Review: Turo, the Airbnb of cars
It's widely available and cheaper than most rental services. But should you use it?
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Owning a car is notoriously expensive, but did you know you can actually make money with your car? Turo (formerly RelayRides) bills themselves as the Airbnb for cars is a service that allows you to rent out your car for cash!
That’s right, when you’re not using your vehicle, you can rent it out to other Turo members. It’s estimated the average owner makes an additional $540 a month letting others use their car, but that depends on how often you make it available.
Alternatively, if you need a vehicle when you’re on vacation, Turo is a good and often cheaper alternative to your traditional car rental company. Read below for my Turo review.
Founded in 2009, Turo is a car rental marketplace where you can rent any car you want, wherever you want it, and when you want it. Owners of the cars can earn extra money when they’re not using their car which can then be used for anything they want. Let’s look at some of Turo’s main features.
- Available in 3500+ Cities
- Pick up at 300+ airports
- More than 800 makes and models of cars available
- $2 million insurance policy for users
Turo has seen rapid growth in the last few years. Originally it was available just in the U.S. but it’s now expanded to Canada, and the U.K. The appeal of the service should be obvious, rent out your car to make some extra money, or rent a car to save money.
Some people may find it weird to be renting cars directly from others, but we all had similar thoughts about Airbnb when it launched. The sharing economy applies to just about everything these days, so it’s only natural that a major service came to car rentals. Plus, as an owner, it’s a lot easier to make money this way than driving for Uber.
Using Turo?
It’s pretty straight forward. You put in your requirements and Toro will show you what’s available.
I did a quick search online for cars in Scottsdale and Orlando through various car rental agencies. I then ran the same search through Turo and confirmed that prices were anywhere from 25% – 50% cheaper even after taxes.
Of course the other advantage is that you can bypass the pickup counter at some airports. While I was searching vehicles in Orlando, Turo had 10 cars available right at the airport while many others could be delivered directly for free.
While browsing cars available in my hometown of Toronto, I came across some pretty sweet rides I could rent including a Porsche Boxster, BMW 3 Series, Jaguar XF, Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class and much more for pretty reasonable prices. These would be perfect to rent for special occasions, and way cheaper than renting from exotic car companies.
Those listing their cars are obviously hoping to make additional money, but some of turned it into a full-time business. There are people out there who literally own multiple cars and just rent them out on Turo. Doing this full-time won’t appeal to most people, but it’s definitely a good side hustle.
How Turo works?
It’s a pretty simple process and is broken down for people who want to rent a car or want to list their car.
Renting a car: After creating an account, your identity and eligibility will need to be confirmed before you can rent a car. Once you’re approved, find a car by searching dates, location, price, model, features, etc. After finding the perfect car, book it! Owners still have up to 8 hours to approve the booking, but there are instant bookings available. Once accepted, a pick up location will be picked if it isn’t already determined.
Listing your car: Once your account is setup, you’ll need to describe your vehicle and upload images. Turo has guidelines for pricing, but it’s really up to you to decide what to charge. You’ll want to keep your calendar up to date and respond as soon as you can to any requests.
What about damages to your car?
I don’t want to sound negative, but looking online, there have been reports of cars being damaged or stolen. Turo does have a two million dollar insurance package available to renters, but I would look into the fine details and find out what exactly your vehicle is covered for.
If you’re considering renting out your car, it might be a good idea to install a car tracker on it for added peace of mind.
I should note that there will always be negative instances with any kind of service so you just need to decide if you’re comfortable with the risks. At the very least, do your due diligence.
Final word
Turo is a service I’m very excited about. I was an early adopter of Airbnb since I was looking for ways to save money when I travel. Turo will allow me to save even more money and if I so desire, I can rent out my car to make money.
Barry Choi is a personal finance and budget travel expert at Moneywehave.com. He has been quoted in The Financial Post, The Toronto Star and more. You can follow him on Twitter: @barrychoi
This article was originally published on MoneyWeHave.com
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This guys 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.
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
We rented a car for 8 days. My boyfriend who was an approved driver was driving. We were sitting still in traffic and a man on a motorcycle tried to drive in between lanes. His metal saddlebags swiped the car. He pulled over and we got his insurance and contact info. I called Turo and the owner right away and relayed information. Finding a person to talk to is very, very hard to do with Turo. They kept saying I would get an email . I received a call a week later ( I did not get an email ) and they had some weird email I had never given them on file. That was corrected , I did receive a questionnaire from Liberty Mutual which I filled out immediately. They ignored the attached information about 3rd party who hit the car . I had to send two more times. In the meantime I was charged $500 . I sort of expected that they would hit me with a deductable. No explanation was given however. This week they charged my card for $560 . No explanation. No follow up. My credit card seems to be held hostage. I can’t seem to take it off the account . I cant reach anyone by phone or chat. This is horrible. – Don’t use Turo.
My car was impounded for 30 days TWICE! I am a Turo host and I have had my cars impounded twice, the delays of impounding were 30 days. Turo refused to charge the guests for the time the cars were impounded because it is not in their policy to charge guest when they have hosts’ cars impounded by the police. I was therefore stuck with no car for those times, and I still had car payments to make (1400$ per month), paying the impound fees, dealing with the police, etc. s. Ultimately, Turo never called back because customer service cannot deal with this sort of thing and the request must be ‘escalade’ and it is not in Turo’s policy to charge guests for the days the car is impounded.
Its a joke of a company. Rented a car for a week- get a flat tire and have to go and fix this. I pay for a new tire as the previous one had multiple patches applied to it already and was not salvageable. Fast forward and the owner and Turo are not going to reimburse me for the new tire I bought for the car.
