{"id":24621,"date":"2018-10-25T20:11:40","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T09:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slingadventures.com\/?p=24621"},"modified":"2021-03-03T07:50:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T20:50:42","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-turo-car-rental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slingadventures.com\/travel-hacks\/pros-and-cons-of-turo-car-rental","title":{"rendered":"Pros and Cons of Turo Car Rental"},"content":{"rendered":"
I'm standing in a suburban street, a 10 minute Uber ride from San Francisco airport. In front of us is undoubtedly the smallest car I've ever seen. I open my phone to text Lance, a man I've never met but who happens to own this car. The car door clicks open as if by magic. We get in and take the keys from the glove box and simply drive away.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this new world of the sharing economy, homeowners are renting out spare rooms on Airbnb, drivers are replacing taxis using Uber and now car owners are renting their cars to travellers via Turo, the most popular peer-to-peer car rental service based out of San Francisco.<\/p>\n This guide will hep you decide if Turo is right for you as a traveller. We have focused on how Turo works in the USA (based on our experience) however Turo is available in Canada, UK, Germany and now Israel.<\/p>\n You know how many cars sit idle, often for days at a time? Well what Turo does is allow car owners to rent their cars to others to make money from their car when it is not in use. Turo has been operating since 2010 and has thousands of cars to rent in over 5,500 cities worldwide.<\/p>\n Cars can range from super compact to luxury sports models depending on what people are willing to rent. Each car listed will have specific details outlined by the individual car owners explaining the conditions of rental and also the pick up and drop off instructions.<\/p>\n To secure the rental, a driver needs to register a profile on the Turo platform and supply a picture of their drivers license. Once the car has been reserved, much like Airbnb, payment is held by Turo until the car exchange has taken place. This can happen by a simple meet up and exchange of keys, or use the more sophisticated, but very convenient, option of unlocking the car remotely (a Turo patented device).<\/p>\n While Turo doesn't claim or try to beat traditional rental car prices, it can be a cheaper alternative. A much wider range of car makes are available and the year models can be up to 10 years old. This allows cheaper cars to be rented. The price is also governed by the car owner. For example, for our compact Smart four two it was $17 per day rental and $8.50 per day for insurance. This was far cheaper than any other car rental available (with essential insurance) in San Francisco.<\/p>\nHow does Turo Work?<\/h2>\n
Pros of Using Turo for Car Rental in the USA<\/h2>\n
Low Price points available<\/h3>\n
Massive saving on insurance costs<\/h3>\n