This is my review of the Turo peer-to-peer car rental platform, from the owner’s perspective.
Over the last 4 months, my husband and I have managed to leverage underutilized cars in our driveway and the Turo platform to get a free Tesla Model S for our day-to-day driving.
Make $50-150/day renting out your car or truck. Turo helps protect you with up to $750k in liability insurance.
- Strong daily earning power.
- Set your own flexible calendar availability.
- Different insurance options.
- Logistically challenging.
- Accelerates vehicle depreciation.
- Mixed reviews on Turo customer support.
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This Turo review comes from Heather Loree and Joe Fier, an entrepreneurial super couple in San Diego, CA. They have been creating, growing and selling businesses for the last decade side by side.
Heather spends her days running her virtual event planning company, Events with Care. She released her first book in 2018 called The Wedding Hacker: A Budget-Minded Wedding Playbook.
Joe’s company, Evergreen Profits, and podcast, Hustle and Flowchart, keep on the pulse of online marketing, traffic and branding. (I was a guest recently!)
Take it away, Heather!
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Turo is the leader in peer-to-peer car rental in our hometown of San Diego.
Think Airbnb, but for cars.
We first heard about the platform from a friend who was building up a fleet of dream cars and sharing them on Turo to cover the expenses. She was leveraging the platform to enjoy the cars of her dreams with minimal cost.
My husband and I both work from home and had two cars in the driveway that rarely moved.
Before jumping in the deep end and buying a new car to share, we decided to just test renting out one of our existing cars, our 2013 Acura ILX:
Creating Your Turo Listing
My first step was to set up a detailed profile about the car, add quality photos, and ensure the calendar was set with availability that worked for us.
Your listing should include:
- High quality pictures of the car inside and out. Pretend like you’re trying to sell it! (Turo offers free professional photography of your car to create a great looking ad.)
- Your rental rate (you can also opt in for “Automatic pricing” to let Turo adjust your rate based on demand).
- How many people it can seat.
- Mileage per gallon estimates.
- Features of the car, like GPS, automatic transmission, leather seats, and other details renters might care about.
For example, here’s what our profile page currently looks like:
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Making Your Listing Stand Out
Turo also allows you to offer “extras” with your rental, just like regular car rental companies. In our listing, we give customers the option to not worry about returning the car full of gas, or to add on car seats for the kids.
Nick’s Notes: One other profile “hack” I thought was super smart was Heather including her Turo referral link in the description of the car:
This gave renters $25 off their first booking and earned Heather $25 in Turo credit as well. It could help seal the deal if a renter is deciding between your car and another similar one.
In order to get the car booked often, I wanted to make things affordable and convenient for renters, so I “checked the box” for features like:
- no delivery fee
- 24 hour availability for pickup/drop off
- automatic booking confirmation
- flexible delivery location
While those features secured more bookings, they also led to 5am pick up/drop offs at the airport, so we had to find a smarter way. More on that below!
Turo Owner Interview: Kevin in Las Vegas
Nick here. I sat down with Kevin Miles, the owner of a 2017 Chevy Cruze in Las Vegas to get his take on the Turo platform.
Kevin’s been earning $700-800 a month on Turo, and shared:
- The worst thing that’s happened to his car so far
- His pricing strategy on Turo
- How he handles customer pick-ups and drop-offs
- And more
Our First Turo Bookings
Once the car was actively listed, it took about two weeks for us to secure our first booking.
For the first few bookings, we would drop the car off and pick the car up from the owners directly.
The hand off process was a little bit of effort and left room for wasted time — especially if the renter’s flight was delayed or their baggage was held up.
As more bookings came in, I quickly realized that the pick ups/drop offs were going to be problematic. In order to maximize this side hustle and to keep our busy schedules on point, we needed to find a more efficient solution.
Automating Turo Drop Offs
I did some research and put together a plan of attack to automate the drop off process at the start of each trip.
I found a magnetic hide-a-key on Amazon and a great remote car tracking device called Automatic. With these two tools in tandem, I gave myself much more flexibility on the car delivery to renters and some security to monitor the car remotely.
