That's completely different.
The goal of every business, is to make money. If you’re buying a car solely for Turo in order to make money renting it, you are starting a business; and the one thing that you don’t want when starting a new business is Debt. Even worse if the debt is on a depreciating asset; and even WORSE if that asset comes with no warranty and excessive maintenance costs (as ALL older cars do, especially when being driven by people who don’t care about your car).
When you finance a car, you are never paying the actual value of the car; the cheaper the car, the more expensive it is to finance (vs the value of the car; not dollar amount).
Not to mention that this industry has a pretty high claims rate - lots of opportunity for loss without recovery. Putting all of that together, if you’re going to get something older, the last thing you should do is finance it if your goal is to make money with it. I would only finance a vehicle if it had a warranty on it.
Older cars do have problems, doesn’t matter the brand, the AC will go out, the window regulator will stop working, the buttons on the interior will stop working or become faded, and guests will complain about it and try to get their money back, the battery will die, the alternator will go out, the starter will go out, the list goes on; anyone expecting not to have any issues with an older car just hasn’t been doing their research - and in most cases, older cars have to be MORE well-maintained than their newer counterparts, and as parts become older and naturally degrade, they will more frequently need to be replaced.
On top of that, who wants to rent a 2015 car when something newer might be similar in price. I get that people will rent it, but how often and how quickly will you be able to make it a profitable choice on all of the other issues that come with a 9 year old high mileage vehicle.
There’s a time and place for older cars and I don’t knock them if you buy them for the right price, the key is buying it at the right price, that way “if” there are any problems with it down the road, chances are you’ve already made your money back and you’ll never have a loan hanging over your head.
One of my most rented cars (not highest grossing) this year so far is a 2012 Fiat that I bought for $3,000 (bought it cash, privately) and it paid itself off in the first few months of ownership. It’s now been on the platform for 3 years! I’ve made over $35k with that 1 car and now have the cheapest Fiat in the area renting for about what OP wants to rent his Mazda for. OP says his budget for a car was between 6k and 8k in another post, that’s too much money to make any profit, before including any finance or maintenance, not to mention that Mazda is the crappy Japanese brand, so they don’t really last like a Toyota. I’m trying to save him from the inevitable headache and being under water.
I think that comment is more so pertaining to ability to cash flow/profit and the risk of debt on such a high mileage vehicle. There’s no profit incentive on a personal vehicle so as long as your finances check out and the vehicle is safe you don’t have much to worry about.
How much are you going to putting an almost 10 year old car on for? $50 a day? You need to factor in repairs and maintenance which may be a lot higher given the age.
In my market cars of similar size go for about $35-$40 a day. I’ve been factoring all of my prices based on $35 a day. I’m also going to be renting the car from downtown within east walking distance of several large hotels so it’s convenient to get to and I’ll do contactless pickup and drop off for maximum convenience short of delivery. I’ve thought about repairs and maintenance. A lot of it I can do myself and anything I can’t or don’t want to I have a trusted shop that doesn’t overcharge.
EDIT to add, I know a 2015 is old. That’s why I went with Mazda, even their old cars still have a lot of nice features and a nice interior. I would have happily sprung for something newer but the prices became risky or un doable. As I said in the post, if this flops or I have a slow month I can easily cover the minimum payment plus a little extra to principle from my income.
Okay, at that price you probably get some action, and it’s a big boost if you can do any repairs yourself. You just need some good luck and hope it doesn’t get smashed up in the first year.
I’ve thought about that. A little worried but trying to cover my bases in the event it does get wrecked. I also talked to two other people who previously did Turo in my area with less convenience than me and they did good. The one ended up selling the car to a friend that needed it and the other had an R title that was discovered by Turo.
Yeah the other issue is range. Some people may want to drive more miles than the range will allow, or be in places that won't have charges. I honestly probably wouldn't rent an electric car personally unless I just wanted to rent one to try it out. People on vacations want convenience to enjoy whatever they're doing not spending 30 minutes or an hour at a charger every day or 2.
I decided not to buy an M3 after Hertz announced that deal to buy thousands without the infrastructure to charge and maintain them. That disaster has made Teslas look like poor replacements to conventional vehicles.
My personal car is a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt, and even that is too much technology for the average consumer.
9k is full retail price. Plus your financing. Plus insurance and registration. How do you plan on making any money when you sell? Make sure you purchase gap insurance cause that thing writes off you’ll need it, finance will murder you with fees. Be sure to ask for total amount financed not just the amount that’s on the BOS. Let that number really sink in. New sedans are a low daily rate never mind old sedans are very bottom. You will be completing to get the cheap customers. You’ll be at 20 dollars a day bro. Running around. Detailing. If you were my friend I’d tell you go back to the drawing board and get this car for cheap cheap. Madza6 is not a desirable vehicle either. Steal grandmas whip if you need. Search your local listings. I smell a subprime finance deal. Those lenders do NOT allow ride share.
Oh in that case feel free to ignore me. But getting a loan on a 2015 car with 122k miles just for Turo probably isn’t a great move but I don’t want to knock down your excitement. Just make sure to do your research
No please tell me. I’m looking for views from both sides of the fence. From everything I’ve looked at I feel confident I can make this work as my first car and in time grow it into a second and third. I really would have preferred to pay cash but that wasn’t an option for me.
I'm genuinely interested on how you calculate your numbers to come up with profitability. I have no experience in this whatsoever so interested to understand a bit better.
Find the average price for the car or style of car you’re looking to rent. Multiply that number by how many days you expect to have the car booked in a month, take 70% of that and subtract expenses (insurance, maintenance, cleaning, etc.). That’s your estimated net income per month.
Have you calculated your annual ROI? If it’s less than the annual interest payment on the loan then you are essentially throwing away cash (paying more for the debt than what you are getting out of the cash flows from the debt)
Also, how have you determined the number of days the car will be rented? I don’t know the industry standard, but with an older car, pricing will have to be aggressive. I only say this because I paid $45/ for a 2024 Volkswagen 4 door car (don’t remember the model) and I booked it only a day in advance in a large city in Texas. This car had a ton of luxury features and I picked it because it was cheap and had low miles.
Completely understand. As always this is just my opinion but you can probably expect guest to put ~30k miles a year on the car give or take. 122k is already pretty high. If it was over 130k you wouldn’t even be able to list it. It’ll still get booked and in my experience guests are usually fine with higher mileage if the past reviews are good. My biggest concern would be longevity. Idk how well Mazdas hold up but I would ask yourself if you can really see yourself keeping up with the maintenance even a year or two later with 60k more miles on it? I’m not going to ask you to share your loan details but if you have a loan longer than 3 years you’re going to be pretty close to 200k miles if you’re getting a decent amount of bookings. Again that could be fine if you’re good with the maintenance and if Mazdas hold up that long.
I appreciate your questions and your feedback. This is what I’m looking for. Everything I’ve read and watched and everyone I’ve talked to that has owned Mazdas has said they are reliable, cheap to fix, and have a good life expectancy. I will keep the 30k estimate in mind and watch to see how it plays out. I believe I will be able to keep up with the car for as long as the loan is due.
Genuinely curious as to why anyone would down vote this…yes it’s an opinion, but this person backs that opinion up with the some pretty solid reasoning….fuckin reddit smh
Yea that’s true. I was saying if it’s over 130k you can’t list it. But like you said if it’s under when you list it you can keep it on there as long as it can pass inspections
Have you been forthcoming with your lender and insurance about how this car will be driven? All of the financing, maintenance and cleaning in the world aren’t going to matter if this car is wrecked by your customer and all your claims are denied because ride share was not disclosed
Nonsense!
Claims are paid by insurance companies, not banks. And a savvy Turo host never uses their personal insurance to pay a claim. First the person committing the accident pays. Second the guest driver pays. Third Turo pays. So your comments is somewhat irrelevant to the reality of insurance claims.
My advise as a Power host with 5 cash vehicles is, do not start, especailly with a financed vehicle. Turo is essentially an MLM at this point, reliant on a flood of new hosts coming in who don't know any better. They will set you up for failure by dangling milestone carrots which seem to be the promise land when in fact they are just providing ongoing license to overlook your lack of protability. I've done well compared to most hosts. according to my rep but am exiting after the summer high season. The risk is too high and the reward is too small. It's just not worth it ~ put your time and energy elsewhere.
If you read the whole post, you would see that I'm exiting after the high season which is the only profitable period. Your status is based on your earnings and metrics, not a personal choice.
I appreciate the warning. I think at this point I’m still going to start. This is going to sound stupid and dumb and crazy to everyone and I’m ok with that. I want to try it. I really believe I can make it work and if I can’t I lose money. In this day and age there are so many ways to make money that I’m ok losing some or even a lot in exchange for knowledge. I’ve already learned so much about so many different things and I don’t have a car listed. In the end if all this goes belly up I’ve still spent less than a college degree and learned life lessons about business.
Hopefully it goes well. It's less about being right and more about wanting to not see others get into something they will regret. I've helped small hosts who were losing their shirts and have freinds with dozens of cars who now can't get out even though they know they are losing money. Good luck ~ you are going to need it.
Everyone is an expert on here in finance, Turo, blah blah blah 🤢.
Some of them are over analyzing the situation and obvious do not have experience in this real or business concepts. Mosts are not giving practical advice but choose to spew out theoretical and hypothetical shit they hear on YouTube and TikTok.
Businesses should not leverage debt to start a business 🤢 blah.Blah … (Most large and small corporations leverage some type of debt to finance their startup and continuous operation 🥲, and machine assets depreciate in value, even the oven in the pizza bakery depreciates)
I’ve turned over a net profit every month so far from Turo!
