Should I rent from Turo??

So, I got a long trip coming up, 800 miles and I was thinking of renting a Tesla from Turo because I'm considering an electric car soon. I live off grid and could just size my solar array accordingly and pay virtually nothing for "fuel".

It's a 3 day trip with stops on the way, none over 300 miles and there are superchargers where I'm stopping. I figure a long trip is the a good shakedown to see if I like it. So on this aspect I'm not worried.

What I am worried about is Turo, who has used them? The extra added insurance seems a bit weird since I have insurance and so would the car owner. Plus I'm a bit worried because it's a bit odd compared to a rental car agency.

Will the independent owner who rents out his personal car via Turo actually allow you to take the car 800 miles away?

Is your trip 800 miles away and 800 miles back making it 1600 miles in 3 days?  Or, are you just 400+400=800?

I have used them a few times.  Be vary of the max mileage on the rental.  Some are set pretty modest.  We've had great experiences with good vehicles.  IIRC, we get a little added insurance to CYA.  

John Welsh said:

Will the independent owner who rents out his personal car via Turo actually allow you to take the car 800 miles away?

Is your trip 800 miles away and 800 miles back making it 1600 miles in 3 days?  Or, are you just 400+400=800?

400 each way.

They allow 600 miles and I'll have to pay a bit extra for the miles which kinda sucks but afaik the owner is fine with it. You can't contact them til after booking apparently

I just rented a Nissan NV van from a local fella off Turo. Experience was a mixed bag. As GeddesB said, be aware of the max mileage limitations. The registration on this van was expired by two months and one of the front wheel bearings was starting to go bad. Overall the transaction was seemless, but rental cars tend to get treated like rental cars.

calteg said:

I just rented a Nissan NV van from a local fella off Turo. Experience was a mixed bag. As GeddesB said, be aware of the max mileage limitations. The registration on this van was expired by two months and one of the front wheel bearings was starting to go bad. Overall the transaction was seemless, but rental cars tend to get treated like rental cars.

You know, that's a good point. I'm hoping that this person is a mechanic or keeps up on their maintenance when in reality.....most people don't.

Kinda feels like I should rent something from the Sporty class at the various car rental places and just have a fun weekend with a fun car at less price

I have done it a couple of times. Worked out fine. Just know when you are shopping and then app shows prices per day, there are fees on top of it plus insurance on top. Similar to AirBnB.  But I did short trips. 

I had a bad experience with Turo but it's been about 5 years ago. It's possible that my experience was an outlier. That said, most rental car companies have gone downhill, enterprise being the worst. I gave up my long history and loyalty perks and went to Hertz and it's been much better. 

grover said:

I had a bad experience with Turo but it's been about 5 years ago. It's possible that my experience was an outlier. That said, most rental car companies have gone downhill, enterprise being the worst. I gave up my long history and loyalty perks and went to Hertz and it's been much better. 

I'm a bit scared of hertz right now because of https://newsnationnow.com/investigation/rental-car-customers-arrested-for-stolen-vehicles/

Rent a Tesla. And, Hertz has announced they'll be buying/adding Teslas to the fleet.  This makes me wonder about "returning with a full tank." 

Apexcarver said:

grover said:

I had a bad experience with Turo but it's been about 5 years ago. It's possible that my experience was an outlier. That said, most rental car companies have gone downhill, enterprise being the worst. I gave up my long history and loyalty perks and went to Hertz and it's been much better. 

I'm a bit scared of hertz right now because of https://newsnationnow.com/investigation/rental-car-customers-arrested-for-stolen-vehicles/

Jesus Christ, yeah no Hertz

John Welsh said:

Rent a Tesla. And, Hertz has announced they'll be buying/adding Teslas to the fleet.  This makes me wonder about "returning with a full tank." 

 

Not in my area, at least not yet. It's pretty much only Turo if I wanted to rent a Tesla

Had not heard the Hertz story. That's crazy. 

I've never used Turo. My nephew comes back to NC yearly from Colorado & for the past 3-4 years he's rented a Miata through Turo.  He's been pleased with the experience.

I've used Turo 3 times and not had any issues with the cars I've rented, other than the first one having a tire on the edge of what I would consider acceptable tread. Sometimes interiors are a bit worn out, but not to a point that it bothers me, and I do usually rent near the low end of the price range, $30-$40 a day, so I figure that's somewhat expected when I'm renting 8-10 year old cars.

 I did have issues with cancellations though, one person had to cancel because their car was vandalized and totaled, then another was canceled because a renter had totaled the car. Both happened a significant amount of time before my reservation, so it was easy to get something else.

 This week, Turo canceled my rental one week before my trip, because there was an outstanding recall for the backup camera. The owner of the vehicle had warned me that might happen, and told me he had 2 similar vehicles that were a year older, and didn't need the recall done, so I was going to wait until I got something concrete from Turo. I figured they would give me at least a month's notice, but no, just 7 days. Since I was renting from an area without a lot to choose from, I ended up going from a 2017(?) Mustang convertible to a Mazda2. Not a bad car, but not as well suited to the west coast drive that I had planned on going on while I was visiting.

I just said screw it and reserved a "Sporty" car from Alamo.

Says Dodge Challenger or similar, I wouldn't mind a Challenger for fun but I can't seem to figure out exactly which one they would have, a V6 wouldn't be as fun