Anyone renting on Turo?

[calisnow]

Oh finally - I'd recommend you get a phone number to put on your site - and answer it. Folks spending big want to talk to a real human being. Turo reduces you to product. There is no way for folks to call up and chat with you about Teslas - or even send you a message to ask about your car - they rent your car or they do not. Turo manages to eliminate all your value as an individual this way and keep all brand and service value themselves - externalizing the real costs (capital of vehicles and delivery) to you.

In the luxury business it is not a waste of time to spend time chatting about cars with people who call. It makes them comfortable and they may call several times before renting. Customer service is lacking and rare in this world and those who can provide it sell very well. Get an 800 number and a business email, and contact form - put them on your website and then answer people fast. For the ultimate lead conversion get a high quality service like www.callruby.com to answer all your calls professionally and sweetly - so your customers always get a human being but you are not a slave to your telephone. You'll get a lot of women renting as gifts for spouses and boyfriends. And you will get a lot of young men who want to take the ladies out in style. Those guys can be gold mines because they will come back over and over and over again.

 

[caltechkid]

@HankLloydRight One 21 year old materials science undergrad at Cal Tech had a very rich daddy who owned a chemical manufacturing company back in Taiwan. Baby boy had an Amex black card and no problem putting down a $10K deposit to keep a Ferrari parked outside his dorm room - he paid $5,000 per month on a month-to-month rental and got only 500 miles. Never wrecked my car or abused it.

Interesting, I remain fairly well connected there and no one asked has has heard of this guy or seen a Ferrari on campus that didn't belong to an alum, but yeah, he can def borrow my car =)

 

[calisnow]

Interesting, I remain fairly well connected there and no one asked has has heard of this guy or seen a Ferrari on campus that didn't belong to an alum, but yeah, he can def borrow my car =)

This was way back in '08. I can confirm he was a Cal Tech undergrad - the arrangement worked because my fleet storage was less than two miles from your campus.

 

[caltechkid]

This was way back in '08. I can confirm he was a Cal Tech undergrad - the arrangement worked because my fleet storage was less than two miles from your campus.

Oh I don't doubt the story at all, it just got me interested in a new business idea =)

 

[calisnow]

Happy to give you advice - I'm long out of that business and don't care about giving away "trade secrets." It's much more work than outsiders realize - and there is a lot more competition than there was 10 years ago. Of course there may also be a lot more customers than there were 10 years ago. It is fun though if you like to party and see/be seen - as the owner of an exotic car company you'll be invited to "red carpet events" all the time - promoters cold call you and ask you to show up with a car or two to park in front - and of course bring a date and come schmooze inside. L.A. is a strange scene - I never did understand what these "events" (they always called them events) were supposed to accomplish. Like - did they have a real business purpose and any real ROI for anyone involved? Or were they really an excuse for a bunch of grown adults to play dress up and gawk at each other while pretending to be networking? Like a magazine publisher would put on an "event" at some high end clothing boutique and get "sponsors" to provide the booze, the cars, the whatever. Then a bunch of beautiful shallow people show up, eat appetizers and drink for a couple hours and then go home. It was the strangest scene - non-stop "events" are all over L.A. almost every day of the year.

 

[tmarcc]

Why did you eventually get out of the exotic car renting business?

 

[ig_epower]

Thanks to this board, I found out about Turo for the first time and will be renting a Volt when I am on business next week. In Phoenix, there are not a ton of L2 chargers around but I will at least get the opportunity to try another EV just for fun.

I would love to rent an MX some time and compare it to my MS.

 

[Jason Bourne]

Hi all, thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread.

I'm thinking of buying a CPO Model S and renting it on Turo. Anyone have any experience, thoughts or feedback regarding doing this in the Philadelphia market?

 

[Looking-for-S]

I rented a MS for 2 days on Turo before buying one. Really helped me over the "hump" in making the buying decision. Seems like something Tesla would offer as an extended test drive given their weird sales model.

Anyway, it gave me a chance to check all our car seats would fit, got the CEOs vote, took it to work and tested it with five adults, etc., made sure it did what I needed.