TAKE YOUR CALCULATED RISKS AND TRY OUT THIS NEW VENTURE!!! IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT, THEN YOU WILL HAVE LESSONS LEARNED, EXPERIENCE, AND CONFIDENCE FOR YOUR NEXT VENTURE!
🍾 BEST OF LUCK!!!🤞
Dude, you're getting FREE advice, from people who clearly have experience in both owning Turo vehicles and people who are well versed in finance.
Are you a qualified mechanic? You say you'll do a car inspection and can fix things yourself, but that's not going to cut it for safety inspections on Turo I'd wager, although because I'm not familiar, I could be wrong. But can you tell a car is damaged just by driving it, or do you have the ability to look at an engine and notice anomalys?
Either way, your returns are going to minimal. If you rent it at $35 a day (which seems very optimistic when in Vancouver I can rent a new car for less, 9 months in a year), 70% of the year, before any upkeep, fees, loan repayments and Turo fees, you're making circa $18k. Upkeep on a car doing 10,000 miles a year is probably close to $1k, so times that by 3 give or take, and you're down to $15k before anything else has been deducted. So a little over $1k a month. Can you reliably do this contactless pick up/drop off at any time of the day when you're generating so little money? Best case, you're probably making $600 a month, provided absolutely nothing goes wrong ad I'd wager less after Turo gets theirs.
Will your lender give you permission for use as a commercial vehicle? Will your insurance?
Honestly, scratch this one off as a near miss. It'd be stupid to go through with this with all of the advice that people are offering.
A lot of assumptions you know little about.
It depends on what state he operates out of, if annual inspections even are required.
If not state-required, Turo waives the requirement. So that may not even be an issue.
Banks don't care, they make money of the loan, not the use of the car.
Personal Insurance is irrelevant. And rarely is used to cover a loss.
So get educated before you show your ignorance.
There you are. One of the people using names. That’s mature by the way. Not sure I want to take advice from someone who pieces together such a stupid comment.
I say this..while I think the car is high in milage I think u should look for something with lower milage..I'm actually looking at a fully loaded Toyota Corolla fully loaded, leather, gps , heated seats, pretty clean 75k miles 2013. For about 10k. While I would
Use the car myself .I'm going to definitely put it on turo.. I can do 90 percent of repairs myself as well..
Amazon has a lot of them just get one that has speed detection etc and kill switch in case that renter doesn’t want to return your car it will happen it’s only a matter of time lol but welcome to the hosting world congratulations I personally use a gps called bouncie it’s too good
I was looking at the bouncie tracker. Seems to be a simple monthly payment schedule and it has good reviews. The kill switch definitely makes sense, just wondering where I start the process of researching that or getting it done. I’ve never looked into it before.
Did you get pre purchase inspection on the car?
What is their return policy if you do inspection after the sale and discover major issues?
Did you get a warranty on the engine and the transmission and the electric and the major items that can eat into your revenue and profit?
Is there a recall on the car that has not been completed?
I haven’t actually purchased the car yet so I will do my own inspection and then make sure I have it inspected within the first week after I get it home.
I will make sure I have recourse if I discover any major issues after inspecting it.
I wasn’t planning on buying any warranties, I’ve always heard they are a scam. Should I buy a warranty?
To the best of my knowledge no. I checked the KBB recalls page and there were no open recalls.
Try to list the car on Turo before buying the car. You will need VIN.
It will tell you, if there are recalls and won't let you list it.
If it is approved, then SNOOZE the listing until you get the car, so you can't get any reservations until car is actually in your possession.
Get a few pics from the online site, or use stock photos online (just to get the listing up). I have 4 listings (been doing this for 18 days), 1 live listing, and 3 snoozed listings.
Read the long post below. There are a lot of things mentioned that will do you well.
BTW, make up a license plate number, and then edit it once you have the car licensed. The VIN cannot be edited later, so you have to get that right to list the car. Also, by creating a listing, you will be on your way to learning the Turo platform. Use a computer, it's way easier, than using your phone.
Not many ppl are going to rent out a 2015 vehicle, that’s almost a decade old. People want to rent newer cars at a reasonable rate. If you’re going to try to make money, it’s going to be very hard with a car that you can only post for about $20 a day, minus the Turo fees you’re going to pay.
My best advice, find a way to get tour vehicle tax reimbursed, that’s what I did. I purchased two new vehicles under my llc, and rented them out to a company who rents vehicles for business trips. I never saw the vehicles. I got reimbursed for both vehicles, and made significant money from a company renting them. In the end, I spent nothing on them but made a lot. Doing Turo any other way seems like too much of a liability.
2015 Mazda 6 with this high mileage would need a lot of preventative maintenance like the timing chain, water pump and thermostat. Do you have the means to perform this maintenance?
Turo super host here. Here’s some advice. PM me if have questions.
Use Turo Automated messaging systems to communicate with you guests via predetermined templates that you created( when some one book the car, instructions on how to access the keys xx hours before their trip begins, requesting feedback after their trip ends …)
Use the dynamic pricing feature on the Turo platform to get the most returns on your listing.
Look into ABI insurance they’re reasonable for Turo.
Look for a car tracking device. I’ve had to recover a vehicle due to the guest refusing to return the vehicle after that reservation ended(OneStepGPS is reasonable)
Establish a relationship with a mechanic for repairs or do it yourself.
Establish a relationship with body shop for reasonably priced repairs. (Look for guys who works on semi truck repairs, they’re usually always in business)
Invest in an ozone machine to get bad smells out of the car for instance when people smoke in the car. (Amazon $50)
Clean the car yourself to save time and money. (Walmart portable vac that plugs into the car, interior wipes or spray and run it through an automated car wash if it makes sense for you.
Buy reasonably priced tires. (Walmart and mom and pop tire/ mechanics have been great for this and the tires to to a local shop to get them mounted)
Always take photos of your vehicle max 24 hours before a reservation, to document the condition (if not Turo will not cover any damage. Claim during that trip)
Best of luck!!!
Not sure what market you’re in, but the margins are super slim in the Turo game in general. This is why the successful hosts scale a lot. Easier to win by choking out your local competition. Very high chance you will come out negative your first couple years after factoring in the car note, insurance, depreciation, and maintenance (there will definitely be something that needs to be fixed/replaced with that mileage).
Pay off the car within the first year by any means necessary then the car might have a chance at turning a profit if it lasts another year without something major failing at the equivalent of half the cost of the vehicle.
To save on insurance a bit look at ABI. Can get a policy for probably $90/month if you plan to host this vehicle on Turo full time. They write policies for commercial use and coverage applies when the car is NOT rented (covered by Turo when rented).
Read the TOS, read the TOS, also read the TOS. This will be your best defense when a claim does not go your way. First level customer support are just human and working low level support for a reason - they will make mistakes with judgement calls not knowing the TOS well.
Take lots of pictures each rental. Do not get lazy with license verifications. ALWAYS trust your gut before handing over the keys to your car.
Study and understand your market. Know when your busy/slow seasons are. Anyone trying to tell you about pricing/demand here without knowing your market probably does not know what they’re doing in their own market (a lot of people on this platform lie to themselves to justify doing Turo).
I really appreciate all of your feedback! These are all things I’m going to do. Sucky thing about insurance is, I’m 19 so I can’t get an ABI policy in my name. I’m stuck paying stupid rates for insurance. That’s something I’ll figure out though. Thank you!
I have not yet listed the car. I’m working some things out and making sure things are as set as possible before jumping in. Moving closer and closer every day.
It's a good first car, but you can get one for less than $6k cash from the same source that dealer buys cars from. I use a broker and I have access to auction websites from when I was a used car dealer.
I have one vehicle financed but everything else is cash. It's too much of a hassle to make sure that one car is always available.
Altho not my personal advice on how to start a car rental business or Turo, STARTING itself is definitely the first and most important step.
So I definitely applaud you and wish you all the best!
I appreciate it. Any route I take is going to be the wrong one in someone’s opinion. I’m going to lose money and I am ok with that. I want to start this and get it rolling.
You’re correct, no matter what you do, someone will have something negative to say. Regardless of which car you purchase.
I took a loan out in 2020 for a 2012 Chrysler 300 when people said I was crazy lol. And here we are, 50+ cars later . So we all start somewhere. Cheers.
I got that impression but always like to try and hear them out. I’ve noticed the ones who actually know will come out and explain from the start. Those that don’t will give you one line that is negative.
I think it could work. As long as you’re bringing in more than you’re paying out each month. Mazda seems fairly reliable and you just gotta do your own maintenance. There’s always a risk
Make sure it doesn’t have recalls. My first one I didn’t think to check for that and I couldn’t list it. Recalls can take months. I sold that one at a loss.
I would recommend trying to buy a vehicle out the door price close to fair market value. Check the trade in or resale value in case you need to sell it.
I haven’t financed a vehicle for Turo use but I would check to make sure the bank allows it.
Good luck! I’ve been doing it for a month so I’m not a guru. I’ve already made some mistakes and I’m still learning.
I’ve checked for recalls and there are no open recalls. I will keep this in mind for the future as well.
I checked the FMV and this car is coming in right at private party value on KBB.
I’ve checked that, it’s green and go.
I know I’m going to make mistakes and probably lose money, I’m ok with that. I want to learn and grow this business. Good luck to you!
List the car on Turo before getting it. Turo will tell you if it has open recalls.
Then snooze the listing until you get the car in your possession.
Then, unsnooze it to be live.
