The short answer
Buy the Bobcat. It costs $500, it has no gate and no unlock, it seats 2, and getting a squad into the zone is paid work on every published payout model — see what pays. Anything with a rotor or a turret is a second purchase, not a first.
Open from the start: Bobcat at $500, Kodiak at $2,500, MH-6 at $6,250. That is the whole list.
Every vehicle, with the unlock beside it
| Vehicle, and its gate | Vendor price | One-time unlock | First one costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| BobcatOpen from the start | $500 | — | $500 |
| KodiakOpen from the start | $2,500 | — | $2,500 |
| MH-6Open from the start | $6,250 | — | $6,250 |
| Dune BuggyDriver 9 | $1,500 | $25,000 | $26,500 |
| Kodiak PickupDriver 10 | $3,000 | $35,000 | $38,000 |
| UralDriver 3 | $5,000 | $35,000 | $40,000 |
| Z20 LakotaPilot 10 | $7,400 | $35,000 | $42,400 |
| Wolf-110Driver 8 | $2,200 | $50,000 | $52,200 |
| Kodiak M249Driver 6 | $6,750 | $50,000 | $56,750 |
| HumveeDriver 14 | $3,000 | $75,000 | $78,000 |
| Ural DefenderDriver 15 | $7,200 | $75,000 | $82,200 |
| Z20 Lakota MinigunsPilot 25 | $15,000 | $85,000 | $100,000 |
| Ural Defender M249Driver 22 | $9,500 | $100,000 | $109,500 |
| Wolf-110 M2Driver 16 | $7,800 | $125,000 | $132,800 |
| Humvee M249Driver 24 | $8,500 | $125,000 | $133,500 |
| AH-6M MinigunsPilot 8 | $12,000 | $125,000 | $137,000 |
| Humvee MinigunDriver 30 | $10,000 | $150,000 | $160,000 |
| AH-6R RocketsPilot 20 | $18,800 | $200,000 | $218,800 |
| T-72B3Driver 20 | $16,000 | $250,000 | $266,000 |
| Flakpanzer GepardDriver 25 | $14,000 | $300,000 | $314,000 |
| SPH-2Driver 31 | $8,000 | $350,000 | $358,000 |
| L2A6Driver 35 | $22,000 | $500,000 | $522,000 |
| HavocPilot 35 | $28,000 | $650,000 | $678,000 |
The unlock is the real gate
Look at the SPH-2: $8,000 at the vendor, and $350,000 to be allowed to buy it — 35 times the whole starting balance, at Driver level 31. The price tag is rounding error next to the gate.
This is where other guides go wrong. A widely-read piece on which vehicle to buy first lists the L2A6 at $22,000 and a level requirement, and does not mention the $500,000 unlock at all. BULKHEAD's own Season 1 changelog settles it: its Economy Changes section lists track unlocks as their own line items — “Career, Artillery Tank: $400,000 to $500,000” sits beside “Vendor, Forward Operating Base: $2,500 to $7,500”. Two different payments, printed as two different things.
Season 2 widened the gap. It raised ten vehicle prices and lowered none — the Havoc now costs $28,000 a time behind a $650,000 unlock — and added 3 vehicles, every one of them gated: Wolf-110 ($2,200 + $50,000), Wolf-110 M2 ($7,800 + $125,000), T-72B3 ($16,000 + $250,000). The full list of what moved is in the Season 2 patch notes.
What losing one costs
A vehicle is not spent when you buy it, it is spent when it burns. The vendor bill comes back every time, and on top of it the game charges $1,500 for every passenger killed in the crash — a full Bobcat is $500 plus up to $1,500 in penalties, and a full transport helicopter is a great deal worse.
That is the argument for buying the cheap one first and flying nothing you cannot replace twice. It is also the argument against the popular reading of the economy: a $650 anti-tank mine removes a $22,000 tank, and the mine does not care that its owner paid $500,000 for the privilege of buying it.
A buying order that survives a bad night
- Bobcat, $500
No gate, no unlock. Transport is the cheapest paid job in the game.
- Nothing, for a while
Every vehicle above it wants a five-figure unlock before it will sell. Bank that money instead and spend it on kit you lose every spawn.
- The transport you have already unlocked
Track levels arrive on their own as you play the role. Buy the vehicle whose unlock you have already paid, not the one you want.
- Armour and air last
They are the largest unlocks in the game and the easiest things to lose in ninety seconds.