Turo

[Quickturtle]

I'm curious what people's recent experiences here are about renting their cars out on Turo (haven't seen any recent threads on this). Is it a reasonable source of income or is the risk to the vehicle's condition too great? Does one have ways of controlling whether those who ride it are reasonable, or does the app provide little-no information on them?

 

[Chancellor32]

I think it greatly depends on where you live. In SF might be pretty good! I personally planned on doing Turo but after a week with my car the thought of letting anyone else drive it seemed nuts to me. I know through TURO you can control who you rent it too but even if you made enough to cover your payment and then some all it takes is one accident and now your car is damaged and lost a good chunk of its value. No amount of money is worth that for me!

 

[davinci2017]

I dont know, simple things are tough to keep track of and inspect/monitor. If you are picky about the overall condition of your car, then it wont work
if you tend to ignore minor scuffs/scratches, curb rashes, interior marks etc then sure it might work for you. Really depends on the individual IMO, you just cannot control everything and a curb rash is easy to miss on casual inspection until the car wash and you go "wait when did this happen???"

 

[Evil Twin]

Wow, I'm cautious letting a valet park my car.

 

[Bebop]

It’s been great. I did have 1-2 bad experiences (not damage related at all). I learned from those experiences and made some changes. But overall it’s been cool. For the most part, the people I deal with are people who respect the car and rules I set place. Turo does set a 30+ age requirment to rent out high end cars, Tesla cars being one of them. Though anyone who is 25-29 can rent but with a $1k refundable deposit at booking. No one under 25 is allowed to rent.

Another key aspect is to trust your instincts and do not be afraid to question someone. I’m very picky in terms of who’s requests I accept and that is a big part of the success I have had in terms of lack of any damage. I’ve denied plenty of requests. You don’t have to accept every single request. The app does provide SOME info but it’s all on you to do due diligence.

I’m at an advantage because I have the whole car wrapped in a clear bra. That has been absolutely worth every penny for me personally (for my own driving) and from renting out the car. If you don’t have at least the front half of your car wrapped in film, I’d be hesitant to rent out the car.

I would imagine you being in San Francisco it would work out pretty well. Where you live really matters too. It’s worth maybe doing one or two bookings worth to see if it’s for you/if you like it.

One time I rented out my car to someone who actually works at Fremont. They flew in to Chicago for holiday. Out of that I got a hookup for a private extensive Model 3 production tour next time I’m in the Bay Area So you never know who you might deal with.

 

[Cheburashka]

I rented a MS from Turo recently for a road trip. The trunk was bent from the previous owner who couldn't judge the size of the car.

That said, I cleaned and washed it before returning it and treated it like it was my car.

If you're really attached to your car for whatever reason, I wouldn't recommend it. Otherwise, just have to be aware that damage can and probably will happen on a car of this size.

 

[Ulmo]

Warning about scammers renting their cars on Turo:

Scammers use Turo to rent their cars. Be warned. They change their schedules, claim you showed up late when they were the ones late, claim you returned their car dirty when you return it clean, don't let you extend your rental even though all other rental companies let you do that, charge you a whole day for a few minutes more, many more fees they tack on, rent you a damaged car that drives horribly and claimed you were the one who damaged it, etc. When appealing to Turo, they side with the car owner EVERY TIME, never with the customer.

Warning complete.

 

[rexki]

I think it greatly depends on where you live. In SF might be pretty good! I personally planned on doing Turo but after a week with my car the thought of letting anyone else drive it seemed nuts to me. I know through TURO you can control who you rent it too but even if you made enough to cover your payment and then some all it takes is one accident and now your car is damaged and lost a good chunk of its value. No amount of money is worth that for me!

I can see the Turo being big for those that buy a second or third Tesla just for Renting out. My daily driver - no way because of the valuation and never the same car again after a 7 mph front or back collision - cars just crumple now instead of the old shock absorber bumpers.

Big question for the second or more car ownership rental model is where are the cars kept for home base? Thinking old closed car dealerships with Solar carports!