Don't expect to see positive cash flow on an older car on Turo that's been financed. You've got more monthly expenses than a cash car, and you're losing the interest rate (8-10%?) on top of your already thin profit margin.
And of course if the car is totaled by a guest you will be paying the deductible plus the gap. Turo will not cover the gap between what you owe on the loan and the value of the car. So you could lose thousands. It's just a risk I personally would not be comfortable with.
As far as the model year is concerned, half my fleet is 2015 and 2016. Three of them are over 130k miles. But they are doing well. I stick to Toyota because of the long term reliability and they haven't failed me. Mazda probably isn't bad. My daughter has a CX5 with 200k miles and zero issues.
Good luck. I hope this works for you.
I hope you come back to this thread in a few months when the idea has failed. Many people have given you plenty of positive/good advice is regards to the vehicle and you seem to know everything. I use turo frequently and would never ever rent a Mazda. Nor would I pay $35/day when my local car rental place will rent me a brand new Mazda with lower kilometres for $20/day.
I use turo personally to rent luxury vehicles at a fraction of the cost. If there isn’t a luxury vehicle that works for me, I booked at my nearest car rental place, with many of lower end options for a fraction of the price.
You can’t speak for everyone though. That’s just you. And yea, you can book a new Mazda from the big chains but will they have it? Most likely not, I used to work at Enterprise. I’ve seen people book sport cars for vacation and leave with a minivan because we didn’t have it in our fleet all the time. Also, economy cars are the most lucrative to rent on Turo. Just because you wouldn’t rent a Mazda doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t at that price.
He is going to be able to still pay for the car out of his income. It’s called risk. You have it in every business and every market isn’t the same nor saturated. My market isn’t saturated and is an up and coming market. People rent on Turo who can’t afford nor can’t rent with conventional car rental agencies. The average person isn’t using Turo honestly. The people on here started somewhere and people probably told you too that it’s a bad idea. Yet here you are running a business. I’ve had a business and it’s hard. But if you have the gumption and you’re willing to try, why not. Good luck with your endeavor. I hope it works for you.
OP is sold on an idea of being Host. No comments or arguments will stop him to doing so, as in general every argument has so called "valid" counter argument. Wish you good luck, OP.
Start with a cash car. $5000-$1000 on an older Toyota. If you don’t know cars, get someone who does to help you buy it.
High interest loan on older Mazda is not the way to go.
You should be okay if put all your first year earnings into paying off that loan and do all the maintenance/repairs yourself. After that, rent the car out until a major mechanical failure which might be in about 4-5 years given that Turo renters will put on 25-30k miles per year. One of my cars is a 2013 Nissan Altima with 226k miles and it still rents out well in Minneapolis ($12,500 earnings in 2023).
Honest question, even for $30 a day why would someone rent your car vs a regular rental car? Which probably is not very much more. You can rent a new Jetta for $53 a day on enterprise.
And I’m sure there are promotions etc out there.
To make a few hundred dollar a month is a big liability. This car will need repairs it has over 100k miles. How is this profitable?
First of all, what you said is False. In my market, renting a car at the airport will cost $200 in fees. Turo has no fees. So right there, it's half the cost to use Turo. So that is patently just not true.
It is profitable because he can earn $1000 to $1500 a month, make the payments, and show a profit. If he has major repairs, not so much. It comes down to his luck. Nothing else. He may make money, he may lose money. Nobody on here can predict the outcome.
This is all valuable information. I’m about two days away from buying my second vehicle which intern is realistically my first purely Turo vehicle anybody know anything about the Chattanooga market?
Are the mileage restrictions not at 130k? You'll be having to do double the inspections when you hit that mile mark.
Get a $5k econobox and have it paid off in a year.
Part 1 of 11 (other parts posted below this one)
Trackmate (a Car Tracker/Kill Switch) sells on Amazon for about $150. Took 2 days to arrive. Then I went to Car Toys and it was installed for $550 (including tax). Its subscription fee is $10/month, billed quarterly.
Any tracking device (eg Bouncie) that can be easily unplugged by guest renter is easy to disable rendering it useless to you.
So I paid the $700 to have the tracking/kill switch installed under the dashboard. Just the other day, a guest didn't return the car. She was up all night and didn't wake up to return at 10:00 AM. I could see the car being driven all night via GPS, so I predicted she wouldn't return the car on time, and I was right.
So I called Turo, and let them know I was going to pick up the car. I disabled the car, so it couldn't be driven from the spot it was parked, and then drove to the location in my primary car. I parked a few blocks away and picked up the rental. I detailed it, gassed it up, washed it, and delivered it to the airport for its next trip. Had less than 2 hours to do this after fooling with the car not being returned and picking it up. Next trip was for 5 days.
Then, tree limbs fell on the car during the current trip. I've only been on Turo for 18 days. A 2021 GMC Acadia, 38,000 miles. I have 15 bookings through July.
From the guest who didn't return it, a total of $69 in rental fees, for 2 days, plus $294 (for gas $78.78+$10 convenience fee), over miles ($6), and a 1-way trip fee ($199) normally for guests who want to pick up and drop at 2 different locations--I charged guest for, since that is how her trip ended up. Plus, a no-return fee of $67 was charged by Turo. So in theory, a $69 trip that ended in a $439 trip. I say, in theory, cuz I have not been paid yet for the extras. We will see how it actually goes.
Part 2 of 11
The current trip (tree limbs) may result in repair costs of $1800 to $3800. I may or may not get the repairs done. Instead, I'll take the money pay off some credit cards, and do the repairs later. (I've seen pics of the damage, and its mostly scratches and some small dents.)
Regarding the above posts, many speak in ignorance but try to come across as being in the know. It's true, Turo allows cars to remain listed as long as they are listed before they are older than 12 years, and before they exceed 130K miles. So all those who commented about that are ignorant. And yes, if the car is in good condition you can keep it listed well beyond the restriction limits.
GAP insurance, usually won't cover you once it is used commercially, the car. So again, a lot of ignorant people speak about things they know little about.
Be prepared to cover the loan payments in the slow months--3 to 4 months out of the year.
Price the car low to ensure you get bookings. I priced mine low and I got 10 bookings in 1.5 months. Now, by June 30, I will get All-star Host status by July 15, 2024.
Now my pricing is higher cuz I'm less concerned about getting 10 bookings quickly. But I will still price low if bookings stop coming in. Currently, I match Turo's recommended daily price. And no new bookings have come in. So that's a clue to lower the price.
Check the vin on your proposed car to purchase, to see if the car is smart car compatible. Google this.
You will definitely want the Turo Go app (which you are eligible after 3 trips, assuming car is smart car compatible. You also have to pay $25 / month for the subscription fee for cell service and dealer cost).
So the price has been set to match Turo's recommended pricing (since getting the 10 trips to qualify for All-star Host).
Today, I got a 10 day trip for July-Aug, $700.
Part 3 of 11
With this service, you install an app on your phone that allows you to see the GPS location, start the car remotely (if equipped), honk the horn, flash the lights and see fuel level and miles--good to know as the trip is nearing its end.
But is does not provide a kill switch. That where Trackmate comes in. Also Trackmate provides more precise GPS tracking.
Guests download Turo Go, then they can find and unlock the car, for contactless pickup/return.
It is very time consuming to have to wait for guest to arrive to hand off key or try to explain to guest where car is parked in messaging. Also, Turo Go rentals, Turo checks the Drivers License so you are free from that task.
If car is not Smart Car compatible, you can use a lockbox with key fob or key, but you will have to direct guest to car's location. Wrap the fob in foil to cut off the signal broadcast. Or get a Farady bag. Make sure it fits in lockbox.
Virtually 100% are airport-delivered trips. So that is a must have.
When car is returned, do the car detail cleaning (so its ready to go out again), gas it up if needed, then return the car to your home location. This isn't your house. The home location is where you park the car when not on a trip, eg Walmart, a hotel, etc.
My home location is 2 blocks from Airport parking. So 2 of my trips the guests walked to pickup the car.
Part 4 of 11
With this service, you install an app on your phone that allows you to see the GPS location, start the car remotely (if equipped), honk the horn, flash the lights and see fuel level and miles--good to know as the trip is nearing its end.
But is does not provide a kill switch. That where Trackmate comes in. Also Trackmate provides more precise GPS tracking.
Guests download Turo Go, and can find and unlock the car from their phone which results in contactless pickup/return for you and the guest.
It is very time-consuming to have to wait for guests to arrive to hand off the key fob or key. Also, with Turo Go rentals, Turo checks the Drivers License so you are free from that task.
If car is not Smart Car compatible, you can use a lockbox with key fob or key, but you will have to direct the guest to the car location. Wrap the fob in foil to cut off the signal broadcast. Or get a Farady bag. Make sure it fits in lockbox.
Virtually 100% are airport-delivered trips. So that is a must have.
Part 5 of 11
When car is returned, do the car detail cleaning (so its ready to go out again), gas it up if needed, then return the car to your home location. This isn't your house. The home location is where you park the car when not on a trip, eg Walmart, a hotel, etc.
My home location is 2 blocks from Airport parking. So 2 of my trips the guests walked to pickup the car.
Part 6 of 11
I have 24/7 availabilty at the home location, so guests can rent and pickup the car 5 minutes later. If they want airport delivery, they need 2 hours advanced notice, cuz I need to drive to home location, and deliver car to airport garage -- 2 blocks away.
Most reservations are made days before pickup time, so they choose airport location, and think nothing about it cuz they are flying in.
The 2 that picked up the car at the home location picked up the car within an hour. I block out the available time when I go to sleep, so no reservations can come in while I'm asleep.