Before Each Rental
Before each booking:
- the car gets cleaned
- we top off the gas
- we take new photos for insurance records (more on insurance below)
This process got easier when we signed up for a monthly car wash plan that allowed unlimited washes ($15 per month per car). As a bonus, it happened to be on the route to the airport.
Nick’s Notes: That sounds like a steal for the car washes!
Related: How to Start a Mobile Detailing Business
Our Drop Off Process
We park the car in the agreed upon location for pick up within 24 hours. I prefer secured lots that I can pre-pay, but this comes at a cost.
For example, since most of our renters are arriving at the airport, we tell them the car is at one of the airport parking lots nearby. They can walk or take a shuttle there, and we’ve gotten the feedback it’s like a fun scavenger hunt for them.
You can find a free parking spot, which could work equally well and save a few bucks.
The key FOB is locked in the car, and I hide the manual key on the car inside the magnetic combination hide-a-key box.
Meanwhile, the Automatic is tracking the situation second by second, so we can see that the car hasn’t been “picked up” (aka stolen) before the renter has arrived.
Once the renter arrives at the car, I have them provide their ID and a selfie by text to confirm they are the correct renter. I then provide the hide-a-key location and pass code, so they can access the car.
This process has received great feedback from all the renters and it seems our strategy is something other car owners and renters on Turo are demanding.
(In 2019, Turo will be releasing Turo Go which offers a solution for simpler pick ups and drop offs. It will allow renters to access and unlock cars via an app, allowing instant wheels for renter’s ease and for the car owner’s financial gain.)
Other Drop Off Logistics
The drop off and pick ups do require two people.
If we lived closer to the airport or in a city with better public transit, we would certainly be leveraging that in our plan. I could Uber back home but every additional expense cuts into the profit.
So instead, we just turn our drives to the airport into a fun outing by taking a walk by the San Diego Bay or going on a little date night. We’ve turned the inconvenience into inspiration for healthy little breaks from our entrepreneurial pursuits.
Generating Customer Reviews on Turo
Securing reviews is critical to building up your profile and your car(s) profiles on Turo, but currently the company does not do a great job of encouraging reviews.
I do a few things to help generate great reviews, like:
- little special upgrades for guests
- small freebies
- ASKING for the review at the end of the rental
I always find out how many people will be in the party when a booking comes in. When I drop the car before a trip begins, I put a water bottle for each person in the group, as well as a pack of gum and a welcome/thank you note in the car.
These are small, cheap items, but make a big impact as they are not expected.
Additionally, I always offer my advice as a local when in communication with renters.
Most folks I have rented to are vacationers who are coming to San Diego to relax and explore. I have developed some template messages with recommendations angled at couples’, families’, or business travelers’ preferences.
If I have access to a coupon that they can use or a discount link for a attraction they will be visiting, I share it. Anything small things I can do to help their improve trip is worthwhile.
Getting Your Car Back
At the end of the trip, I take photos of the car in front of the renter (unless they are in a huge hurry) and close out their trip. We normally meet at a public place near the airport, do the photos/inspection, and then I’ll drop them off at the terminal.
If they were a good renter, I tell them that and note that I just gave them a 5 star review and I’d really appreciate a great review if they feel inclined.
Since I added this protocol, I’ve received an awesome review for every booking.
Here are some of our recent glowing reviews:
Expanding Our “Fleet” on Turo
Since we started on Turo, I’ve added two more cars to our account:
- A 2017 Subaru Outback
- A 2014 Tesla Model S
We always keep one car available for our personal use, so managing the schedule across three cars can be a little tricky. I foresee us doubling our earnings by 2019 once all our cars get “seasoned” with 5 star reviews.
The Tesla–our dream car–is the most recent addition to the fleet. We are getting to enjoy driving that car while others pay all the costs.
Having a mini-fleet on Turo has allowed us to enjoy a Tesla that we would not have splurged on otherwise. In the future, we may add an Aston Martin since that would make me the best wife ever : )
Need a place to park your cars when they’re not rented? Check out Neighbor for affordable parking options nearby.
How Much Can You Make on Turo?
Even if you rent your car just a few days a month, it could be a fairly easy way to make $500+ quickly.
On their homepage, Turo has a cool little calculator to estimate how much your car might earn on the platform:
Right now, we’re earning enough to cover all the costs for the three cars each month and I invest only a handful of hours per week. To essentially bring our vehicle costs to zero is pretty cool.