 

[rexki]

Warning about scammers renting their cars on Turo:

Scammers use Turo to rent their cars. Be warned. They change their schedules, claim you showed up late when they were the ones late, claim you returned their car dirty when you return it clean, don't let you extend your rental even though all other rental companies let you do that, charge you a whole day for a few minutes more, many more fees they tack on, rent you a damaged car that drives horribly and claimed you were the one who damaged it, etc. When appealing to Turo, they side with the car owner EVERY TIME, never with the customer.

Warning complete.

Have read a few blogs on this - it does happen - but they sided with the renter due to photographs and their inherent time stamps (metadata) - not sure this is the norm - if it were then they would not have the positive word of mouth I am hearing? Would like to have some sources on your gloom and doom, not that I dont believe you, this model of business is fascinating and a game changer.

 

[JADCa]

I have used and recommended turo. Always been a great experience as a renter.

 

[EVRider-FL]

I’ve used Turo once so far, to rent a Model 3 in RI earlier this year, and it was a great experience. I’m renting another Model 3 via Turo for an upcoming trip to AZ. People review and rate their Turo experiences, so if you stick with a top-rated Turo “host” you’ll probably do fine.

Now that Hertz and other mainstream rental companies are renting Teslas at certain locations, you have other options. I checked to see if any Teslas were a available from those companies for my AZ trip, but didn’t find any, so it varies by location.

 

[jjrandorin]

I can see the Turo being big for those that buy a second or third Tesla just for Renting out. My daily driver - no way because of the valuation and never the same car again after a 7 mph front or back collision - cars just crumple now instead of the old shock absorber bumpers.

Big question for the second or more car ownership rental model is where are the cars kept for home base? Thinking old closed car dealerships with Solar carports!

Im not sure why this thread was necro rezzed by you, after posting in another thread on the same topic in another subforum.... but...

Anyone interested in turo should read this post from someone here about their experience renting out their cars. Very interesting read:

Buying second car for Turo

Hello all, my situation is, my SO works from home. We went from 2 cars down to 1 so we could buy the MY (which we love). Lately, it seems like more and more we have conflicts where I am at work and my SO needs to go somewhere. We’ve used Uber to supplement and it’s worked fine and significantly...

teslamotorsclub.com

At one point I was up to 11 cars all purchased outright without debt (Including Tesla's) on Turo before I went back to work a few years ago. Here's why I no longer do it;

-It's a bit heartbreaking to have somebody trash your car even if there is a robust liberty mutual insurance policy in place. Your time for cleaning up trash, cigarette smoke and vomit (yes vomit) is NEVER compensated. Not to mention your overall loss in faith of humanity you'll undoubtedly experience.

-The cheap cars like a Prius (less than $30 per day) rent 10x more than higher end stuff as these people want the absolute cheapest way to get from point A to B.

-You will never have peace when your car is rented. Last minute changes, middle of the night text messages when they can't figure out how to work something, trip extension request at 4AM when the trip is scheduled to end at 7AM. Then there's the time the guy just decided to not bring the car back and I had to report it stollen and 5 weeks later the Highway patrol found him living in the car. Had to show up for court twice as he was charged with GTA. Then there was the time Turo allowed a woman to rent my Volt with a suspended license and she decided to get a DUI in my car so the car was impounded for 4 days before I received a letter notifying me. Spent all day explaining the situation to law enforcement in an attempt to recover my property.

-Ive had a female renter blow the engine on a car while out of state and had to replace the engine entirely. Ive also had a car completely totaled in an accident and countless amounts of damage to my vehicles, some damage was reported by honest renters but usually it was hidden. One person even used bondo and spray paint to attempt to cover damage to the vehicle.


-The old adage that nobody ever waxes a rental and there usually a reason someone doesnt have a car have proved completely true in my experience. In conclusion, I learned a lot about how to run a small business but it just wasn't worth my hassle. I remember deciding to quit after my P85D came back sometime in the middle of the night on a flatbed because the guy just drove it until the battery died then jumped in an Uber and essentially said "not my problem." Same exact scenario actually happened with one of my Nissan Leafs as well. Even though the Tesla had free supercharging and attempts to route you when the battery become too low this guy just couldn't be bothered. When scenarios like this happen is a huge hassle you have little recourse what so ever as the customer is always right.

-There were of course good renters as well who wouldn't top your fuel tank with water so that you didn't charge them for not bring the car back with less fuel than given, but they just weren't as common or memorable.