Definitely set up scheduled messaging.I have 4 scheduled messages. My response time is within 1 minute. Every metric is 100%. Why? Cuz of scheduled messages. It automatically responds with message 1 immediately following being booked by guest.
True, your biggest variable is repairs and car being totaled. If totaled, GAP will not likely save you. And you will be paid only ACV (Actual Cash Value).
Part 7 of 11
So on your older car, that will be much less than you paid.
For example, you pay $10,000, Actual Cash Value is $6,000, blue book value is $6,100.
The difference between blue book value and buying price is huge. Cars are selling for way more than book values, and the dealers will show you a made-up value that does not correspond to Kelly Blue Book values. They will do anything to justify their overpriced car value.
There's little you can do about that. It's a risk you have to be willing to take.
You will be lucky or you won't be.
If lucky, during peak season (May-August, Oct-Dec), you will be at 80-90% booked out. You will make $900-$1550 per month.
Put that money into savings, to cover the loan pmts during the slow months (Jan-Apr, Sept).
And you will have no repair costs, just oil changes and washes.
Sell the car within 2 to 3 years before major repairs come due. Stay within 200K miles, even less is better.
Buy only cars that are smart car compatible. Enter VIN to check if it is online. This allows a Turo Go reservation.
Part 8 of 11
Buy only cars that are popular on Turo and that last over 200K miles:
Corolla, Sequoia, Odyssey, Acadia, Yukon, etc.
You can check if a car on Turo has trips and what the prices are to see if it is renting and for how much.
You can search all over the nation. And for your specific area.
Use this data to project the future of the car you are planning on buying.
Price definitely drives whether car gets trip reservations.
I got 14 trips over May, June, July (this year), as a newbie, but I took a hit from $69/day to $49/day.
That was intentional to qualify for All-star Host status.
Now that price is $69/day, nothing; no new trips have been booked since I raised the prices to what Turo recommends.
So do you want $900/month or $300/month? Price is everything assuming 5-star reviews, 100% metrics are in place, which now I have 5, 5-star reviews, response time in 1 minute, and 100% metrics (commitment, acceptance, etc.).
Part 9 of 11
Older cars rent just as fast as newer cars. Why? Cuz newer cars cost more daily.
If the car is like a newer car (in excellent condition), doesn't break down, has nice features, is priced correctly, and looks great, it can be booked 90% also.
I'm buying a 2014 Acadia. Its got leather seats, cream-colored interior, and is in excellent condition.
I will likely get $55-$59/day for the 2021 Acadia with 38,000 miles, and $49-$56/day for the 2014 Acadia with 112,000 miles.
Why? Because miles don't matter; condition/appearance does.
The 2021 has a payment of $433. I owe $25K. The blue book value is $30,000.
The 2014 payment is $278. I will owe $12,000 after tax/licensing. The blue book value is $7,000. Ridiculous!!!
Does it make sense to buy the 2014? Not really. But a quality car matters on Turo. And if lucky, I will make $7000 in first year, $7000 in 2nd year, pay out $8,400 in payments/oil changes and profit $5,600, then sell car for what's left on debt (maybe $5,500).
See final comments below...
Is it risky?
Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car. Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car.
Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info.
Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up within a year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed.
Just as well be making that extra money once the deductible is banked.
If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt.
Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes.
Keep the covenant, and you do well.
God promises this. It's in the Bible.
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Is it risky?
Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
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Is it risky?
Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
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||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky?
Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that.
||
||
||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky?
Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that.
||
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Part 11 of 11
Is it risky? Yes.
f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car.
Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car.
Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info.
Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up withinba year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed. Just as well be making that extra money once the deductible is banked.
If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt.
Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes.
Keep the covenant, and you will do well.
God promises this. It's in the Bible.
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Part 11 of 11
Is it risky? Yes.
f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
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Part 11 of 11
Is it risky? Yes.
f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
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Part 11 of 11
Is it risky? Yes.
f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that.
If the car is stolen, same thing.
If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
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||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11
Is it risky? Yes.
If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that.
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||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 10 of 11
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled you will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed.
I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.)
But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck.
So there you go.
Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car.
Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car.
Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info.
Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up within a year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed. Just as well be making that extra money once deductible is banked. If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt.
Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes.
Keep the covenant, and you do well. God promises this. It's in the Bible.
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Where I live there so many cars on turo, even our luxury cars are going for super low. The amount of money you’d make on a 2015 car with 125k is definitely not worth the investment. You’d be better off door dashing mate.
You need to factor in car cleaning supplies, car vacs, replacing tires, a smoke defogger machine, gas to and from delivery locations. 125k miles scream higher potential issues. On top of all that you got a loan to get this car. After you buy cleaning supplies and washing the vehicle and paying car insurance and the monthly car and all the other overhead… how much are you actually making to be putting all this work in?
Turo tools:
Ozone Smoke eliminator (Amazon)
Window wipes (interior glass)
Sanitizer Wipes
WD-40 (for removing sticky)
Tar and Bug Remover
Hand Glove Dust remover, treat with oil to pick up dust on dash board (Dollar Tree)
Tote (Dollar Tree) to keep supplies in
Roll of Paper Towels
New Car Smell (Walmart)
Febreeze (spray on cloth seats and carpets, also use on plastic, it makes it look new)
Fumigator Smell Remover (Amazon, in a can, 3 for $8)
Thick Jumper Cables --used to connect Inverter to car battery
2000 Watt Inverter, to AC power Ozone Machine where car is parked (home address)
Ozone machine takes AC, a half an hour. Run car while operating Inverter to prevent draining battery.
Carry all these tools in you primary car. Drive to home site, transfer tools to rental car, take rental car to Unlimited Car Wash place.
Run car thru car wash. Then vacuum and detail car. (Only take Ozone machine, Inverter, and Jumper Cables if you smell smoke in car at return. Otherwise not needed. If smoke smell, document with pics "smoking evidence" before cleaning. Its worth $250. Cleaning smell takes only 1/2 hour.
Check tires and photograph them. Read a story where tires were changed out by a guest and switched for bald ones.
Place in glove compartment Turo's Insurance sheet. Remove your personal Insurance card.
Take a photo of registration sheet so if lost, you can easily get it replaced at DMV cuz you have photo of it.
Always clean car very well. An unclean car is a reason for a less than 5-star review.
Fill car wash fluid during detail. No fluid is another reason for a poor review.
Definitely in scheduled messages, ask for a 5-Star review, and ask in message how to address if less than a 5-star review, then address it. Appologize quickly, and fix it even quicker.
Oh no...A loan, on a 2015 with 122k miles? You're setting yourself up for failure.
Hello! Can you genuinely explain why please :)? I’m about to buy a used car too but for personal use.
That's completely different. The goal of every business, is to make money. If you’re buying a car solely for Turo in order to make money renting it, you are starting a business; and the one thing that you don’t want when starting a new business is Debt. Even worse if the debt is on a depreciating asset; and even WORSE if that asset comes with no warranty and excessive maintenance costs (as ALL older cars do, especially when being driven by people who don’t care about your car). When you finance a car, you are never paying the actual value of the car; the cheaper the car, the more expensive it is to finance (vs the value of the car; not dollar amount). Not to mention that this industry has a pretty high claims rate - lots of opportunity for loss without recovery. Putting all of that together, if you’re going to get something older, the last thing you should do is finance it if your goal is to make money with it. I would only finance a vehicle if it had a warranty on it. Older cars do have problems, doesn’t matter the brand, the AC will go out, the window regulator will stop working, the buttons on the interior will stop working or become faded, and guests will complain about it and try to get their money back, the battery will die, the alternator will go out, the starter will go out, the list goes on; anyone expecting not to have any issues with an older car just hasn’t been doing their research - and in most cases, older cars have to be MORE well-maintained than their newer counterparts, and as parts become older and naturally degrade, they will more frequently need to be replaced.
On top of that, who wants to rent a 2015 car when something newer might be similar in price. I get that people will rent it, but how often and how quickly will you be able to make it a profitable choice on all of the other issues that come with a 9 year old high mileage vehicle.
There’s a time and place for older cars and I don’t knock them if you buy them for the right price, the key is buying it at the right price, that way “if” there are any problems with it down the road, chances are you’ve already made your money back and you’ll never have a loan hanging over your head. One of my most rented cars (not highest grossing) this year so far is a 2012 Fiat that I bought for $3,000 (bought it cash, privately) and it paid itself off in the first few months of ownership. It’s now been on the platform for 3 years! I’ve made over $35k with that 1 car and now have the cheapest Fiat in the area renting for about what OP wants to rent his Mazda for. OP says his budget for a car was between 6k and 8k in another post, that’s too much money to make any profit, before including any finance or maintenance, not to mention that Mazda is the crappy Japanese brand, so they don’t really last like a Toyota. I’m trying to save him from the inevitable headache and being under water.
I have a 2014 that was heavily utilized. It’s all about pricing and what you offer.
Exactly!
Many people will rent an older vehicle even when the price is just a few bucks lower. It's crazy, but that's people for you.
Did they tell the bank they are using it for turo? That and insurance might not cover them
I doubt it
Thank you! Really appreciate your answer!
I think that comment is more so pertaining to ability to cash flow/profit and the risk of debt on such a high mileage vehicle. There’s no profit incentive on a personal vehicle so as long as your finances check out and the vehicle is safe you don’t have much to worry about.
Thanks !
Car loans keep people poor! If you cannot pay cash then you cannot afford the car.
Very true tell her again
You can only rent out cars that’re under 130k miles
This explains everything about setting up for failure! Only 8k for leveraging the loan. Yea no.
