Anyone renting on Turo?

[twonius]

Just to inject a bit of balance so we're not all negative on the experience.

Yes renting on Turo has some issues, and I'll be keeping an eye on whether i want to continue, but over the 12 months I've rented my car out I've made about $7k and gotten a referral so at least for me it's still worth it, even if I have to sometimes deal with an idiot.

 

[bpjod]

On a recent trip to Florida our family rented a Model S for a week. The first one we reserved a few months in advance. A couple weeks before departure, the owner messaged me to say that his Model S was totaled in an accident. I feel bad that his Model S was totaled and am grateful he gave me as much notice as he could, that would suck. Thankfully I had enough time to line up a second car, but the fact that their isn't much of a backup if an owner's vehicle is out of commission at the last second (as an earlier poster related) is always a consideration. After a long day of flying my family would not have been impressed with me if the Turo car hadn't come through. With Hertz et al if the car you reserved got totaled the day you were to pick up your rental, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to arrange an alternative vehicle. With Turo, not as easy.

The car I did rent was fantastic and it was great to have an extended drive of a Model S. We're going to Chicago next month and I've reserved a Model 3 on Turo and am extremely excited to try it. It will help me decide between a Model 3 and S for our family (Model 3 reservation - late 2018). I hope that rental goes as well as the Turo rental in Florida did. I'm really looking forward to the experience.

 

[twonius]

On a recent trip to Florida our family rented a Model S for a week. The first one we reserved a few months in advance. A couple weeks before departure, the owner messaged me to say that his Model S was totaled in an accident. I feel bad that his Model S was totaled and am grateful he gave me as much notice as he could, that would suck. Thankfully I had enough time to line up a second car, but the fact that their isn't much of a backup if an owner's vehicle is out of commission at the last second (as an earlier poster related) is always a consideration. After a long day of flying my family would not have been impressed with me if the Turo car hadn't come through. With Hertz et al if the car you reserved got totaled the day you were to pick up your rental, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to arrange an alternative vehicle. With Turo, not as easy.

The car I did rent was fantastic and it was great to have an extended drive of a Model S. We're going to Chicago next month and I've reserved a Model 3 on Turo and am extremely excited to try it. It will help me decide between a Model 3 and S for our family (Model 3 reservation - late 2018). I hope that rental goes as well as the Turo rental in Florida did. I'm really looking forward to the experience.

I guess in other markets it could be tough, but at least here in San Diego there are enough cars that you'd likely get at least "something" last minute. Worst case you'd end up with something still nice even if you couldn't get a Tesla last minute.

Of course one thing to bear in mind is that unless you go for the way top end stuff, Car rental companies will often get you with the "Or Similar", or the occasional "Upgrade", like when Sixt upgraded me from a BMW 1 series to a Mazda 6 even though the BMW was on the lot (It had too many miles apparently)

Also you can rent a Model S from Hertz but it's like double what the going rate on Turo in my market is.

(your mileage may vary, past performance is not indicative of future gains, consult your doctor if effect lasts longer than 4 hours)

 

[ahkahn]

On a recent trip to Florida our family rented a Model S for a week. The first one we reserved a few months in advance. A couple weeks before departure, the owner messaged me to say that his Model S was totaled in an accident. I feel bad that his Model S was totaled and am grateful he gave me as much notice as he could, that would suck. Thankfully I had enough time to line up a second car, but the fact that their isn't much of a backup if an owner's vehicle is out of commission at the last second (as an earlier poster related) is always a consideration. After a long day of flying my family would not have been impressed with me if the Turo car hadn't come through. With Hertz et al if the car you reserved got totaled the day you were to pick up your rental, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to arrange an alternative vehicle. With Turo, not as easy.

The car I did rent was fantastic and it was great to have an extended drive of a Model S. We're going to Chicago next month and I've reserved a Model 3 on Turo and am extremely excited to try it. It will help me decide between a Model 3 and S for our family (Model 3 reservation - late 2018). I hope that rental goes as well as the Turo rental in Florida did. I'm really looking forward to the experience.

If you come to Chicago, I've got my Model S on Turo... and I have a 5 star rating. Let me know if you're ever interested, I'll send you my link.

-Andrew

 

[Eveque Fou]

How are Superchargers handled with Turo? The site says renters are expected to return the car with the same level of fuel (charge) or pay for the difference, but most renters either won't have a way to recharge other than the Supercharger, which gets billed to the owner. Is there a way to get reimbursed for the SC fees / electricity used to recharge after the car is returned?

 

[ArbitrageMan]

How do taxes play in here? Presumably you have to pay income tax on the rental money you receive. Can you deduct the depreciation?

Thinking about the tax bracket most of us here would be in, a lot of that income is going to taxes.

 

[Eveque Fou]

How do taxes play in here? Presumably you have to pay income tax on the rental money you receive. Can you deduct the depreciation?

Thinking about the tax bracket most of us here would be in, a lot of that income is going to taxes.

From some cursory reading, you can take depreciation and maintenance expenses based on the percentage of mileage that's for rentals and not personal, with full depreciation if it's mostly rental and not personal. You'd pay both income taxes and self-employment taxes on any income that doesn't cover, but for most people I suspect they won't have much taxable after that.

 

[ahkahn]

From some cursory reading, you can take depreciation and maintenance expenses based on the percentage of mileage that's for rentals and not personal, with full depreciation if it's mostly rental and not personal. You'd pay both income taxes and self-employment taxes on any income that doesn't cover, but for most people I suspect they won't have much taxable after that.

...But you'd also be best suited putting your car into a corporation or LLC...

 

[ahkahn]

How are Superchargers handled with Turo? The site says renters are expected to return the car with the same level of fuel (charge) or pay for the difference, but most renters either won't have a way to recharge other than the Supercharger, which gets billed to the owner. Is there a way to get reimbursed for the SC fees / electricity used to recharge after the car is returned?

2 things - I've got free Supercharging, so the I don't have to worry about the charges. I would imagine if renting, I'd tie the SC to a credit card that I can see things real-time, so if someone Supercharges I would be able to request a reimbursement immediately upon rental termination.

Secondly, I don't require my renters to return the car with anything other than enough charge to get back home. One time they did not (returned it literally on zero at Midway airport), and Turo had to tow it to the closest Supercharger (Country Club Hills... about 20 miles away)... that guy was on the hook for the tow.