Lack of accountability and customer service. Highly suggest you stick with a rental as the prices are pretty much the same
I have been emailing Turo for over a month trying to understand why they are charging me for a small dink in the windshield that was the result of simply driving on the highway (i.e. not a result of an accident or third party damage). I have had rental cars with this problem and they have never tried to charge me for a replacement windshield. I purchased their standard insurance policy with a $500 deductible.
The basics are:
1) We were driving on the highway when a rock hit the windshield (a small rock, the crack is about as long as a fingernail as evidenced in photos).
2) The owner of the vehicle messaged me after the car was returned and said that I could pay the $340 to get it fixed or try to go through Turo’s claims process, although he cautioned against this as he knew of people being held liable for the $500 deductible from previous incidents and said they charge for administration fees without detailing those.
3) I contacted their customer service line before submitting a claim and spoke to someone who assured me it would be covered so I should go ahead with their claims process (I have the call reference # if they wanted to check).
4) The claims process comes back with a these following “details” and a bill for $500 per the insurance policy: “Breakdown of claim costs: The total cost of this claim is: $723.61 Damage amount: $623.61 Processing fees: $100.00”
5) I have asked repeatedly for an explanation of their wear and tear policy seeing as my understanding before purchasing the insurance was that something like this would be under their wear and tear as stated on their website. All inquiries regarding more specific language have resulted in me being repeatedly sent back to their website that states “Exterior Wear and Tear is any dings, dents, cracks, or scratches to the exterior body of the vehicle that are 3 inches in diameter or less. It includes, but isn’t limited to rims, wheels, hubcaps, any painted or textured area for the body of the vehicle, and moldings.” This obviously does not mention windshields but the damage caused by a rock flying up during driving is well below the 3 inch diameter. I have asked numerous times to see the language as to why the windshield is not covered with just the most recent email saying that it is not covered under the definition of the body of the car. No official language from the company, just representatives saying this is what it is. Obviously, with first being told it was covered and now this flip flop saying it isn’t, I am not trusting a representative’s word without seeing how they are characterizing the damage. However, they refuse to be more specific.
6) The owner of the car purchased premium insurance and I purchased their standard insurance. It has not been explained to me why both policies do not cover a complete coincidence (a rock hitting a windshield, vs. something like and accident) and why I am paying out of pocket if the repair is already covered by his insurance.
7) I have read online about Turo’s previous behavior concerning claims similar to mine and they seem to do this regularly. Apparently the only way to get these charges dropped is to go to small claims court.
The following is an excerpt of the latest email (edited for clarity) that I have sent which is a representation of my repeated inquiries and frustrations with the company.
“Again, to reiterate this to the point of exhaustion, I am asking for a concrete (PDF), detailed version of your legal language concerning this [wear and tear policy regarding windshields] and a copy of the administrative report from this claim detailing how the admin charges were calculated. I would like to see in this policy where the windshield is positively classified as non-body, or a separate entity from the body on the vehicle, and, additionally, an explanation for why a WINDSHIELD is not mentioned in your EXTERIOR wear and tear policy. If you insist that this charge is valid, and tell me you would like to explain the charges, then please do explain them fully. I am not taking quotes that you have internally generated by whatever policies you have (that I apparently am not allowed to read as evidenced by the incredible amount of pushback I’ve had with getting this language to read for myself) as an explanation in any way. Moreover, to repeat myself again, an individual told me it would be covered over the phone. I believed her without asking for the language of the policy (my mistake, clearly. The call reference number is XXXXXXX). I cannot take your word in good faith seeing as a representative apparently checked your policy for me and, seeing as she told me over the phone explicitly that I would be covered, did not relay the correct information about what I would actually be on the hook for. Therefore, I refuse to take anyone’s word on this seeing as it is not clear to me that any specific representative I am talking to knows what the actual policy is apart from some vague language on your website. Furthermore, please explain: 1) Why I am being charged twice the rate the owner gave me for a replacement windshield. If he gets it replaced for $340 (as he quoted me- I have a screenshot), why would I pay twice that for a fix up that didn’t actually cost that much? 2) Why I am paying for your standard insurance when the owner also has premium insurance – if his car is covered by your premium insurance what’s the point in me purchasing insurance at all?”
To conclude, the company seems to be intentionally vague both before purchasing insurance and now when I am asking for the details of why I am being charged. I believe they think I will give up and pay out of frustration, not because they will detail why I am being charged what I am being charged.
I have read a lot of negative feedback about turbo clients receiving Bill’s attitude towards small damages that they’re not occur when they rented the vehicle.
If and when I rent a vehicle from any person from Turbo and they claim that there’s a scratch or a little crack on the windshield that was not there before me renting it I swear they will not get $1 from me. Why because I would not put up the shit with the owner of the vehicle or the insurance company or the company Turbo.
I will make it very clear to the owner when I rent this vehicle. if there’s any little dings or damages because I wasn’t aware of it but the owner rented it out to me knowing that I couldn’t see the little ding or scratch.
I like to be as professional as possible I expect the same from the company the owner of the vehicle and the insurance company but it would comes down to being bulshit or being deceived I don’t need to talk to anyone other than the owner of the vehicle.
Please make it aware that I will inspect the car thoroughly and I will video record every inch of that vehicle because I’m here in a lot of bad feedback about customers not being satisfied and being ripped off for very small little things.
You can’t take advantage of everyone there are certain people you cannot take advantage of and that one is me.