As for the business model, the fee structure at Turo varies slightly with the level of insurance the owner chooses (yes, they are essentially charging both owner and renter for insurance). So, if you wanted to do it a lot, you may be better off with commercial insurance and the cheapest fee at Turo. Would take a little work to figure that out.

And, the pricing is all over the place. Some people want $250/day for a base MS and some want $90/day. The $90/day guy near me is heavily booked. The lady asking $250/day not so much...

 

[Gouldness]

Turo user *not owner* in Tampa FL here.

There's a TMC member that rents out of sarasota for around $100/day for his 85 w/APv1, his Turo account is the only one in FL with a few dozen rents/reviews. All others that are 200-400 $/day have 1-2 at most. So consider that pricing accordingly.

$100-150 seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[Gwgan]

Automatic pricing puts my MX at about $245/day. I’m using manual pricing and price is negotiable. Stores have been known to provide overnight trials as reported on this site so it is worth asking but since there is no store near me so I put mine on Turo to be able to offer extended test drives.

 

[TexasTeslaRacing]

First Turo Model 3 flesh wound. Car had less than 250 miles on it. Owners who rent on Turo beware

 

[MelaniainLA]

First Turo Model 3 flesh wound. Car had less than 250 miles on it. Owners who rent on Turo beware

Able to make a claim against the renter? This is why Turo isn’t a great idea. Not worth the car damage and, worse, the liability you personally take if they get into an accident that exceeds your insurance limits. Moreover most car imaurance won’t cover Turo or Ridesharing!

 

[sorka]

With no dings, nicks, scratches or even swirls from improper washing at 51K miles, I'd rather stab myself through the heart than rent out my MS

 

[TexasTeslaRacing]

Able to make a claim against the renter? This is why Turo isn’t a great idea. Not worth the car damage and, worse, the liability you personally take if they get into an accident that exceeds your insurance limits. Moreover most car imaurance won’t cover Turo or Ridesharing!

Renter was quick to pay for the new rim, which was good. New rim is $325 through Tesla. Ouch!

 

[Mike K]

A couple months ago I wanted to order my Model 3 but I wanted to see if my S would at least pay for itself on Turo because I didn't want two payments. I won't get into specific details but I get to use it a couple weeks out of the month and it's rented for the other 2 generally. Doing just that, it's been cash flow positive to the tune of $1000 for each of the two months and we're not even into LA's tourism season yet. I've had no issues yet except for one kid that returned the car smelling like he had hotboxed in it. The car stunk of weed for a few days. He profusely apologized and I charged him $50. Other than that I've had probably 12 different renters and nobody's returned it with so much as a scratch.

It's somewhat changed my perspective on car ownership and made me realize how much money I'm spending on depreciating assets. So I did what any normal person would do... I went out and bought an Audi Q5 with the thought that between it and the Tesla I'd always have something to drive when the other was rented. But alas, the Q5 has been renting as well. So then I did something really stupid...

I let someone assume my Model 3 order because after doing the math on renting out the Model 3 and seeing how quickly their rental rates are dropping and knowing how much they'll continue to drop as the cars become ubiquitous, I decided to go out and buy a Maserati Ghibli S Q4. A car that's basically the antithesis of the Model 3 but that rents well because it's perceived as being really expensive but is actually really cheap used.

I'm a car guy so I've effectively eliminated my car payments, my insurance payments and gas, am making a bit of money and have a variety of nice cars to drive at any given point. This all requires a change of perspective. If you asked most people if they'd take a free car for a couple weeks a month with the only stipulation being that they needed to lend it out to others, most people would take that offer, especially if it was a nice car. And that's how you need to look at it. If the car covers it's payment, covers it's insurance and leaves you with enough extra money for consumables and maintenance then that's a free car. If my free car gets a ding here and there I'm cool with that.

 

[bmah]

Moderator note: Hauled off a double handful of posts to Snippiness. Admittedly that's a little heavy-handed, but this digression started with a post that its author now regrets, and it definitely ended snippily.

Bruce.

