Xzibit and Pimp My Ride Make a Spectacular Comeback With the Trash Wagon

Pimp My Ride was at the forefront of reality programming as we know it today and remains, to this day, one of the biggest and most successful series to ever air on MTV. It originally ran on the network for six seasons between 2004 and 2007, spanning a slew of similar shows, spinoffs, and local versions.

Rapper Xzibit was the original host, while all the custom work on the vehicles took place in California at West Coast Customs and then, in later seasons, at Galpin Auto. The idea for the entire series was deceptively simple: what if you took a struggling kid's beat up daily and "pimped" it, thus building that kid's "dream" car?

Pimp My Ride saw the creation of some of the wackiest and most ridiculous custom vehicles out there, but that wasn't what eventually alienated the show's fanbase. Instead, it was reports that about 90% of the show was fake, down to the upgrades on the car and the quality of the work, which negatively impacted the vehicle's already shoddy functionality.

For auto enthusiasts, the tipping point probably came with producers' desire to escalate the outrageousness or uniqueness of the upgrades.

All this is perfectly captured in a Saturday Night Live skit that was cut from last weekend's show due to time constraints. Host Jacob Elordi plays Sergei, while the Please Don't Destroy trio (Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy) take over from West Coast Customs in their attempt to bring some happiness into his life when his car breaks down.

His car is a very bland and glitchy Toyota Sienna, which the three decide to pimp with a janitor theme – because, you see, Sergei is a janitor.

Upgrades include a new custom paint job in the Barbiest pink with decals of cleaning items, blue underlights, a front bumper made of Swiffer WetJets, a Crock Pot hidden in the center console, DVD players in lieu of side mirrors, and the entire back row replaced with mop buckets ready to use at a moment's notice.

The Trash Wagon also gets a custom vanity plate framed in shiny rhinestones, reading "Sergei Da Trash King," much to Sergei's objection that cleaning is "just a job."

Xzibit also makes a couple of surprise appearances, though they're far from the enthusiastic appearances he'd make on the original show. First, he warns the trio not to start the car, in a serious reference to how some custom vehicles from the show caught fire after the WCC crew added the upgrades without fixing what was wrong with the cars originally.

Then, towards the end, he warns the viewers at home that he is "in no way associated with any of this s***."

In an interview from a few years ago, Xzibit explained that he still got flak on social media for Pimp My Ride, with people not understanding that, while he was the face of the show, he had no involvement in the actual production. Or, as he put it in more colorful terms, he didn't fix anything on the show, nor was he ever asked his opinion about a certain upgrade. He only agreed to host it so MTV would play his music.

Since we've gone down this particular memory lane, Ryan Friedlinghaus of West Coast Customs also distanced himself from the show after they stopped working with MTV. Pimp My Ride damaged the West Coast Customs brand because producers forced them to build whatever cars they imagined people would love to see, he said. So, when the contract allowed him to, he backed out of the deal so he could start building cars for real clients.

If all this talk about Pimp My Ride got you feeling nostalgic, this SNL skit is just what you need.