Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Would you rent out your Model S, or rent a Model S?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
It does - its $449 per day! Max of 100 miles per day. Seems steep...
When I rent my Roadster out, I decided not to put a mileage limit on it. The time it takes to charge is a huge limiting factor and in essence they're paying me for them to charge it (time is money). While the MS will cut down on that with superchargers, it still is a limiting function so I probably again will not limit based on mileage. Its not like I'm worried about wear and tear on the engine, err motor! I won't have to change the oil, spark plugs, etc. any sooner. :tongue:
 
It'd be nice to recoup some of the cost, but no, I wouldn't do it. People would be flooring it constantly I'm sure. I keep my cars in pristine condition and I know I'd just be worried the whole time someone was going to "scratch it". So, in reality, it will probably be a miracle if my wife even gets to drive it.
 
All along I said that I was renting out the car more to create a paradigm shift in the fight for the hearts and minds of the potential EV user. Never was about the money as I think renting out the car may be more hassle than its worth. That being said, here was a note just dropped to me today:
Hi Ian,I rented your Roadster a while back. I have a Model S question. I just ordered a black Model S about a month ago. I have done the test drive and the day to day stuff is great. I'm just wondering more about the superchargers. I do a lot of trips to Northern California and average 75 - 80 MPH. The Tesla calculator thing on the site only has 55 for highway driving and says you'd need a single stop at the supercharger. Just wondering how your experiences have been doing trips with the superchargers in terms of time spent.Cheers!
Mission Accomplished! :cool:
 
All along I said that I was renting out the car more to create a paradigm shift in the fight for the hearts and minds of the potential EV user. Never was about the money as I think renting out the car may be more hassle than its worth. That being said, here was a note just dropped to me today:
Hi Ian,I rented your Roadster a while back. I have a Model S question. I just ordered a black Model S about a month ago. I have done the test drive and the day to day stuff is great. I'm just wondering more about the superchargers. I do a lot of trips to Northern California and average 75 - 80 MPH. The Tesla calculator thing on the site only has 55 for highway driving and says you'd need a single stop at the supercharger. Just wondering how your experiences have been doing trips with the superchargers in terms of time spent.Cheers!
Mission Accomplished! :cool:

Hey, I didn't say you could use my quote. :)

I would have really liked to get a Model S to test the supercharger out. I pulled the trigger anyway.
 
Denver model S for rent soon

I am considering ordering a model S and would put it up for rental in Denver with airport delivery included if needed. I see there seems to be quite a bit of interest in other owners renting one while on vacation, so what kind of premium are you willing to pay? Hertz is charging $400/day with only 75 miles included. I was thinking of something closer to $250/day or $1000/ week with maybe 100 miles/ day included. A very reasonable $.35/Mile overage. Anyone want to reserve for their fall or winter trips? Of course winter tires will be installed in the fall for those trips up to Vail and Aspen. I might also consider a discount for other owners.

Chauffeured options also available at reasonable rates.
 
I am considering ordering a model S and would put it up for rental in Denver with airport delivery included if needed. I see there seems to be quite a bit of interest in other owners renting one while on vacation, so what kind of premium are you willing to pay? Hertz is charging $400/day with only 75 miles included. I was thinking of something closer to $250/day or $1000/ week with maybe 100 miles/ day included. A very reasonable $.35/Mile overage. Anyone want to reserve for their fall or winter trips? Of course winter tires will be installed in the fall for those trips up to Vail and Aspen. I might also consider a discount for other owners.

Chauffeured options also available at reasonable rates.

This guy is the poster child for personal Model S renting. He charges $30 per hour with a minimum of 6 hours, or $300 per day. His rates were successful at $25 and $250 respectfully, but he must have raised them recently due to increased demand. His mileage limit is 200 per day with $0.40 per mile over. He has a strict policy of when you can pick up or return the car to ensure that it is always charged for the next day's customer (between 9:00 am and 6:30 pm).

