Xzibit’s MTV Show ‘Pimp My Ride’ Was More Bogus Than Reality

Remember the 2004 MTV series Pimp My Ride starring Xzibit? Apparently the entire show wasn't as reality-driven as you think.

Sure, the car experts were legit and the company West Coast Customs really exists, but most of the other occurrences on the show were made up for the cameras, the Huffington Post reports.

The premise of the show was simple: Xzibit would help people turn their hoopties into a souped up modern ride filled with cool gadgets and electronics.

According to the car owners, all of the extras the shop put inside were removed right after filming was wrapped. In addition, the people who worked on the cars didn't really fix the engines and whatever they did do made the car drive even worse.

"There wasn't much done under the hood in regards to the actual mechanics of the vehicle," said Seth Martino, a participant on Season 6 of Pimp My Ride. "For the most part, it needed a lot of work done to make it a functioning regular driver, which they did not do. They added a lot of extra weight but didn't adjust the suspension to compensate, so I felt like I was in a boat, and every time I hit a bump the car would bottom out and the tires would scrape inside the wheel well."

Other people on the show said they were strong-armed by a guy named Big Dane to show enthusiasm when their cars were completed. "I remember this very clearly, Big Dane, very big dude, he like puts his arm around my shoulder, kind of walks me around the shop for like 10 minutes and he's like, 'Listen, we put a lot of work into this, we expect you to be a little more f---ing enthusiastic,'" recalled Season 4 participant Jake Glazier. "I guess I didn't show enough enthusiasm."

West Coast Customs was also accused of keeping the owners' vehicles for up to seven months, despite the show making it look like the turnaround time was quick.

Larry Hochberg, co-executive producer of Pimp My Ride, admitted that many of the items used to "pimp" the rides were removed. "Sometimes we did things for safety reasons that the kids on the show interpreted as us taking away some items," he said.

Overall, the contestants enjoyed the experience, even if they didn't get to speak directly to Xzibit. Martino said the rapper would say things like "time to smoke" (and he wasn't talking about cigarettes). "He did smell of [weed]. A lot of it," Season 6 participant Justin Dearinger revealed. "Someone did at least, I don't know who did, but I'm pretty sure it was ... you know."

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