The thing about rental car companies is that they’re pretty darn good keeping tack of their vehicles. It’s a bit different than say, a customer misplacing a rental DVD. When a $41,000 Cadillac doesn’t come back, there’s no shrugging — there’s a police investigation that uncovered a trio accused of faking driver’s licenses to rent luxury vehicles and then selling them on the cheap.

Police in New York say the men picked up fancy rides like a Mercedes-Benz and a Cadillac from counter agents at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports using counterfeited IDs one of the men allegedly made in his parents’ bedroom, then turned around and sold them off.

Because it’s not easy to fence a $41,000 vehicle, cops say the men sold the vehicles for basically pennies on the dollar, reports New York Daily News, which likely raised a few alarms.

(We imagine such a scenario could go down like this:

Person looking for a car: Hey, how much is this very fancy luxury automobile?

Guy selling it: It’s like, two grand.

PLFA: Really? It seems very expensive.

GSI: Yeah, here, take it.

PLFA: Weird.)

One of the suspects has been charged with possessing and using equipment used to manufacture the phony credit cards and driver’s licenses, while the other suspects will likely receive charges this week.

Authorities say at least 10 of the stolen cars have been accounted for and that Avis and Hertz were both targeted. Even more vehicles could’ve been stolen and shipped overseas, the District Attorney said.

So if someone offers you a hot ride for a cool cost, we’re sorry, but it’s probably too good to be true. And it’s definitely illegal.

Three Long Island men busted for renting cars and then selling them [New York Daily News]

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