At the moment, I estimate my hourly return on investment at about $80-100 per hour.
Even just a few months into this adventure, our cars are breaking even each month and earnings are on the rise. Turo earnings are covering the auto loans, insurance, and maintenance costs. I project by 2019, we will be stashing aside some sizable profits each month from our Turo rentals.
Here’s how the income and expenses break down for each of the cars.
2014 Acura ILX
This is the first car we listed (active for 4 months on Turo) and has been booked most consistently since it is now the most established with lots of 5 star reviews.
- Monthly cost of ownership: $350
- Monthly average earning: $618, booked 20 days
2017 Subaru Outback
This car is newer to the platform and has only been actively listed for 1 month, but has already received a handful of 5 star reviews and has bookings slotted into January 2019.
- Monthly cost of ownership: $650
- Monthly average earning: $784, booked 15 days
2014 Tesla Model S
This car is the newest to out “fleet” and we have mostly been driving it ourselves since the other cars are covering most of the expenses and have been booked all the time… and we want to drive this beauty!
- Monthly cost of ownership: $800
- Monthly average earnings: $404, booked 4 days
Turo Side Hustle Income Totals
After 4 months on platform with consistently monthly growth:
- TOTAL COST: $1800
- TOTAL EARNINGS: $1806
So by letting other people drive our cars a portion of the month, we get to use them for free the rest of the time, including a
“free” Tesla!
How Does Insurance Work with Turo?
If you’re worried about insurance for your car with Turo, you’re not alone! This was definitely a concern for us before we created our first listing.
Turo has several insurance coverage options which allow you to sleep well knowing you are covered if a renter causes damage to the vehicle.
Per their website, “Your car is protected against physical damage, up to its actual cash value, for collision and most “comprehensive” causes, including theft.” The company also provides $1 million in liability insurance.
Hosts have their option of 3 main insurance options: Basic, Standard, and Premium.
How the insurance works is with each step up in coverage, Turo takes a larger percentage of your booking as their fee.
For example, if someone rented your car for a week for $400 and you had the Standard plan, you’d keep 75% of that trip price, or $300.
Benefits of Renting Your Car on Turo
As I mentioned, as our listings gain more reviews in the next few months, I can see this easily going from a “breakeven” side hustle to profitable one.
Still, it’s exciting to use a new platform like Turo to subsidize — and ultimately profit on — the costs of our vehicles.
If your car is anything like ours, it probably sits idle a good chunk of the time, depreciating by the day. Turo presents an opportunity to turn that otherwise idle time into cash.
I also like having the flexibility in when, how, and for how much we list our cars for rent. If you know you’re going to need your car, just block off those dates on the booking calendar.
Overall, we are so happy with our Turo experience and see it as a great side hustle for those who love cars but don’t get too attached (since you do have to share).
With a little creativity and marketing effort, we now have three cars earning their keep.
You Can Make Money on Turo If…
I think the Turo side hustle is best if you:
- Don’t always need your car or have reliable alternative transportation (like Kevin and his company car).
- Aren’t emotionally attached to your car (because strangers will be all up in it!).
- Live near the airport.
- Have a flexible schedule for drop-offs and pick-ups.
Turo Alternatives
If you decide to list your ride on Turo, you might consider adding it to the similar Getaround platform to reach more potential customers.
HyreCar may also be worth a look, where vehicle owners report earning an extra $720 a month.
What else could you rent out for money?
Side Hustle Show guests have built inspiring businesses renting out portable hot tubs, mobile homes, and even inflatable bounce houses.
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25 Other Unconventional Rental Ideas
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Conclusion
Nick’s Notes: Turo is an interesting side hustle for sure. I think it’s best for people who live near an airport, who have flexible schedules (for drop offs / pick-ups), and who can go without a car for certain periods of time.
Another reader shared that larger cars tend to do particularly well on Turo. His speculation was that traditional rental companies charge really high rates for those vans and SUVs, and he was able to undercut them while still maintaining a healthy profit margin on his monthly costs of ownership.