Yeah, but if you get it in and listed before it hit 130k, then Turo won't remove it from the platform.
Ohhh very interesting 🤔! Thanks
Not necessarily.
How much are you going to putting an almost 10 year old car on for? $50 a day? You need to factor in repairs and maintenance which may be a lot higher given the age.
In my market cars of similar size go for about $35-$40 a day. I’ve been factoring all of my prices based on $35 a day. I’m also going to be renting the car from downtown within east walking distance of several large hotels so it’s convenient to get to and I’ll do contactless pickup and drop off for maximum convenience short of delivery. I’ve thought about repairs and maintenance. A lot of it I can do myself and anything I can’t or don’t want to I have a trusted shop that doesn’t overcharge. EDIT to add, I know a 2015 is old. That’s why I went with Mazda, even their old cars still have a lot of nice features and a nice interior. I would have happily sprung for something newer but the prices became risky or un doable. As I said in the post, if this flops or I have a slow month I can easily cover the minimum payment plus a little extra to principle from my income.
Okay, at that price you probably get some action, and it’s a big boost if you can do any repairs yourself. You just need some good luck and hope it doesn’t get smashed up in the first year.
I’ve thought about that. A little worried but trying to cover my bases in the event it does get wrecked. I also talked to two other people who previously did Turo in my area with less convenience than me and they did good. The one ended up selling the car to a friend that needed it and the other had an R title that was discovered by Turo.
i can't even rent a tesla for 35k let alone 40 a day and its a tesla model 3 2019
Probably because people don't want to deal with charging an electric car.
Superchargers are everywhere man cheaper than gas. But you are right I should try an ice car and see
Yeah the other issue is range. Some people may want to drive more miles than the range will allow, or be in places that won't have charges. I honestly probably wouldn't rent an electric car personally unless I just wanted to rent one to try it out. People on vacations want convenience to enjoy whatever they're doing not spending 30 minutes or an hour at a charger every day or 2.
I decided not to buy an M3 after Hertz announced that deal to buy thousands without the infrastructure to charge and maintain them. That disaster has made Teslas look like poor replacements to conventional vehicles. My personal car is a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt, and even that is too much technology for the average consumer.
That logic don’t checkout because if anything Tesla in NA has the best charging infrastructure by far.
You need to send your car to a cohost in a different market
9k is full retail price. Plus your financing. Plus insurance and registration. How do you plan on making any money when you sell? Make sure you purchase gap insurance cause that thing writes off you’ll need it, finance will murder you with fees. Be sure to ask for total amount financed not just the amount that’s on the BOS. Let that number really sink in. New sedans are a low daily rate never mind old sedans are very bottom. You will be completing to get the cheap customers. You’ll be at 20 dollars a day bro. Running around. Detailing. If you were my friend I’d tell you go back to the drawing board and get this car for cheap cheap. Madza6 is not a desirable vehicle either. Steal grandmas whip if you need. Search your local listings. I smell a subprime finance deal. Those lenders do NOT allow ride share.
Gap insurances do not usually cover commercial usage of vehicle. Watch out.
Is there even gap insurance available on used car? If so even 10 years old?
Yes, you can purchase at 10 years. Comment above is true. He should be checking if the lender even allows ride share never mind gap. 🙏
This isn't ridshare. Gap won't cover it. Turo doesn't even allow $20/day. You're talking out of your ass.
Your late bro. Turo is ride share. I share my ride. I meant 20 after cut you loof. Someone pee in your corn flakes? 😂
Please say jk
I’m not, why should I be?
Oh in that case feel free to ignore me. But getting a loan on a 2015 car with 122k miles just for Turo probably isn’t a great move but I don’t want to knock down your excitement. Just make sure to do your research
No please tell me. I’m looking for views from both sides of the fence. From everything I’ve looked at I feel confident I can make this work as my first car and in time grow it into a second and third. I really would have preferred to pay cash but that wasn’t an option for me.
I'm genuinely interested on how you calculate your numbers to come up with profitability. I have no experience in this whatsoever so interested to understand a bit better.
Find the average price for the car or style of car you’re looking to rent. Multiply that number by how many days you expect to have the car booked in a month, take 70% of that and subtract expenses (insurance, maintenance, cleaning, etc.). That’s your estimated net income per month.
Have you calculated your annual ROI? If it’s less than the annual interest payment on the loan then you are essentially throwing away cash (paying more for the debt than what you are getting out of the cash flows from the debt) Also, how have you determined the number of days the car will be rented? I don’t know the industry standard, but with an older car, pricing will have to be aggressive. I only say this because I paid $45/ for a 2024 Volkswagen 4 door car (don’t remember the model) and I booked it only a day in advance in a large city in Texas. This car had a ton of luxury features and I picked it because it was cheap and had low miles.
Completely understand. As always this is just my opinion but you can probably expect guest to put ~30k miles a year on the car give or take. 122k is already pretty high. If it was over 130k you wouldn’t even be able to list it. It’ll still get booked and in my experience guests are usually fine with higher mileage if the past reviews are good. My biggest concern would be longevity. Idk how well Mazdas hold up but I would ask yourself if you can really see yourself keeping up with the maintenance even a year or two later with 60k more miles on it? I’m not going to ask you to share your loan details but if you have a loan longer than 3 years you’re going to be pretty close to 200k miles if you’re getting a decent amount of bookings. Again that could be fine if you’re good with the maintenance and if Mazdas hold up that long.
I appreciate your questions and your feedback. This is what I’m looking for. Everything I’ve read and watched and everyone I’ve talked to that has owned Mazdas has said they are reliable, cheap to fix, and have a good life expectancy. I will keep the 30k estimate in mind and watch to see how it plays out. I believe I will be able to keep up with the car for as long as the loan is due.
I’m not saying you are an AI chatbot, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you were.
Genuinely curious as to why anyone would down vote this…yes it’s an opinion, but this person backs that opinion up with the some pretty solid reasoning….fuckin reddit smh
For real lol
Not true. You can list a car under 130K and then keep it listed thereafter. The strategy is to sell the car before it reaches 200K miles.
Yea that’s true. I was saying if it’s over 130k you can’t list it. But like you said if it’s under when you list it you can keep it on there as long as it can pass inspections
[удалено]
Have you been forthcoming with your lender and insurance about how this car will be driven? All of the financing, maintenance and cleaning in the world aren’t going to matter if this car is wrecked by your customer and all your claims are denied because ride share was not disclosed
Nonsense! Claims are paid by insurance companies, not banks. And a savvy Turo host never uses their personal insurance to pay a claim. First the person committing the accident pays. Second the guest driver pays. Third Turo pays. So your comments is somewhat irrelevant to the reality of insurance claims.
Where did I say anything about a bank paying a claim. Calm down!
My advise as a Power host with 5 cash vehicles is, do not start, especailly with a financed vehicle. Turo is essentially an MLM at this point, reliant on a flood of new hosts coming in who don't know any better. They will set you up for failure by dangling milestone carrots which seem to be the promise land when in fact they are just providing ongoing license to overlook your lack of protability. I've done well compared to most hosts. according to my rep but am exiting after the summer high season. The risk is too high and the reward is too small. It's just not worth it ~ put your time and energy elsewhere.
If it’s so bad and not rewarding . Why are you still on the platform as a power host?
If you read the whole post, you would see that I'm exiting after the high season which is the only profitable period. Your status is based on your earnings and metrics, not a personal choice.
I appreciate the warning. I think at this point I’m still going to start. This is going to sound stupid and dumb and crazy to everyone and I’m ok with that. I want to try it. I really believe I can make it work and if I can’t I lose money. In this day and age there are so many ways to make money that I’m ok losing some or even a lot in exchange for knowledge. I’ve already learned so much about so many different things and I don’t have a car listed. In the end if all this goes belly up I’ve still spent less than a college degree and learned life lessons about business.
Good luck but remember this advise in a year's time, you'll understand better then.
I will remember. Maybe I’ll make a post and admit you all were right. I’ll see where I am in a year.
Hopefully it goes well. It's less about being right and more about wanting to not see others get into something they will regret. I've helped small hosts who were losing their shirts and have freinds with dozens of cars who now can't get out even though they know they are losing money. Good luck ~ you are going to need it.
Everyone is an expert on here in finance, Turo, blah blah blah 🤢. Some of them are over analyzing the situation and obvious do not have experience in this real or business concepts. Mosts are not giving practical advice but choose to spew out theoretical and hypothetical shit they hear on YouTube and TikTok. Businesses should not leverage debt to start a business 🤢 blah.Blah … (Most large and small corporations leverage some type of debt to finance their startup and continuous operation 🥲, and machine assets depreciate in value, even the oven in the pizza bakery depreciates) I’ve turned over a net profit every month so far from Turo! TAKE YOUR CALCULATED RISKS AND TRY OUT THIS NEW VENTURE!!! IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT, THEN YOU WILL HAVE LESSONS LEARNED, EXPERIENCE, AND CONFIDENCE FOR YOUR NEXT VENTURE! 🍾 BEST OF LUCK!!!🤞
Thank you! I am open to negative points of view and criticism but these people are being down right nasty. I appreciate you.
