Flying cars in WARDOGS are a bug being exploited, not a feature, and Bulkhead says abusing it is a permanent ban. The studio posted on @WARDOGSUpdates at 13:56 UTC on 20 October that "a subset of players" are exploiting a bug that lets ground vehicles "fly" around the map. A server-side hotfix is in progress, and "anyone caught abusing will be perma banned. You have been warned" (Confirmed).
Has the hotfix shipped?
Not that Bulkhead has said. There is no patch note and no Steam post about it as of 23 October, and the X post gave no date. A server-side fix needs no download, so it could arrive without one. Until Bulkhead says it has, treat the exploit as live.
The clips suggest it is. The best-known one, "Flying car hacker trying to ram my helicopter" by Cow_mooooflage, sits at nearly 3,000 upvotes on r/WarDogs and went up on 19 October, the day before the warning. More reports followed on 21, 22 and 23 October, one describing a ground vehicle in the air while its gunner killed players below. On Steam, DNs posted two noclip and speed-hack videos on 23 October (Reported).
Is it a cheat or a bug?
Bulkhead calls it a bug that players exploit. Players mostly call it hacking. The difference matters less than it sounds: either way it is deliberate, and either way the stated price is a permanent ban.
Not every airborne truck is one of them. WARDOGS vehicles still get launched by small obstacles, and a crowded control zone can make vehicles stutter and teleport through desync. A truck that flips once is physics. A car that cruises at rooftop height while its gunner picks people off is not.
It is also not the "vehicle fly-through" exploit fixed in Update 0.1.2 on 30 September. That one was about cash and XP rewards, which are now capped.
Does the 175 ping cap help?
Not with this. The cap that arrived on 21 October filters by connection, not behaviour. On 22 October Physical-Suspect9493 posted their first flying-car encounter on r/WarDogs and noted the driver's ping was high but under the limit (Reported). Why players think the cap is the wrong tool is in why the region lock is backfiring.
What to do if you see one
Report the player in game. Since Season 1, reports are weighted so that repeat and bad-faith reporters count for less, and cheater bans are announced in the server.
Do not hitch a ride either. Bulkhead has not said whether passengers are punished, but PUBG set the precedent in 2018, when Shroud got a one-month ban for riding in a hacker's flying car.