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It sounds like Heather values her time at $0/hour. I know she wrote that they turn the drop-off process into a fun outing, but the reality is that driving to/from the airport, washing the car, cleaning it and filling it up all take time that could be spent doing other things. Those should be factored into anyone’s decision to try Turo.
“At the moment, I estimate my hourly return on investment at about $80-100 per hour.”
I think the other point being missed here is the value of the car that they basically don’t have to pay for. They got a Tesla, with a payment of roughly $700 per month. This car has become their daily driver and it’s paid for by their other Turo rentals.
When doing the math of your hourly rate, you’ve got to factor in the cost of the car that they’re using for free essentially. Even if they spent 7 hours per month running the cars around, washing them, maintaining them, etc. (which they don’t), they’re basically earning $700 per month (in use of the car)… That factors to an hourly rate of $100/hr earned from running this side-hustle.
They still have to pay for the car, though. It’s not free.
Hi Steve, I certainly do not value my time at $0 per hr.
The time I invest with Turo is paying just over $100 per hour currently and is increasing each month as I increase the rates on the cars. Additionally, once the car loan is paid off by renters, the cash value of the car will be ours to pocket or roll into another investment.
Last month, we only had 7 rentals on Turo to earn the income outlined. I spent no more than 10 hours all month to manage all aspects of the Turo business which brought in $1800. My husband and I handled drop offs together, so that is why the hourly rate for each of us is about $100. We always make the process fun and work it in around our schedules… we are grateful for the motivation each week to get out of the house, spend time together and enjoy our beautiful city.
Obviously, if someone lives closer to the airport, they will invest less time (we live in the suburbs). Also, you always have the option on Turo to have renters pick the car up at your location… but that will limit your booking significantly in most cases.
Yes.. except for the equity/cash out value
I’ve been curious about Turo, thanks for all this helpful info!
As hosts, Turo takes complete advantage of the car owners. They will never side with the car owner. Requesting reimbursement is a miserable process. If the customer disputes reimbursement, you are screwed. They allow them to get away with unpaid tolls by making the process unbearable to complete. If you request reimbursement for cleaning, Turo will pretend to not see any dirt in the pictures and rule it as “light dirt” that can easily be cleaned. The car can be covered in mud and bugs and they pretend that it’s not dirty. Sadly this is not an exaggeration. Hoping to bring awareness to all social networks so that people interested in hosting their vehicles don’t get exploited. Customer service for hosts is non-existent. Not kidding, go ahead and call the only number they have and request host services and they refer you to online chat that reply’s with generic short sentences every 5-8 minutes (about 45 minutes for a simple question)
It should be illegal for companies to operate like this. No way to escalate matters or speak to a manager. The names of the representatives are fake and no way to verify.
I’m with you on that and it has to be addressed.
Awesome article Heather (& Nick). Joe talks about Turo constantly and how awesome of an opportunity it is. It’s definitely not for everyone. Personally, I’m not a car guy and wouldn’t want the running around but there is some massive potential here. We have a friend that actually built up a “fleet” of luxury and supercars and rented them all on Turo. Porsche 911, Audi R8, some Mercedes, some Range Rovers. She made a killing and then sold the business that she built on top of Turo.
So. Much. Potential.
If you’re a car a person and live close to a major airport or major city, it’s definitely a cool side-hustle!
Great! I’m looking for a Hustle to go along with my daily grind. This I’ve been wanting to hear about since I work at home and my car payment sits in the garage most of the month. Thanks for the detailed look into the world of Turo. I’m in!
Really cool concept. I’d like to hear from other people signing up their sports car on Turo. Also, will they consider some older cars too old for their service?
I rented Tesla and Mercedes GLS450 via Turo in San Francisco back in 2018 and recommended to my wife. However, my wife was decline to rent because she is not “eligible” and asked her to provide driving records from DMV. She has tier 1 credit score, used AMEX platinum card and her driving record is spotless….. except she had handicap status due to her Multiple Scrosis.
We asked why she is not eligible, Turo customer support told us differ reasons every time we chat or spoke. Then asked to take a picture with driver’s license and send. Chatted and spoke with 9 customer support and fail to rent a car and wasted whole 2 days and the trip has been cancelled.
All the stressful exchanges and long wait, Frank from Verification department just made us HATE Turo now. Keep talking over me and rudest manner and tone to us, the customer!!! Frank has no clue the meaning of customer support!!!
