When you pick up a rental car, it’s natural to tune out the thought of someone very strange driving it before you, even if you know that it definitely could have happened.
But what happens when a previous renter comes back for the car? You’re suddenly forced to think about and that’s apparently what happened to rodeo announcer Adam Lee, who claims to have had a previous renter of his vehicle return to it to search for hidden drugs.
Lee, whose bio on TikTok reads, "Rodeo Announcer, Bail Bondsman, Houndsman Muay Thai, Conservative Christian," has just over 1,000 followers on TikTok. His rental video has by far the most traction, gaining over 15,000 plays as of the time this was written. Lee announces rodeos in the Carolinas, according to Facebook.
Motor1 reached out to Lee through his email account. We will update this if he responds.
Rental Car Attracts Strange Attention
According to Lee’s story, he went to pick up his vehicle on a Monday night. On Tuesday night, he used it to meet a friend for dinner. While they were eating, he says he noticed a woman behaving oddly and dressed out of place for the restaurant.
Lee says she was repeatedly glancing their way, and eventually sitting where she could see their car through the front window. At the same time, a man outside was pacing near the parking lot, stopping and looking toward their vehicle as if keeping watch. But the woman was the one giving him bad vibes, like he was being followed.
"The first thing I noticed about her is that she doesn't have anything to eat and we've been there long enough for her to get whatever she ordered. All she had was a drink. As soon as I pay, I get almost to the door. She's paying," he says. "So right behind me, she came in right behind us. Now she's leaving right behind us."
OWNERSHIP STORIES
Viral stories from across the web
Our team of experts tracks what owners are saying about car-shopping, repairs, the daily driving experience and more on social media.
Lee says he and his guest got into the car, and the woman came out and got in a Kia two cars down from them, and she kept staring and talking on the phone while looking at them. He drove behind her to get her plates—she had Missouri plates—and asked his friend for his thoughts about her.
"She was taking pictures of us," his friend says in the story.
After Lee dropped his friend off, it occurred to him that it was related to the rental car.
"So I start digging into this girl. I find out she's been in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska. A couple days ago her car was at the airport down in Charlotte. Um, she just got back from Ohio and West Virginia. In, out of all these motels, the people she's running around with, it's pretty obvious [it’s] a drug crowd," he says. "I also saw where she had just gotten released from prison … that's plural, years in prison."
Lee decided this had something to do with the stalking at the restaurant.
"Well, I get up the next morning and as I'm walking to my car, it's plain as day. Underneath there's a plastic underpinning. And I can see that underpinning has been yanked down from underneath the front of this vehicle. Now, it was not like that before, cause it was extremely obvious. I get under there and look, the bolts had not been taken out. So it's not like the bolts came loose and it fell down. It had been yanked down over the top of those bolts," he says.
What Should You Do In This Situation?
If someone were to damage your rental car, the first thing you should do is document the incident, contact the agency, and provide evidence. Police records would also help.
Many rental car agencies offer theft protection and protection in the event of a break-in, but this is obviously a fairly unique case, given the fact that a former driver apparently broke into part of the outside of the car.
Lee seemed to understand how weird the situation was.
"Very odd. Very strange," he says. "You know, when you get a rental car, you just never know what you're getting."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motor1.com?
Take our 3 minute survey.- The Motor1.com Team