Now I've considered doing what you want to do, but the problem with renting outside of the umbrella of a company like Getaround is that your car is practically uninsured while a renter is driving it. If it is wrecked while you are renting it out, good luck getting your insurance company to pay up. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the insurance industry can point you to a policy that will cover you, but this was the nail in the coffin for me. Getaround is currently only in 5 cities and neither you or I live in one of them. Its competitor, RelayRides is everywhere, but will not accept vehicles over $50k because their insurance policy won't cover them.
 
SeanTek, you make some fascinating suggestions. If I were to rent out my Model S, I would be much more comfortable doing so to a current Model S owner so that the tech would be familiar.

I wonder if we setup an exchange like timeshares use, where we offer use of our Model Esses for a certain number of days and then receive similar "credit" to enjoy somebody else's Model S in the network.

Of course, this mitigates the exposure for newbies to the Tesla experience. Something I enjoy sharing with friends & family.
 
I am considering ordering a model S and would put it up for rental in Denver with airport delivery included if needed. I see there seems to be quite a bit of interest in other owners renting one while on vacation, so what kind of premium are you willing to pay? Hertz is charging $400/day with only 75 miles included. I was thinking of something closer to $250/day or $1000/ week with maybe 100 miles/ day included. A very reasonable $.35/Mile overage. Anyone want to reserve for their fall or winter trips? Of course winter tires will be installed in the fall for those trips up to Vail and Aspen. I might also consider a discount for other owners.

Chauffeured options also available at reasonable rates.

Last Year I had this "bright idea" to start a Tesla Rental business in Denver. I bought the first P85+ delivered to the area. Since the car was over 100K , the commercial liability policy was over $500 per month! (5K deductible)

I rented it out only for one day and it was the worst day of my life. I removed a GPS unit from another business vehicle and installed it on the Tesla. My heart sunk when I watched them drive over 90mph down the hill to Silverthorne, CO. Later that day, they were going 65 mph on a 25mph side street. I had lawsuits running through my head the entire day, with a major knot in my stomach.

I never cashed their check, sold the P85+, and dissolved the business.

I still have a S85, but am seriously thinking of selling it to get a P85. Once you drive the Performance a bit, it is very hard to go back to a standard.

Good luck to anyone who is considering renting a Tesla Model S. ( If I had not placed my "Live View GPS" unit on the car that day, I might still be renting it out).
 
Last edited:
With a bit of trepidation, last week I lent my Audi to a close friend who was in a bit of a jam (burnt out the clutch on his Honda S2000 on the way out to the farm for dinner). He returned the car a couple of days later with markedly warped rotors. He is a bit of an aggressive driver, but I never thought he would try to race someone in my 18 year old car, but obviously something occurred. He wanted to borrow the S instead, but fortunately I said no....

I'd leave the Model S rentals to the professionals who can carry the proper insurance, and who have the legal teams in place to go after someone who trashes out the car.
 
I don't think I would ever rent out my Model S, but would love to be able to rent one while out of town at a destination. I have a lot of upcoming travel to see family that is not very time-effective to drive across the country, but it would be fun for other family members who are interested to get to experience the Model S as if they were coming to visit me. I have seen you can rent them with some Hertz and other big name companies, but its at the cost of $400/day! That's just not worth it when you drive one every day back home.
 
SeanTek, you make some fascinating suggestions. If I were to rent out my Model S, I would be much more comfortable doing so to a current Model S owner so that the tech would be familiar.

I wonder if we setup an exchange like timeshares use, where we offer use of our Model Esses for a certain number of days and then receive similar "credit" to enjoy somebody else's Model S in the network.

Of course, this mitigates the exposure for newbies to the Tesla experience. Something I enjoy sharing with friends & family.

Sounds like something that I would be interested in looking into, as well.

The main problem (from my perspective) is that the work to set up an exchange platform would probably be more than the number of Tesla Model S owners out there are, i.e., to break even. But maybe others have ideas on how this could be set up efficiently.
 
We would never rent out or Tesla - but we'd rent one in a heart beat. Didn't like any of the rental car options offered on our last trip, even the most expensive, were just really disappointing. Nothing compares.