Most likely, Turo descriminate against handicap drives and Turo does not want MS driver even though she can drive better than me.
We see and hear the quality of people who operating Turo last 2 days. Maybe good idea of startup, but this management team will fail in long run.
Just rented a car from Enterpirse. They picked up us and didn’t decline or asked for driving record.
Never use Turo again and 100% do not recommend to friends.
I’ve had a similar experience. It seems that when someone fits into any of Turo’s discriminatory categories, for fear of consequences, instead of outright rejecting you, they follow this policy of playing for time until the customer just gives up.
I have been a TOP RATED turo host for over a year. The price they recommend is basically a free rental, the auto pricing software would SUGGEST you rent a $50000 car for $69 or less a day so they can get their 25% fee. But even at that you would NEVER earn what they say you do as it is purely fantasy since they just do not have that much site traffic and to say the least your car would be trash in a year so repair and depreciation is never in their suggested earning formula! They also block cars to lsit at random as they claim it is too expensive or what ever their algorithm say but then you see the same car a year or two newer that is listed! ( for example a 9 year old car is too expensive but a 7 year old car of the exact same model is not , go figure!) Then we got the absolutely inept live help which most of the time you will be put on hold for 5 min to 2 hours and most of these operators have not a clue of their own policy and have no authority to do anything. When you ask for a supervisor which I have on 4 occasions and NOT ONCE are they available and NOT ONCE did they call back.You got a problem with say your Citibank visa card and the entry level person cannot accommodate, they get the supervisor and it get either solved or rejected within a few minutes. These guys never solve anything as then have never returned a call!! here is another total RIPOFF, when a host pay the 25 % fee to them, it covers their expense and profit so one would assume, but when the renter book it they hustle them for insurance and web site maintenance fee! I mean how do you insure the same car twice? and why is their web site maintenance your problem. When I get a cab they certainly do not add fuel cost or how about driver’s health insurance to your fare.So many deceptive practices and such poor marketing as I rarely see any tv or magazine ads promoting Turo. Oh the insurance that they provide for 25% is a joke, I just got a $200000 car back with paint chip on the hood and they say that is normal wear and tear! Really! how come in 9 years of ownership I never got one? and if your want external damage on your nice car, that is 35% so for every dollar you charge for your car they take 33 cents and then more from the renter. All in all a very poorly run company and they have little to no management supervision and hire off shore operators who speak English with such heavy accent that you have to ask them to say it again and again , all that to put money in their pocket and not yours in any way. The basic idea is good but Turo is not the one, until a better competitor comes along, soon I hope . Also all the positive review is mostly of the hard working host( owners of the car) not the site. I happen to be a top rated all star badge host and I do make sure my renters have a great experience. But it is about time we tell you what Turo is really like behind the scene.
Rammy is a hundred percent correct after being a host for Turo after 6months I calculating the profits customer service ect. Oh and customer service for a host is non existent. It’s basically a slam dunk on bating people to make large profits off you. I could Drive for Lyft or Uber for about three hours and make what Turo pays for a week long rental not including clean up and gas up. If someone asked me should they do it. I would say no. Also another big missed calculation is maintenance fees cost in your city or town. Bc I know mine cost in chi is not the same in Atlanta.
Great article. I agree with a lot of the points made. It also is important to understand your market/city. We built an app that helps Turo owners assess market viability based on car type. It grades markets based on Rental Demand, Revenue Growth, Seasonality, Regulation, Investability. Would love to get your feedback. Check it out at: https://www.sharelytics.co/
I have googled a question on how many car am I allowed to list on Turo but still could get an answer . and is it worth it to buy 8 cars cash and rent them out for 35 a day ? the cars I’m going to buy are 2013 2014 2015 hyndai, Honda civics, Kia , Musting , etc
I’ve never read a review on ANYTHING as thorough as yours Heather! You give data & evidence to back up your opinion. Wow. I learned more from your blog post in 5 minutes than reading a novel.
Excellent job explaining the ins/outs, the tips for profitability, and your overall examples of pick-up/drop-off, insurance grid, and $$$.
You go girl!
