Turo "Airbnb of car rental"

[bluto 4,916]

Never heard of it til today, anybody used it? Thoughts? Looking at renting a car in Hawaii and their prices are about 40% lower than the cheapest POS rental available, plus they do $25 off first reservation. 

[BearCountry11 1,234]

My BIL rents out cars with Turo.  Seems like a great service.  Using it while in Denver in May so hoping it lives up to expectations.  My BIL swears by it.  

[Orange&White 5,522]

Was thinking about using it in Denver in a few weeks but couldn't find anyone I know that could give any recommendation. I'll wait until it has been around a little longer.

My biggest concern is if someone wrecks into me while I am driving someone else's car. I am sure the real owner signs documents that explain how all of that works, but I don't want to be in the middle of a fight between some poor schmuck that now doesn't have a vehicle and his insurance company who is just now finding out that the guy signed up to loan his car out to strangers on the internet.

 

[Landomatic 3,813]

4 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

My biggest concern is if someone wrecks into me while I am driving someone else's car. I am sure the real owner signs documents that explain how all of that works, but I don't want to be in the middle of a fight between some poor schmuck that now doesn't have a vehicle and his insurance company who is just now finding out that the guy signed up to loan his car out to strangers on the internet.

This was my first thought too.  Can’t imagine my insurance company company would be cool with me using my car for that.  One of my cars is a lease.  First time I’ve ever leased a vehicle but I seem to remember that we had to agree to never use it for anything like that.  In fact, I think we had to agree to not even use it for Uber or Lyft type services, let alone something like this.  I’d be shocked if you don’t need a special policy for your car if you’re using it for this.

[CHIEF 5,079]

If you have the owners permission to use the car, your auto insurance, as well as the owners auto coverage both cover it. The turo car would have to have a business classification on it, but not commercial. An aggy insurance salesman from Katy told me so

 

CHIEF

Edited March 4, 2019 by CHIEF

[bluto 4,916]

I read one site that said Liberty insurance partnered with Turo, and I've seen Liberty mentioned on some of the listings. 

[Landomatic 3,813]

Just now, bluto said:

I read one site that said Liberty insurance partnered with Turo, and I've seen Liberty mentioned on some of the listings. 

Yeah I just read a bunch of fine print and it looks like Turo has some pretty good coverage you can get.

[Borachio 416]

I used Turo a couple years ago in Denver.   No problems.  We did get the extra insurance purchased through Turo when making the booking,  was still cheaper than renting a car.  Our main reason for using Turo was so we could get an AWD vehicle,  which the rental companies could not guarantee.

[1978horn 892]

I used it in Denver a couple summers ago and had a great experience.  They have insurance you can buy through them.  I also talked with my insurance company and they said it would be treated as a rental so I would be covered in the event it was my fault.  I have referred a couple others and they have had good experiences as well. 

I was able to get a 5 series BMW using Turo for less than the price of a small sedan through rental companies.  

[next2naus 439]

I could see using the service but I would never put one of my own vehicles in their service. There is another one of these for classics and exotics, would never put my classic in a service like that. 

[Spankytoes 1,739]

Used it a few times. Never had an issue

[Landomatic 3,813]

1 hour ago, next2naus said:

I could see using the service but I would never put one of my own vehicles in their service. There is another one of these for classics and exotics, would never put my classic in a service like that. 

nice humble brag

[Buzzrock 14,917]

This would be a great way to test drive a car for a few days. I’ve always thought the 20 minute test drive was a terrible way to pick a car.

[Buzzrock 14,917]

Double post

[Beau Vine 54,211]

1 hour ago, Buzzrock said:

This would be a great way to test drive a car for a few days. I’ve always thought the 20 minute test drive was a terrible way to pick a car.

Go to Big Red Motors.  You can test drive for like 8 months!

[RPM 26,318]

On 3/4/2019 at 2:16 PM, next2naus said:

I could see using the service but I would never put one of my own vehicles in their service. There is another one of these for classics and exotics, would never put my classic in a service like that. 

I could see buying 2 or 3 decent used cars and starting a small fleet if you're in a high volume area. 

[Napoleon 8,669]

On 3/4/2019 at 12:52 PM, Borachio said:

I used Turo a couple years ago in Denver.   No problems.  We did get the extra insurance purchased through Turo when making the booking,  was still cheaper than renting a car.  Our main reason for using Turo was so we could get an AWD vehicle,  which the rental companies could not guarantee.

A friend is coming into Denver tomorrow and we're driving up to the mountains early Saturday and returning Monday. My car is RWD and definitely NOT snow tires. It's supposed to snow almost every day from now until Tuesday, so he rented an AWD for Friday pm->Monday pm.

Just this past week in SoCal I rented a "standard car" from Budget and they randomly gave me a KIA Sorrento V6 AWD rather than a Nissan Altima/Sentra and I was thinking "I wish that I could switch this random upgrade to Denver next week. (You can't.)

I'll wait on the Turo thing as well. I've looked at car options in different cities, but not yet ready to pull the trigger.