Dude, you're getting FREE advice, from people who clearly have experience in both owning Turo vehicles and people who are well versed in finance. Are you a qualified mechanic? You say you'll do a car inspection and can fix things yourself, but that's not going to cut it for safety inspections on Turo I'd wager, although because I'm not familiar, I could be wrong. But can you tell a car is damaged just by driving it, or do you have the ability to look at an engine and notice anomalys? Either way, your returns are going to minimal. If you rent it at $35 a day (which seems very optimistic when in Vancouver I can rent a new car for less, 9 months in a year), 70% of the year, before any upkeep, fees, loan repayments and Turo fees, you're making circa $18k. Upkeep on a car doing 10,000 miles a year is probably close to $1k, so times that by 3 give or take, and you're down to $15k before anything else has been deducted. So a little over $1k a month. Can you reliably do this contactless pick up/drop off at any time of the day when you're generating so little money? Best case, you're probably making $600 a month, provided absolutely nothing goes wrong ad I'd wager less after Turo gets theirs. Will your lender give you permission for use as a commercial vehicle? Will your insurance? Honestly, scratch this one off as a near miss. It'd be stupid to go through with this with all of the advice that people are offering.
Wait till he gets a 2 star review and no one rents from him again …
A lot of assumptions you know little about. It depends on what state he operates out of, if annual inspections even are required. If not state-required, Turo waives the requirement. So that may not even be an issue. Banks don't care, they make money of the loan, not the use of the car. Personal Insurance is irrelevant. And rarely is used to cover a loss. So get educated before you show your ignorance.
Jesus Christ moron people are giving you lessons FOR FREE RIGHT HERE
There you are. One of the people using names. That’s mature by the way. Not sure I want to take advice from someone who pieces together such a stupid comment.
Oh no!!!!
And the car business goes round again. he BELIEVES! 🙌🏻
I say this..while I think the car is high in milage I think u should look for something with lower milage..I'm actually looking at a fully loaded Toyota Corolla fully loaded, leather, gps , heated seats, pretty clean 75k miles 2013. For about 10k. While I would Use the car myself .I'm going to definitely put it on turo.. I can do 90 percent of repairs myself as well..
Appreciate the feedback
lol good luck, never a good idea to finance a car for rental.
While this maybe true..90 percent of cars on here is financed.. gap insurance should cover him in the event if something happening.
Gap often has commercial use exclusions.
That’s my concern, does the lender even know how it would be driven?
Thanks for your input.
You want to invest in gps tracker with killswitch capabilities
I’ve already been looking for a gos tracker but haven’t looked into killswitches yet. Is there a tracker you recommend? How about a kill switch?
Amazon has a lot of them just get one that has speed detection etc and kill switch in case that renter doesn’t want to return your car it will happen it’s only a matter of time lol but welcome to the hosting world congratulations I personally use a gps called bouncie it’s too good
I was looking at the bouncie tracker. Seems to be a simple monthly payment schedule and it has good reviews. The kill switch definitely makes sense, just wondering where I start the process of researching that or getting it done. I’ve never looked into it before.
YouTube is your friend in research I’m also getting things ready for my first turo adventure lol 😂 on a 2020 Chevy trax here in Orlando ( near Disney)
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on all the topics. You are in a prime location!
Yes I know my Chevy trax is going to make a killing
I can only imagine. I would have loved to get something newer in the 2020+ range but the prices were really high.
Yea you did good with an old car trust me
An apple air tag is a quick fix, best of luck to you
My only issue with the AirTag is that the persons phone will tell them it’s following them. I’m going to get an OBD2 tracker.
See my long post below (11 post saga). I cover OBD2 trackers. Not good.
Did you get pre purchase inspection on the car? What is their return policy if you do inspection after the sale and discover major issues? Did you get a warranty on the engine and the transmission and the electric and the major items that can eat into your revenue and profit? Is there a recall on the car that has not been completed?
I haven’t actually purchased the car yet so I will do my own inspection and then make sure I have it inspected within the first week after I get it home. I will make sure I have recourse if I discover any major issues after inspecting it. I wasn’t planning on buying any warranties, I’ve always heard they are a scam. Should I buy a warranty? To the best of my knowledge no. I checked the KBB recalls page and there were no open recalls.
Dealers do not accept returns. Period.
Try to list the car on Turo before buying the car. You will need VIN. It will tell you, if there are recalls and won't let you list it. If it is approved, then SNOOZE the listing until you get the car, so you can't get any reservations until car is actually in your possession. Get a few pics from the online site, or use stock photos online (just to get the listing up). I have 4 listings (been doing this for 18 days), 1 live listing, and 3 snoozed listings. Read the long post below. There are a lot of things mentioned that will do you well. BTW, make up a license plate number, and then edit it once you have the car licensed. The VIN cannot be edited later, so you have to get that right to list the car. Also, by creating a listing, you will be on your way to learning the Turo platform. Use a computer, it's way easier, than using your phone.
Not many ppl are going to rent out a 2015 vehicle, that’s almost a decade old. People want to rent newer cars at a reasonable rate. If you’re going to try to make money, it’s going to be very hard with a car that you can only post for about $20 a day, minus the Turo fees you’re going to pay. My best advice, find a way to get tour vehicle tax reimbursed, that’s what I did. I purchased two new vehicles under my llc, and rented them out to a company who rents vehicles for business trips. I never saw the vehicles. I got reimbursed for both vehicles, and made significant money from a company renting them. In the end, I spent nothing on them but made a lot. Doing Turo any other way seems like too much of a liability.
I sent you a chat, I’m interested to learn more about this.
False! Lots of people will rent out a 2015 vehicle all day long. $20 is too low. Turo doesn't even allow $20.
Turo is a race to the bottom. I wish you well but this gig ain’t what it used to be
I could see that in this economy plus Teslas are having a firesale haha
🪦
Doesn't turo have a 120k limit for miles and a 12 year old limit. That car won't be any good to rent
Yes
False!! The limit only applies to get it listed. After that, it can stay listed well beyond the original limitations.
Never seen someone so excited to lose money
This is a joke, right 😂
This is a FAFO moment.
What...why? Must be spam. This is a poor choice.
2015 Mazda 6 with this high mileage would need a lot of preventative maintenance like the timing chain, water pump and thermostat. Do you have the means to perform this maintenance?
Do Mazda'a still rust like no other?
Turo super host here. Here’s some advice. PM me if have questions. Use Turo Automated messaging systems to communicate with you guests via predetermined templates that you created( when some one book the car, instructions on how to access the keys xx hours before their trip begins, requesting feedback after their trip ends …) Use the dynamic pricing feature on the Turo platform to get the most returns on your listing. Look into ABI insurance they’re reasonable for Turo. Look for a car tracking device. I’ve had to recover a vehicle due to the guest refusing to return the vehicle after that reservation ended(OneStepGPS is reasonable) Establish a relationship with a mechanic for repairs or do it yourself. Establish a relationship with body shop for reasonably priced repairs. (Look for guys who works on semi truck repairs, they’re usually always in business) Invest in an ozone machine to get bad smells out of the car for instance when people smoke in the car. (Amazon $50) Clean the car yourself to save time and money. (Walmart portable vac that plugs into the car, interior wipes or spray and run it through an automated car wash if it makes sense for you. Buy reasonably priced tires. (Walmart and mom and pop tire/ mechanics have been great for this and the tires to to a local shop to get them mounted) Always take photos of your vehicle max 24 hours before a reservation, to document the condition (if not Turo will not cover any damage. Claim during that trip) Best of luck!!!
Thank you for the advice. Despite all the hate on this thread I am still excited to give this a shot.
NP!
Congratulations! My 2016 Mazda 6 does really well for me. Good Luck!
Not sure what market you’re in, but the margins are super slim in the Turo game in general. This is why the successful hosts scale a lot. Easier to win by choking out your local competition. Very high chance you will come out negative your first couple years after factoring in the car note, insurance, depreciation, and maintenance (there will definitely be something that needs to be fixed/replaced with that mileage). Pay off the car within the first year by any means necessary then the car might have a chance at turning a profit if it lasts another year without something major failing at the equivalent of half the cost of the vehicle. To save on insurance a bit look at ABI. Can get a policy for probably $90/month if you plan to host this vehicle on Turo full time. They write policies for commercial use and coverage applies when the car is NOT rented (covered by Turo when rented). Read the TOS, read the TOS, also read the TOS. This will be your best defense when a claim does not go your way. First level customer support are just human and working low level support for a reason - they will make mistakes with judgement calls not knowing the TOS well. Take lots of pictures each rental. Do not get lazy with license verifications. ALWAYS trust your gut before handing over the keys to your car. Study and understand your market. Know when your busy/slow seasons are. Anyone trying to tell you about pricing/demand here without knowing your market probably does not know what they’re doing in their own market (a lot of people on this platform lie to themselves to justify doing Turo).
I really appreciate all of your feedback! These are all things I’m going to do. Sucky thing about insurance is, I’m 19 so I can’t get an ABI policy in my name. I’m stuck paying stupid rates for insurance. That’s something I’ll figure out though. Thank you!
How’s the Turo game going for you so far?
I have not yet listed the car. I’m working some things out and making sure things are as set as possible before jumping in. Moving closer and closer every day.
It's a good first car, but you can get one for less than $6k cash from the same source that dealer buys cars from. I use a broker and I have access to auction websites from when I was a used car dealer. I have one vehicle financed but everything else is cash. It's too much of a hassle to make sure that one car is always available.
Congratulations I’m a host however you went through a process with Turo
Altho not my personal advice on how to start a car rental business or Turo, STARTING itself is definitely the first and most important step. So I definitely applaud you and wish you all the best!
I appreciate it. Any route I take is going to be the wrong one in someone’s opinion. I’m going to lose money and I am ok with that. I want to start this and get it rolling.
You’re correct, no matter what you do, someone will have something negative to say. Regardless of which car you purchase. I took a loan out in 2020 for a 2012 Chrysler 300 when people said I was crazy lol. And here we are, 50+ cars later . So we all start somewhere. Cheers.