Best,
Zin
there is no way you are making a single cent…, see cost of depreciation, maintenance
Heather – Great article, thanks for sharing. On the drop off for your Model S, how do you handle the key fob in the drop box? I have read that if you manually lock the car as you are leaving, the key fob will not unlock the car if someone randomly comes up & tries the door. I ask since I am considering starting Turo w/a used Model S (not yet purchased) but want to make sure the car would not unlock for anyone.
Also, what level of coverage do you choose? I like the “exterior wear & tear” coverage option but I do not want to give 35% to Turo. 25% I could stomach & seems like the best middle ground between not shouldering too much risk & still making a decent chunk of money.
Another question, do you have to physically meet up for return of the car or could you handle remotely? The drop off of the vehicle seems flexible on the schedule but if the return must be done with the renters, seems it would make you a bit dependent on their schedule.
Finally, can you share any experiences with having to charge a renter post-rental perhaps for smoking in car, extra tolls, running a red light, barfing on the seats, etc? Would love to know how well you felt Turo handled it.
THANK YOU and would appreciate your insights.
You may have heard about the recent fatal Tesla crash in San Francisco involving a car rented through getaround. I suspect the lawsuits will be for more than the one million dollars of liability that getaround provides. It seems owners lending out their cars should have commercial auto insurance and an umbrella policy in excess of getaround’s cap. Do you know whether the additional insurance costs would still make this side hustle a profitable endeavor?
Brian, in the Vehicular Manslaughter incident in San Fransico, the driver ran a red light and struck a car, then the pedestrian. Tesla’s Auto-Pilot mode was NOT on during the incident, so the make of the vehicle was unrelated. Of course, Tesla’s Auto-Pilot feature has been accused of causing some other accidents (none fatal that I know of).
Also, I would recommend anyone start an LLC before doing this, even as a side hustle. In my state, you can start an LLC on the Secretary of State’s Website for $125. Then you could get a bond and/or insurance to cover something catastrophic. Not to mention, the LLC would offer some protection against your personal financial liability. Unless you just like to gamble and have nothing to lose.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve heard about Turo, and it’s helpful to see how people make it work in real life. Question for Heather, Kevin, or Nick: How do you decide whether or not it’s worth it to pursue a side hustle like this vs. other opportunities that come up?
I’ve used Turo and you have the honest people who will tell you the truth about their vehicle and then you have those who will rent their car knowing that you’re going to have problems with it. It’s sad how Turo allows these hosts rent out their cars without having documentation of any problems on the car. According to Turo, there is a list that the host fills out. Well renting out a car with safety issues is a problem. If the horn, wiper blades and headlight isn’t working properly, it shouldn’t even be listed. I guess when you’re trying to make money, wo cares about that, right? I would just steer clear of Turo!
Turo is misleading and uses false advertising. I went to rent a car on Turo and found one for $27. I went to book for 3 months and saw there was a 30% long trip discount, great!!. I went to book and saw that the trip ended up being $27 per day plus their trip fee. I went on live chat and the agent told me that $27 was the discounted long trip fee which simply is a lie. The listing on the main listings page says $27 per day. It doesnt say starting at $27 nor does it say restrictions apply. I asked the chat agent to find me one single day in next 12 months where car was available for $27 as advertised and guess what, he couldnt. I went to 15 other listings and found same thing. The advertised price per day is not available. Its only available after a 30% discount for a 3 month trip which most people wont do, so wheres the $27 being advertised.
Very disappointing as the idea behind Turo is great.
I also see the trip fee (Turos fee) is completely random. On a $31 car it wanted to charge me $8 and on a $40 car it wanted $5 only. Makes no sense.
If you want to be a successful host you must focus on lower end vehicles. I’m a host with 25+ vehicles on the platform and if I had to do it over again I would only purchase off-lease Hyundais. It just doesn’t make sense to invest 50k in a car when the average daily rate is only double that of a 10K economy car.
I have a blog: https://sharingeconomysecrets.com/. Would love to do a collab if you’re interested!
There are services that have crunched the numbers on which cars earn the best in various markets. These reports are a must if you want to stand a shot against the established PowerHosts who figured out these secrets by trail and error.
https://CarShareStats.com
It seems to me that everyone is missing a huge red flag. Every single major insurance company I have spoken to will drop your insurance, cancel your policy and not cover you if you are found to be renting on Turo while you have a personal policy on that vehicle.