[next2naus 439]

5 hours ago, RPM said:

I could see buying 2 or 3 decent used cars and starting a small fleet if you're in a high volume area. 

people have attempted this with mixed results. Where will you park these cars? what are the local ordinances? Will the local municipality view this as a business? 

[Bernard 879]

I like the concept, but picking up the car seems like a hassle. The only time I need to rent a car is at the airport. I am supposed to Uber over to some random guy's house to pick up his car? Then repeat on the drop off?

Bernard

[Napoleon 8,669]

1 hour ago, Bernard said:

I like the concept, but picking up the car seems like a hassle. The only time I need to rent a car is at the airport. I am supposed to Uber over to some random guy's house to pick up his car? Then repeat on the drop off?

Bernard

The cost of picking up is the thing that ends up bringing parity to the total rental price. And if it is for just a day or three, then the hassle at both ends makes it not even close to worth it.

The one time I considered doing it, I was going to be back in Dallas for ~48 hours and I there was a convertible BMW (or Audi maybe) for about $50/day. A family member could have picked me up at the airport and it would have been fun to have a nice convertible for the weekend, but usually the pricing for the cars doesn't make it worth the hassle. Plus, you don't want to drive the rental like you're borrowing someone's car and you need everyone getting into the thing to make sure that there's no dirt on their shoes and no one can eat or drink in there.

[bluto 4,916]

Looks like there's an option for delivery when searching. 

[Borachio 416]

When I used Turo in Denver,  the owner made it real easy for pick-up.   The car was left in the longterm parking lot at the airport with a lockbox on the window and I was given the code to get the key out.  If I remember correctly the parking was included at the airport.

[1978horn 892]

When I used it the owner dropped the car off in the pickup lane at the airport and I dropped it off in the drop off lane of the airport.  they just delivered me a car and it was still significantly cheaper than a rental.

[elfenix 34,230]

I could see buying 2 or 3 decent used cars and starting a small fleet if you're in a high volume area. 

It's been done:

https://jalopnik.com/turo-guy-who-street-parked-38-cars-has-chicago-furious-1830471941

[HornOnTheBayou 8,921]

31 minutes ago, 1978horn said:

When I used it the owner dropped the car off in the pickup lane at the airport and I dropped it off in the drop off lane of the airport.  they just delivered me a car and it was still significantly cheaper than a rental.

Did you have to coordinate with the owner so you're not leaving the car unattended? I mean, the white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone.

Edited March 7, 2019 by HornOnTheBayou

[JSB 677]

I used Turo to rent a fun car while in Carmel a few months ago. The car was 5 years old but in great shape and cheaper than the traditional rental company counter. I also had an issue where I got a flat while driving it. I was able to keep it aired up enough to return to the owner, who took it to the dealership, who claimed I cracked a rim on the car. I disputed it saying there was no way to tell if it was me that caused the damage and I didn’t drive it in any out of the ordinary situation. A Turo “adjuster” stepped in immediately and determined I wasn’t liable for anything within 48 hours or so. I would use them again, but I did drive this car a hell of a lot more carefully than a traditional rental. It was also a much more fun car. Couldn’t find a convertible Porsche from any of the traditional rental fleets for that time period I was there.

[1978horn 892]

39 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

Did you have to coordinate with the owner so you're not leaving the car unattended? I mean, the white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone.

Yes, we coordinated.  I gave him my flight info so he could verify that it was on time and then texted him when we landed.  We waited about 5 minutes for him to get there.  I then let him know when we were returning and he was there right when we got there.

[Spankytoes 1,739]

I used Turo to rent a fun car while in Carmel a few months ago. The car was 5 years old but in great shape and cheaper than the traditional rental company counter. I also had an issue where I got a flat while driving it. I was able to keep it aired up enough to return to the owner, who took it to the dealership, who claimed I cracked a rim on the car. I disputed it saying there was no way to tell if it was me that caused the damage and I didn’t drive it in any out of the ordinary situation. A Turo “adjuster” stepped in immediately and determined I wasn’t liable for anything within 48 hours or so. I would use them again, but I did drive this car a hell of a lot more carefully than a traditional rental. It was also a much more fun car. Couldn’t find a convertible Porsche from any of the traditional rental fleets for that time period I was there.

That’s what we did



I only use the service for “fun cars”. (Boxter And i8, thus far) With the fees, insurance and delivery hassle, it’s not worth it for your everyday rental. Yes, you can probably get a 3-series for the cost of that Malibu at Hertz. But I’m going to earn points on that rental, maintain status, have roadside assistance and my AMEX insurance is going to cover the damages if I get in a wreck. Plus I have peace of mind that I didn’t screw up another dude’s car just to save a few bucks on a 6 year old Beamer.

[elfenix 34,230]

There's also Fair if you want a longer term rental/short lease.

[Butch Had Not 2,969]

I looked up here in phoenix.  The standard fare cars were all 60 or so a day.  The nice M4 BMW was in the 100's. Saw Lamborghini for about 1k. I would like a vette for a weekend but 200+ a day seems steep. Market sensitive I guess? The 10 year lux autos were more reasonable but the newer ones were hefty.