U.S. & World

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― Ed Morales wants to be a nice guy, but he cannot tolerate missed payments. He cannot tolerate late payments. Not even one day late.

So Morales, a nice guy, will find your car at the first sign you owe money and he will pry the rims and tires right off, right there, because renting wheels is financing desperation, and Morales must have cash-in-hand assurances he's profiting from rent-to-own chrome.

"There is no grace period," Morales said. "I'll find you."

Morales opened Rent-A-Wheel in Las Vegas in February, the first Nevada branch of a multistate franchise offering rent-to-own tires and rims that can cost more than $5,000, depending on size, shine and how quickly a customer can make good on debt.

Renting expensive wheels with the hope of someday owning them, even though it could cost twice as much as buying them outright, will stump anyone immune to the logic of luxury goods. Las Vegans, at least those who clutch designer handbags or sign casino markers with expensive pens, ought to see a bit of themselves in rental spokes, which are just another stab at conspicuous consumption in a town that lives to be consumed.

"It's society," Morales said. "Everybody wants to bling."

And bling they shall. Expensive wheels -- one part polished chrome, one part thin tire -- are totems in the cult of car customization, an auto accessory Las Vegas connoisseurs insist project status behind the steering wheel, a rolling, spit-shined cool so urgently coveted that Las Vegas police have grown accustomed to seeing cars propped up on concrete blocks, pillaged for wheels.

Anthony Hood, a recent Rent-A-Wheel devotee, said he was polishing his new rims every two days. Then he broke down and confessed it was more like every 20 waking minutes.

"Heads are turning," Hood said, all smiles next to his blue pickup truck.

Heads that turn, however, covet, and police Lt. Robert DuVall warns Hood, and anyone in the loop, that car trends dictate car theft. A recent rash of stolen Dodge Rams has a lot to do with the fact the trucks come stocked with trendy 20-inch wheels that thieves want, DuVall said.

"They go for the wheel and the thin profile tires," DuVall said. "They slide right on, and suddenly they've got new wheels."

Pop culture is partly to blame. Endless music videos feature chart-topping artists crouching next to expensive cars. A slew of television shows, most notably MTV's "Pimp My Ride," have capitalized on the trend by showcasing the transformation of destitute car into hulking cash cow, forever, with the addition of gleaming chrome wheels.

Renters, connoisseurs and criminals are after the same thing -- it doesn't matter how you get the wheels, just so long as you have them.

"That's kind of what brought us here," DuVall said. "We all want that ordinary car that looks extraordinary."

North Las Vegas resident Courtney Hunt was awakened about 3 a.m. in 2004 to the sound of his wheels being stolen. The thieves fired about five shots at Hunt, who returned fire from his front door, watching as the group made off with three of four wheels Hunt priced at $3,000.

Michael Cu wanted wheels that bling so badly that he kidnapped and killed a Las Vegas high school student in 1996 for his car, shooting him with a high-powered rifle in the remote desert. Afterward, police said, Cu discovered the wheels wouldn't fit his car.

An enterprising group of criminals need no more than five minutes to steal four wheels, which are just as likely to end up on their own cars as in the chop shop, DuVall said.

A Cadillac Escalade parked near Street Concepts Unlimited auto shop on Flamingo Road was stolen in seconds, only to resurface four days later, less about $50,000 in parts and pieces, store manager Alan Bush said.

"Bottom line, it's a status issue," Bush said. "They want people to look at their wheels."

Chrome infatuates who typically spend about $5,000 a set often commit hundreds more to jack up their suspensions so the car floats higher and the wheels show better, Bush said.

Rick Bell had to raise the suspension of his Oldsmobile Cutlass 34 inches off the ground to accommodate a set of $7,400 wheels (fully paid for) that run 26 inches from top to bottom. The Cutlass, which came to Bell in bad condition, now sits about as high as a Citizen Area Transit bus.

Bell says his wheels are "for stunting purposes." When pressed, defines stunting as "showing people what you're worth, showing people what you're made of. Being flashy."

The retail market for custom wheels topped $1.3 billion in 2004, a growth of more than 65 percent in six years, according to Specialty Equipment Market Association, an auto accessory industry group.

Teenagers, expected to buy one out of four new cars sold by 2010, told pollsters for the association in 2004 that custom wheels were their top priority purchase -- an investment that analysts described as rife with "emotional baggage," noting about 70 percent of teens called their car a source of "emotional uplift."

Las Vegas hosted the market association's trade show last year, which included about 130 custom-wheel manufacturers. Asanti, a brand new to the market, debuted a set of 22-inch rims embedded with about $1 million worth of diamonds. They were offered with a complimentary Bentley.

It's not uncommon to see wheels costing more than the cars they're bolted to, DuVall said. But therein lies the mainstream allure. Not everyone can afford a Bentley with thousand-carat wheels. But most people can scrape together enough money to rent rims or enough gusto to steal them.

"There has been a big move to sell car accessories as if they were fashion items," said Lucian James, president of pop-culture consulting firm Agenda Inc. in San Francisco. "It's a status symbol in the same way jewelry is -- people can buy in at every level."

Rent-A-Wheel customers must promise to buy in again and again and again, making payments every Saturday until the wheel is finally theirs.

"They don't need it," Morales said. "They want it. We facilitate that want."

Hood will spend about $1,800 for his Rent-A-Wheel purchase, if he pays it off in 90 days. If not, rental fees could double the cost. But Hood doesn't care. Hood turned his two cousins on to leased wheels, and his cousins tipped off their mother, who drove to Las Vegas from out of state in search of wheels and a dotted line to sign.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)