Its been described as the AirBnb of cars. I think that’s a stretch. I’ve used it a few times before. And when it works, it works good. Wanna look rich? Find a Maserati to rent and go from there. And it way easier to rent from than a national airport chain, who often want hundreds of dollars in deposits if you are a local renter. What makes it suck though? The owners of the vehicles themselves and for a few reasons:
Unrealistic mileage limitations on most cars: Even the most basic vehicles, something like a Corolla, will be pegged at 400 miles or less. That’s nothing if you want a car for the weekend or something else. Go over that and you can get charged anywhere from 44 to 80 cents per mile. And that can add up. Hell mileage adds up. Why rent a car and limit people so much? Now there are some owners of some impressive cars that don’t limit you. But you have to really search for those. Why even offer up your car for rent if you don’t want miles on it?
Turo makes owners think they can charge what they believe their cars are worth: And it’s often just off a badge or because some guy wants to make a quick buck. Take this example:
Some couple is renting their 3-year-old E Class convertible for $198 a day. You can only go 200 miles and any miles after that are 77 cents a mile. Why would I pay 200 a day for a 3-year-old car? Its 198 for no other reason than it’s a Benz. And you see this over and over again, people charging what they think their cars are worth. Even on the low-end its the same. I saw someone wanting 90 bucks a day for an 08 PT Cruiser.
Owners with bogus ass conditions when using the car: Now I get that these people are the owners of said cars. And in any situation like this you want your car returned in the condition that it left in. I get that. But when you start to request that a car be waxed upon return or there is a $30 dollar charge added, or tire tread measured for wear etc, it starts to get extreme.
These are just a few of the problems I’ve ran into using Turo. Like I said, its brilliant if you happen to find a car you’ve been wanting to drive and you don’t mind paying. You can find some great cars (depending where you live) on the cheap. But its people like the ones I listed here that turn me off from even using the service sometimes.