Why is no one talking about this?
The only way people are renting on Turo (including the author of this article) is either
1. They have commercial insurance on their vehicle
2. They are assuming an enormous liability nightmare should something go wrong. Even if Turo has a $1M cap, your personal insurance company will cancel your policy and not insure you ever again.
Ridesharing does not equal carsharing. How have all you hosts dealt with this?
Interesting. I have Mercedes S550 Coupe that I’m either going to have to voluntarily surrender (think repossession without them hunting you down) or try this to see if I can earn enough income to cover the monthly car note. I’m going through a contested divorce and custody battle and frankly until it’s all settled I can no longer afford the car. It’s a beast of a machine twin turbo V8 fully loaded. What do you think a car like this could get me on Turo?
Guys from Turo hired the debt collection agency against me for the damage I didn’t make! SCAMMERS! This is what happened. I rented a Chevrolet Spark from Patrick Shahbandari. Everything was fine until I returned it. Patrick the host checked the car and left a great review. Only after that he contacted me saying that his roof has bumps and accused me of doing that?! He added that he already alerted Turo and then stopped replying to me. When Turo contacted me, I replied immediately, explaining the whole situation and attempting to dispute that claim. Turo Claims Associate under name Evan Kramme didn’t care about anything I wrote. In the next email, I received a $1,466.35 bill. I didn’t get a chance to do anything! TURO DOESN’T LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMERS!! Their evidence is based on photos only!After a month they even increased that bill to $2,493.36!! “There has been additional damages found or additional repairs are needed outside of the estimate that was originally written for the vehicle.” SCAMMERS! It went that far that yesterday the debt collectors reached out to me! This is an extremely frustrating and stressful process and I’m worried about my health as this triggers my anxiety! I am filling lawsuit with all the medical proofs and I am about to sue Turo. If you were in the similar situation, please contact me! The merrier the better!
Hi my car was recently totaled by a driver during their rental. Turo is not trying to pay me the correct amount for my car. I would like to join on your lawsuit if you are suing them.
I would like to expose the fraudulent treatment I received by TURO the car sharing company.
They have defrauded me out of nearly $600 after the vehicle I rented became disabled through no fault of my own on the 3rd day of my 9 day rental which is aproximately $400. I incurred an additional $180 in emergency transportation costs. I lost an entire day of my vacation to get replacement vehicle from a different company which cost about $100 more that my original booking with TURO for a much lesser vehicle. I rented a cool convertible to have my Florida vacation in with my children. Instead we spent a day walking and catching ubers to find ANY available vehicle in the small town we were in.
I have not been refunded the remainder of my trip or reimbursed for any of my additional costs. There is no price they can pay for the lost day or degraded experience of our trip that I as a single mom saved for an entire year to take.
The company claims they are entitled to keep the money as I failed to return the vehicle at my expense to the designated drop off location and that I abandoned the vehicle. The vehicle was disabled in a legal parking spot at my vacation rental and I was physically present when the tow truck that TURO called picked the vehicle up. The vehicle was disabled because the key fob had corroded and burnt out internally and there was no other way to gain entry or start the car. Turo claims that because I turned down the offer of a replacement key I am at fault. They offered me a key the morning this happened but were unable to get it to me in time to attend the VERY expensive, non-refundable, scheduled event that we were on our way to. I told them we were going to Uber to our event and that I expected reimbursement and that I would deal with the car when we returned that evening. That evening I was never offered a replacement key I was just told by the TURO representative that they were sending a tow truck.
The next day I was accused of being at fault for the damaged key, I was charged a cleaning fee for a car I couldn’t even unlock, I was accused of bending a seat by putting my suitcase in the back seat, AND I was accused of smoking in the car. I don’t smoke.
TURO voided the insurance I paid extra for because they say I violated the terms by abandoning the vehicle. They seem to have decided in my favor about the key and the seat but they charged my credit card $50 for a cleaning fee that was unfair. We did not even drive the vehicle 150 miles total. They gave me the car with 1/8 of a tank of gas and got it back with 3/4 tank.
I have requested copies of all photos and transcripts of calls and have been completely ignored.
