Stagecoaches

Stagecoaches are large enclosed carts, drawn by two or four horses and usually used in the transport of 1-6 people or valuable goods. They can be driven for transportation or chartered to specific destinations, allowing the player to ride passenger. The player can choose to skip the ride and arrive at his destination instantly. Alternatively, traveling in a stagecoach gives the player an opportunity to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

Marston can fire his weapons from the stagecoach, defending it from outlaws and bandits. He can also steal them for their own use. If you wish to avoid inadvertently stealing it, however, do not point your weapon at the driver. They do not like this, even while you are the passenger.

Stagecoaches are distinct from carts, providing shelter from the elements and prying eyes. This extra level of protection requires additional horses. Stagecoaches can be used in both Single-Player and Multiplayer.

It is, according to Rockstar, possible to take the horses from the stagecoach and use them without dragging the stagecoach. It is yet unconfirmed if this is seen as stealing.

Upon obtaining Treasure Hunter Rank 5 all uses of Stagecoaches become completely free of charge.

Tips
Stagecoaches can be used for protection from animals as well. When driving a stagecoach, animals will neither attack John nor the horses that pull the stagecoach; in fact some animals run away such as bears. This makes the stagecoach quite useful in places such as Tall Trees where there are many bears. In Tall Trees, there is a stagecoach outside of John's Manzanita Post home. You can steal it and take it all through Tall Trees. In this manner, you can enjoy the scenery and not have to worry about being attacked. You can also use this for hunting in a similar manner; just shoot your target, jump out, skin it, and get back in.

After completing rank 5 of the treasure hunter challenges riding the stagecoaches is free.

Free Stagecoach: Enter the stagecoach, when you're selecting your destination hit pause and go to your map. When in your map, set your waypoint to anywhere on the map that you'd like to go. Now exit your map back to the stagecoach and the location will say "Waypoint 0$" even if you're transporting to a town that would cost 20$, with the waypoint system it's free. (you can also do this by making a camp).

Multiplayer Locations
Stage coaches are available in multiplayer, and can seat up to six people. They are extremely rare in multiplayer, and can be found:

1. After the mine mission by Gaptooth Breach, in which players must bring the mine cart to a specified location. The stage coach is directly adjacent from the end area

2. Random encounters in free roam.

Bugs

 * Sometimes, a glitch occurs where the user pays a much larger sum than previously negotiated before the ride. This has yet to be fixed as of May, 30, 2010.
 * In multiplayer, there is a glitch to get into buildings you cant usually get into by shooting your horses then jump out while parked next to a building.
 * In Single Player, sometimes the stagecoaches will "lagg" as if they jump up and down, and the horses won't drag the stagecoach forward. Instead their foot are sunk into the ground, making the stagecoach vibrate heavily. This can affect the missions in Single Player where you have to ride shotgun or drive the stagecoach. It will just fly up in the air when pressing "Skip to destination" for the first time, but will work fine on the second attempt. It can also occurr that the mission communications fail, so that the game won't respond to the characters' quotes due to this glitch. The reason for it is trouble in loading the game save, and is yet to be patched after the accouncement of a fix for this through Rockstar.