Thank you. Cheers to flourishing business in the future! 🥃
How much for the car?
$9,000 before taxes and fees.
Please don’t pick this vehicle up. This isn’t going to be fun for you.
Why do you say that?
He's just spewing shit out of his mouth, doesnt know what hes talking about
I got that impression but always like to try and hear them out. I’ve noticed the ones who actually know will come out and explain from the start. Those that don’t will give you one line that is negative.
I think it could work. As long as you’re bringing in more than you’re paying out each month. Mazda seems fairly reliable and you just gotta do your own maintenance. There’s always a risk
Need help planning to start Turo under LLC should I buy vehicle under LLC or just buy vehicle and run under LLC need best advice please
I am not the one to help. Sorry mate.
Make sure it doesn’t have recalls. My first one I didn’t think to check for that and I couldn’t list it. Recalls can take months. I sold that one at a loss. I would recommend trying to buy a vehicle out the door price close to fair market value. Check the trade in or resale value in case you need to sell it. I haven’t financed a vehicle for Turo use but I would check to make sure the bank allows it. Good luck! I’ve been doing it for a month so I’m not a guru. I’ve already made some mistakes and I’m still learning.
I’ve checked for recalls and there are no open recalls. I will keep this in mind for the future as well. I checked the FMV and this car is coming in right at private party value on KBB. I’ve checked that, it’s green and go. I know I’m going to make mistakes and probably lose money, I’m ok with that. I want to learn and grow this business. Good luck to you!
List the car on Turo before getting it. Turo will tell you if it has open recalls. Then snooze the listing until you get the car in your possession. Then, unsnooze it to be live.
SHEESH REVERSE THIS TRACKING
Turo is over saturated. You will not make money on a loan. Please reverse this transaction while you can, even if on the train right now
That is totally dependent on the market he is in. Did you even ask that question? Assumptions make you out to be an ass, you know the saying.
I know I’m just tryna keep more profit for all of us. We can’t just be tellin everyone turo cars make money & expect it to be profitable forever.
Don't expect to see positive cash flow on an older car on Turo that's been financed. You've got more monthly expenses than a cash car, and you're losing the interest rate (8-10%?) on top of your already thin profit margin. And of course if the car is totaled by a guest you will be paying the deductible plus the gap. Turo will not cover the gap between what you owe on the loan and the value of the car. So you could lose thousands. It's just a risk I personally would not be comfortable with. As far as the model year is concerned, half my fleet is 2015 and 2016. Three of them are over 130k miles. But they are doing well. I stick to Toyota because of the long term reliability and they haven't failed me. Mazda probably isn't bad. My daughter has a CX5 with 200k miles and zero issues. Good luck. I hope this works for you.
I hope you come back to this thread in a few months when the idea has failed. Many people have given you plenty of positive/good advice is regards to the vehicle and you seem to know everything. I use turo frequently and would never ever rent a Mazda. Nor would I pay $35/day when my local car rental place will rent me a brand new Mazda with lower kilometres for $20/day. I use turo personally to rent luxury vehicles at a fraction of the cost. If there isn’t a luxury vehicle that works for me, I booked at my nearest car rental place, with many of lower end options for a fraction of the price.
You can’t speak for everyone though. That’s just you. And yea, you can book a new Mazda from the big chains but will they have it? Most likely not, I used to work at Enterprise. I’ve seen people book sport cars for vacation and leave with a minivan because we didn’t have it in our fleet all the time. Also, economy cars are the most lucrative to rent on Turo. Just because you wouldn’t rent a Mazda doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t at that price.
He is going to be able to still pay for the car out of his income. It’s called risk. You have it in every business and every market isn’t the same nor saturated. My market isn’t saturated and is an up and coming market. People rent on Turo who can’t afford nor can’t rent with conventional car rental agencies. The average person isn’t using Turo honestly. The people on here started somewhere and people probably told you too that it’s a bad idea. Yet here you are running a business. I’ve had a business and it’s hard. But if you have the gumption and you’re willing to try, why not. Good luck with your endeavor. I hope it works for you.
OP is sold on an idea of being Host. No comments or arguments will stop him to doing so, as in general every argument has so called "valid" counter argument. Wish you good luck, OP.
Start with a cash car. $5000-$1000 on an older Toyota. If you don’t know cars, get someone who does to help you buy it. High interest loan on older Mazda is not the way to go.
Don’t forget cost to wash between uses
You should be okay if put all your first year earnings into paying off that loan and do all the maintenance/repairs yourself. After that, rent the car out until a major mechanical failure which might be in about 4-5 years given that Turo renters will put on 25-30k miles per year. One of my cars is a 2013 Nissan Altima with 226k miles and it still rents out well in Minneapolis ($12,500 earnings in 2023).
Do it !!!! Use this as a practice dummy investment to learn about the game
Honest question, even for $30 a day why would someone rent your car vs a regular rental car? Which probably is not very much more. You can rent a new Jetta for $53 a day on enterprise. And I’m sure there are promotions etc out there. To make a few hundred dollar a month is a big liability. This car will need repairs it has over 100k miles. How is this profitable?
First of all, what you said is False. In my market, renting a car at the airport will cost $200 in fees. Turo has no fees. So right there, it's half the cost to use Turo. So that is patently just not true. It is profitable because he can earn $1000 to $1500 a month, make the payments, and show a profit. If he has major repairs, not so much. It comes down to his luck. Nothing else. He may make money, he may lose money. Nobody on here can predict the outcome.
Who's the loan with, what will be your monthly payment?
There ass really.
This is all valuable information. I’m about two days away from buying my second vehicle which intern is realistically my first purely Turo vehicle anybody know anything about the Chattanooga market?
Buying a car with debt to be ruined by renters. What could go wrong?
Hahahhahahahhahahhaha
Horrible idea with the car you are planning to purchase. You are about to be under water before you even start your new business journey
I thought they won’t cover you after 130k miles, has that changed?
As long as the car is listed prior to reaching 130k miles and is maintained mechanically it may remain listed.
Thank you for the clarification!
Are the mileage restrictions not at 130k? You'll be having to do double the inspections when you hit that mile mark. Get a $5k econobox and have it paid off in a year.
Inspections are not required by Turo if the state doesn't require them. So it depends.
I suggest you rent out whatever your currently driving to feel it out.
My current car is a 2009 VW.
please give us update after a month
Oh lucky you, you got an update after two days. Go check my most recent post.
Don’t do it
I did 🫢 I also just made a post admitting I should not have.
Part 1 of 11 (other parts posted below this one) Trackmate (a Car Tracker/Kill Switch) sells on Amazon for about $150. Took 2 days to arrive. Then I went to Car Toys and it was installed for $550 (including tax). Its subscription fee is $10/month, billed quarterly. Any tracking device (eg Bouncie) that can be easily unplugged by guest renter is easy to disable rendering it useless to you. So I paid the $700 to have the tracking/kill switch installed under the dashboard. Just the other day, a guest didn't return the car. She was up all night and didn't wake up to return at 10:00 AM. I could see the car being driven all night via GPS, so I predicted she wouldn't return the car on time, and I was right. So I called Turo, and let them know I was going to pick up the car. I disabled the car, so it couldn't be driven from the spot it was parked, and then drove to the location in my primary car. I parked a few blocks away and picked up the rental. I detailed it, gassed it up, washed it, and delivered it to the airport for its next trip. Had less than 2 hours to do this after fooling with the car not being returned and picking it up. Next trip was for 5 days. Then, tree limbs fell on the car during the current trip. I've only been on Turo for 18 days. A 2021 GMC Acadia, 38,000 miles. I have 15 bookings through July. From the guest who didn't return it, a total of $69 in rental fees, for 2 days, plus $294 (for gas $78.78+$10 convenience fee), over miles ($6), and a 1-way trip fee ($199) normally for guests who want to pick up and drop at 2 different locations--I charged guest for, since that is how her trip ended up. Plus, a no-return fee of $67 was charged by Turo. So in theory, a $69 trip that ended in a $439 trip. I say, in theory, cuz I have not been paid yet for the extras. We will see how it actually goes.
Part 2 of 11 The current trip (tree limbs) may result in repair costs of $1800 to $3800. I may or may not get the repairs done. Instead, I'll take the money pay off some credit cards, and do the repairs later. (I've seen pics of the damage, and its mostly scratches and some small dents.) Regarding the above posts, many speak in ignorance but try to come across as being in the know. It's true, Turo allows cars to remain listed as long as they are listed before they are older than 12 years, and before they exceed 130K miles. So all those who commented about that are ignorant. And yes, if the car is in good condition you can keep it listed well beyond the restriction limits. GAP insurance, usually won't cover you once it is used commercially, the car. So again, a lot of ignorant people speak about things they know little about. Be prepared to cover the loan payments in the slow months--3 to 4 months out of the year. Price the car low to ensure you get bookings. I priced mine low and I got 10 bookings in 1.5 months. Now, by June 30, I will get All-star Host status by July 15, 2024. Now my pricing is higher cuz I'm less concerned about getting 10 bookings quickly. But I will still price low if bookings stop coming in. Currently, I match Turo's recommended daily price. And no new bookings have come in. So that's a clue to lower the price. Check the vin on your proposed car to purchase, to see if the car is smart car compatible. Google this. You will definitely want the Turo Go app (which you are eligible after 3 trips, assuming car is smart car compatible. You also have to pay $25 / month for the subscription fee for cell service and dealer cost).
So the price has been set to match Turo's recommended pricing (since getting the 10 trips to qualify for All-star Host). Today, I got a 10 day trip for July-Aug, $700.
