have to do, is drive the vehicle onto the station where cars are usually spawned. It will be scanned, and the message ‘New vehicle parts added’ will appear, if there are any to be unlocked.