TURO’s final answer is that I have to pay $200 to go to arbitration!!!
I have disputed the charges with my credit card company but that will take some time to resolve and does nothing to reimburse my uber costs.
TURO and this particular host are very dishonest, disorganized and painful to work with. My vacation was basically ruined and $600 is a BIG DEAL to me. My poor kids got drug all around Brevard County FL with their mom in tears trying to get us a car. I will speak out about TURO at every opportunity. Please help me!!
Thanks!!
Maria
Turo does not care about hosts. They use hosts to effectively shift all the maintenance on people’s shoulders while turo enjoys taking more than 50% of the rental revenue.
Turo does not constitute leveraging unused cars for extra money. People abuse your cars, smoke in it, get tickets under your name and hide it, they wear out your car and diminish the value more that you ever get laid for, not even mentioning that turo grand more than1/2 your fees. So stop lying.
Great, informative post! Can you give an update now that it’s been over a year since the original post? Is it still working like you thought it would?
Horrible experience guest crashed my car smoked marijuana in my car left marijuana in my car refused to tell me what he hit got tickets in my car !!!! So guest said he would take care of it . Send him an estimate. Said he was out of town . Turo gives u only 20 days which is in fine print somewhere on the app smh to make a claim so the guy kept playing games and I made a claim on day 21 !!!! So when they give u the option to make a claim or work it out with the guest be careful with the 20 days they don’t tell u about when they give u the option to work it out !!!! Ya I end up paying out of pocket to fix my car !!! The peanuts u make with turo not worth the headache
Ugh, so sorry to hear it Carlos. Thanks for sharing!
All Hosts mistreated by Turo should file a class action lawsuit against them. They are clearly abusing their power and capitalizing off of us!
I’m a Turo customer- I really appreciate that there is a car sharing service because I don’t have a car, I bike as my main mode of transportation. When I want to explore or take a trip, I use Turo. I’ve only interacted with super nice hosts and have been able to do some really fun adventures that I wouldn’t have been able to do before car sharing apps. Major car rental companies are super difficult to work with and really expensive and just sketchy- I would hate to see Turo turn into that.
It seems like if some people are really enjoying and benefiting from Turo- as hosts and users, but some are having serious issues, I would encourage people to pursue legal battles- it is actually not that difficult to sue a company if you have grievances.
I have done it before, I hired a lawyer who would only charge a percentage if I won the case, we sued a corporation for my grievance – I went to 1 day in court and won! Justice! I noticed changes for the better in that corporation took place immediately – which I was mostly hoping to see happen- but was also awarded $4000 which I honestly did not expect to win the case..
I always thought that if you didn’t have an expensive lawyer you can’t win lawsuits- that is not true! I also thought it would be really hard and inaccessible. The lawyer was very straightforward and easy to work with.
If you have real complaints against a company and you want to pursue legal routes to work them out, I highly encourage you to do so- even if its a lawyer who will charge a percentage only if you win the case.
If you have decent judges and have a legit grievance for a company who is negligent then the courts can help work it out.
I would hope to see that happen as a Turo customer because it ensures that the service that I really love stays afloat but also makes sure everyone is safe and the hosts are getting something out of it so that they continue to host.
Being as I am someone who is not attached to having a car, I am looking into buying a car to host myself. I can see how not being attached to the car is a huge bonus, so if it gets minor damage or even major damage, it’s more of a business loss than a personal loss. But I would also like to see Turo held to a high standard so that I don’t potentially get into a bad situation with a driver and face some of these issues of a lack of customer service to hosts.
Turo sucks big balls!! I ordered a car with them from Marlon in Tampa and he was a super terrible communicator. Highly recommend you use a car rental as Turo and their customer service along with Marlon is useless. Never ever again will I use Turo. Run away.
Anybody use avail?
As a former all star host for Turo, all I can say is if you’re thinking of becoming a host – RUN. Turo works great until it doesn’t. They don’t do proper due diligence when screening guests (you have to verify the drivers license, it could be fake or expired and places the responsibility back on the host). Their customer service and claims process is an absolute joke. If you care about your car, please don’t list it on Turo. They do very little to absolutely nothing to protect the host if there is damage to the vehicle.