 

[TexasTeslaRacing]

I must have the worst luck with TURO. I rented it this morning to a younger fellow and a few hours later noticed all the doors, frunk, truck, and AC were ON for over an hour. Seemed really strange because the renter said he was using it to take it to work and nothing more. I remembered the renter works for a business who sells and installs ignition interlock devices, so I asked him if his employer was testing their device compatibility with the Model 3. Via text he confirmed my suspicions and so I left work and picked up the car immediately. Unannounced I walked right into their warehouse where the car was located and surprised the S**t out of them. I think I said something like, "what the F**K are you doing?" You should have seen their faces. It was great.

It turns out they had removed the entire frunk boot, a few panels above the brake pedal and the truck rubber trim. Also had some USB device plugged into the storage space slot. There were 3-4 guys working on it at the time. To keep this short, they put it all back together and we briefly drove it to see if any warning lights popped up, none did. I called my local Tesla SC and they remotely checked the logs and did see all the plug disconnects they did, but as of right now, no problems exist. This is my second poor experience with TURO and so it's time to pull this plug. It's just not worth the few extra bucks. Lesson learned.

 

[twonius]

I must have the worst luck with TURO. I rented it this morning to a younger fellow and a few hours later noticed all the doors, frunk, truck, and AC were ON for over an hour. Seemed really strange because the renter said he was using it to take it to work and nothing more. I remembered the renter works for a business who sells and installs ignition interlock devices, so I asked him if his employer was testing their device compatibility with the Model 3. Via text he confirmed my suspicions and so I left work and picked up the car immediately. Unannounced I walked right into their warehouse where the car was located and surprised the S**t out of them. I think I said something like, "what the F**K are you doing?" You should have seen their faces. It was great.

It turns out they had removed the entire frunk boot, a few panels above the brake pedal and the truck rubber trim. Also had some USB device plugged into the storage space slot. There were 3-4 guys working on it at the time. To keep this short, they put it all back together and we briefly drove it to see if any warning lights popped up, none did. I called my local Tesla SC and they remotely checked the logs and did see all the plug disconnects they did, but as of right now, no problems exist. This is my second poor experience with TURO and so it's time to pull this plug. It's just not worth the few extra bucks. Lesson learned.

Damn that's shady. I hope you reported them to Turo. This probably isn't the first or last time they'll be trying to pull apart someone's personal car. Of course they'll probably just set up another account with a different employee but hopefully there's some kind of fine Turo can slap them with to dissuade this kind of behavior.

They could be up-front about it at least and pay a premium. "Hey we're doing X which won't void the warranty, we'll pay Y over the normal rental" . Not for everyone but it'd be a fair deal.

I have noticed that as Turo get's more popular the quality of renters seems to be declining. I had very few issues until the last few months but now it seems like the idiots have found the site. Reviews would help, but probably 90% of the people who rent my car have no history on the site.

 

[kev1n]

I must have the worst luck with TURO. I rented it this morning to a younger fellow and a few hours later noticed all the doors, frunk, truck, and AC were ON for over an hour. Seemed really strange because the renter said he was using it to take it to work and nothing more. I remembered the renter works for a business who sells and installs ignition interlock devices, so I asked him if his employer was testing their device compatibility with the Model 3. Via text he confirmed my suspicions and so I left work and picked up the car immediately. Unannounced I walked right into their warehouse where the car was located and surprised the S**t out of them. I think I said something like, "what the F**K are you doing?" You should have seen their faces. It was great.

It turns out they had removed the entire frunk boot, a few panels above the brake pedal and the truck rubber trim. Also had some USB device plugged into the storage space slot. There were 3-4 guys working on it at the time. To keep this short, they put it all back together and we briefly drove it to see if any warning lights popped up, none did. I called my local Tesla SC and they remotely checked the logs and did see all the plug disconnects they did, but as of right now, no problems exist. This is my second poor experience with TURO and so it's time to pull this plug. It's just not worth the few extra bucks. Lesson learned.

i suggest opening up a case with Turo,

as this reads, using it for testing is prohibited,
Prohibited uses