Justin Bieber was pulled over and arrested for numerous offenses earlier today in a rented Lamborghini Gallardo that included DUI and resisting arrest. He’s 19 years old and he had a suspended license. So how the hell did he get in the car in the first place? Welcome to the world of high priced exotic rentals.
If there’s a desire for something there’s a company that will allow you have it for a brief period of time. Designer clothes. Sex. Lamborghini’s.
Exotic car rental regulations vary by the company, but for the most part the age requirement for exotic car rental in the Miami area is 25, or to 21 year old’s with an up-charge. Bieber is 19, which isn’t 21 and certainly isn’t 25. And a suspended license doesn’t really make that any easier.P
So the question is, how did he get his hands on that car? Was there fraud? Was someone so struck by the idea of Justin Bieber driving their car that they were willing to overlook every single part of their insurance policy?P
According to Popular Mechanics, getting a rental exotic is actually pretty easy:
Requirements are surprisingly simple, starting with a driver’s-license check to make sure there are no odd violations on record, Temerian and Darvish say. Next comes a check of your own personal auto-insurance policy to see that it’s valid and covers rental cars. Then they’ll often request a security deposit on your credit card of up to $5000 depending upon which rental company you use. (What, you think they’d put someone behind the wheel of a Bentley without it?)
Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire also works a lot with Gotham Dream Cars. We spoke to Farah about exotic car rental practices and how Bieber could get his hands on the car.P
As Farah put it “if homie was from Canada with a suspended license I wouldn’t have rented him a car. We turn people down all the time for bad paperwork. Plus, we don’t rent to anyone under 25.”P
Matt says that Gotham’s process requires that a client “must be over 25 with valid license,comprehensive insurance coverage, and a $5,000 security deposit.”
Of course, it’s very possible that the car was not rented to Bieber but to a member of his entourage, though I find it doubtful that the people at the rental office wouldn’t realize that Bieber would be in the car at any point. Matt doesn’t believe that’s impossible either when I asked if Bieber might have asked them to look the other way or thrown some money at them.P
I think it’s much more likely someone at the rental company just said “here bodyguard x, you’re of age, we’ll rent to you” and bodyguard x just handed the keys over. But he also gets into every nightclub so it seems most people would think the risk is worth it to be associated with his name. P
Gotham does a lot of celebrity rentals, and even if the celeb sends an assistant to pick up the car, it’s not given out. P
We have rented to many celebrities and the biggest problem is that usually they want their assistant to pick up the car, which we don’t allow. Come to think of it, one of Bieber’s of-age handlers may have legally rented the car for him.P
What that would mean is the car was totally legally rented, but Bieber wasn’t named to drive it. It makes sense and is entirely plausible. That becomes the problem of the rental company, according to Farah:P
The law varies by state but technically anyone under 21 shouldn’t be driving even if someone of age signs for the car. It would be the burden of the rental company to prosecute that though, as long as the car isn’t stolen the cops wouldn’t care. I’m sure the rental company will keep their deposit but it seems likely to pursue charges against Justin at this point simply for being behind the wheel, as long as the car wasn’t damaged.P
So how hard is it to get into a rental exotic? If you have money, and this won’t be a shocker, it’s not that difficult. But it can get difficult if something goes wrong.P
Photo Credits: APP