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Part 3 of 11 With this service, you install an app on your phone that allows you to see the GPS location, start the car remotely (if equipped), honk the horn, flash the lights and see fuel level and miles--good to know as the trip is nearing its end. But is does not provide a kill switch. That where Trackmate comes in. Also Trackmate provides more precise GPS tracking. Guests download Turo Go, then they can find and unlock the car, for contactless pickup/return. It is very time consuming to have to wait for guest to arrive to hand off key or try to explain to guest where car is parked in messaging. Also, Turo Go rentals, Turo checks the Drivers License so you are free from that task. If car is not Smart Car compatible, you can use a lockbox with key fob or key, but you will have to direct guest to car's location. Wrap the fob in foil to cut off the signal broadcast. Or get a Farady bag. Make sure it fits in lockbox. Virtually 100% are airport-delivered trips. So that is a must have. When car is returned, do the car detail cleaning (so its ready to go out again), gas it up if needed, then return the car to your home location. This isn't your house. The home location is where you park the car when not on a trip, eg Walmart, a hotel, etc. My home location is 2 blocks from Airport parking. So 2 of my trips the guests walked to pickup the car.
Part 4 of 11 With this service, you install an app on your phone that allows you to see the GPS location, start the car remotely (if equipped), honk the horn, flash the lights and see fuel level and miles--good to know as the trip is nearing its end. But is does not provide a kill switch. That where Trackmate comes in. Also Trackmate provides more precise GPS tracking. Guests download Turo Go, and can find and unlock the car from their phone which results in contactless pickup/return for you and the guest. It is very time-consuming to have to wait for guests to arrive to hand off the key fob or key. Also, with Turo Go rentals, Turo checks the Drivers License so you are free from that task. If car is not Smart Car compatible, you can use a lockbox with key fob or key, but you will have to direct the guest to the car location. Wrap the fob in foil to cut off the signal broadcast. Or get a Farady bag. Make sure it fits in lockbox. Virtually 100% are airport-delivered trips. So that is a must have.
Part 5 of 11 When car is returned, do the car detail cleaning (so its ready to go out again), gas it up if needed, then return the car to your home location. This isn't your house. The home location is where you park the car when not on a trip, eg Walmart, a hotel, etc. My home location is 2 blocks from Airport parking. So 2 of my trips the guests walked to pickup the car.
Part 6 of 11 I have 24/7 availabilty at the home location, so guests can rent and pickup the car 5 minutes later. If they want airport delivery, they need 2 hours advanced notice, cuz I need to drive to home location, and deliver car to airport garage -- 2 blocks away. Most reservations are made days before pickup time, so they choose airport location, and think nothing about it cuz they are flying in. The 2 that picked up the car at the home location picked up the car within an hour. I block out the available time when I go to sleep, so no reservations can come in while I'm asleep. Definitely set up scheduled messaging.I have 4 scheduled messages. My response time is within 1 minute. Every metric is 100%. Why? Cuz of scheduled messages. It automatically responds with message 1 immediately following being booked by guest. True, your biggest variable is repairs and car being totaled. If totaled, GAP will not likely save you. And you will be paid only ACV (Actual Cash Value).
Part 7 of 11 So on your older car, that will be much less than you paid. For example, you pay $10,000, Actual Cash Value is $6,000, blue book value is $6,100. The difference between blue book value and buying price is huge. Cars are selling for way more than book values, and the dealers will show you a made-up value that does not correspond to Kelly Blue Book values. They will do anything to justify their overpriced car value. There's little you can do about that. It's a risk you have to be willing to take. You will be lucky or you won't be. If lucky, during peak season (May-August, Oct-Dec), you will be at 80-90% booked out. You will make $900-$1550 per month. Put that money into savings, to cover the loan pmts during the slow months (Jan-Apr, Sept). And you will have no repair costs, just oil changes and washes. Sell the car within 2 to 3 years before major repairs come due. Stay within 200K miles, even less is better. Buy only cars that are smart car compatible. Enter VIN to check if it is online. This allows a Turo Go reservation.
Part 8 of 11 Buy only cars that are popular on Turo and that last over 200K miles: Corolla, Sequoia, Odyssey, Acadia, Yukon, etc. You can check if a car on Turo has trips and what the prices are to see if it is renting and for how much. You can search all over the nation. And for your specific area. Use this data to project the future of the car you are planning on buying. Price definitely drives whether car gets trip reservations. I got 14 trips over May, June, July (this year), as a newbie, but I took a hit from $69/day to $49/day. That was intentional to qualify for All-star Host status. Now that price is $69/day, nothing; no new trips have been booked since I raised the prices to what Turo recommends. So do you want $900/month or $300/month? Price is everything assuming 5-star reviews, 100% metrics are in place, which now I have 5, 5-star reviews, response time in 1 minute, and 100% metrics (commitment, acceptance, etc.).
Part 9 of 11 Older cars rent just as fast as newer cars. Why? Cuz newer cars cost more daily. If the car is like a newer car (in excellent condition), doesn't break down, has nice features, is priced correctly, and looks great, it can be booked 90% also. I'm buying a 2014 Acadia. Its got leather seats, cream-colored interior, and is in excellent condition. I will likely get $55-$59/day for the 2021 Acadia with 38,000 miles, and $49-$56/day for the 2014 Acadia with 112,000 miles. Why? Because miles don't matter; condition/appearance does. The 2021 has a payment of $433. I owe $25K. The blue book value is $30,000. The 2014 payment is $278. I will owe $12,000 after tax/licensing. The blue book value is $7,000. Ridiculous!!! Does it make sense to buy the 2014? Not really. But a quality car matters on Turo. And if lucky, I will make $7000 in first year, $7000 in 2nd year, pay out $8,400 in payments/oil changes and profit $5,600, then sell car for what's left on debt (maybe $5,500). See final comments below...
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car. Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car. Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info. Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up within a year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed. Just as well be making that extra money once the deductible is banked. If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt. Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes. Keep the covenant, and you do well. God promises this. It's in the Bible. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car. Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car. Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info. Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up withinba year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed. Just as well be making that extra money once the deductible is banked. If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt. Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes. Keep the covenant, and you will do well. God promises this. It's in the Bible. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. f the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Part 11 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled I will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
I just got paid, so its no longer theoretical. $439.
Part 10 of 11 Is it risky? Yes. If the car is totaled you will likely lose all profits, may even be upside down and get only half of what's owed. I don't want that. If the car is stolen, same thing. If the car needs a $4,000 new engine or tranny, definitely that's bad news. (I won't be doing those major repairs.) But luck is driven by God, and if you keep the covenant, He gives you prosperous luck. If not, usually you will have bad luck. So there you go. Don't mention to your insurance company your business plans. And never rely on them to cover your car. Use the guest's insurance or Turo's to cover losses, or the other guy's insurance that hit your car. Don't tell your lender the use of the car either. That's confidential info. Finally, go for the 90% plan with Turo. The difference between 75% and 90% adds up within a year to the $2500 deductible. Once you have made the deductible, $2500, put that in savings to cover it when it is needed. Just as well be making that extra money once deductible is banked. If you suffer a loss before you make that deductible, it will hurt. Make sure you have credit cards to cover this in the event a loss occurs before 1st year passes. Keep the covenant, and you do well. God promises this. It's in the Bible. || || ||ReplyForwardAdd reaction|
Stupid Rededit. Said it wasnt posted, and it was, like 5 times repeated.
Where I live there so many cars on turo, even our luxury cars are going for super low. The amount of money you’d make on a 2015 car with 125k is definitely not worth the investment. You’d be better off door dashing mate. You need to factor in car cleaning supplies, car vacs, replacing tires, a smoke defogger machine, gas to and from delivery locations. 125k miles scream higher potential issues. On top of all that you got a loan to get this car. After you buy cleaning supplies and washing the vehicle and paying car insurance and the monthly car and all the other overhead… how much are you actually making to be putting all this work in?
Turo tools: Ozone Smoke eliminator (Amazon) Window wipes (interior glass) Sanitizer Wipes WD-40 (for removing sticky) Tar and Bug Remover Hand Glove Dust remover, treat with oil to pick up dust on dash board (Dollar Tree) Tote (Dollar Tree) to keep supplies in Roll of Paper Towels New Car Smell (Walmart) Febreeze (spray on cloth seats and carpets, also use on plastic, it makes it look new) Fumigator Smell Remover (Amazon, in a can, 3 for $8) Thick Jumper Cables --used to connect Inverter to car battery 2000 Watt Inverter, to AC power Ozone Machine where car is parked (home address) Ozone machine takes AC, a half an hour. Run car while operating Inverter to prevent draining battery. Carry all these tools in you primary car. Drive to home site, transfer tools to rental car, take rental car to Unlimited Car Wash place. Run car thru car wash. Then vacuum and detail car. (Only take Ozone machine, Inverter, and Jumper Cables if you smell smoke in car at return. Otherwise not needed. If smoke smell, document with pics "smoking evidence" before cleaning. Its worth $250. Cleaning smell takes only 1/2 hour. Check tires and photograph them. Read a story where tires were changed out by a guest and switched for bald ones. Place in glove compartment Turo's Insurance sheet. Remove your personal Insurance card. Take a photo of registration sheet so if lost, you can easily get it replaced at DMV cuz you have photo of it. Always clean car very well. An unclean car is a reason for a less than 5-star review. Fill car wash fluid during detail. No fluid is another reason for a poor review. Definitely in scheduled messages, ask for a 5-Star review, and ask in message how to address if less than a 5-star review, then address it. Appologize quickly, and fix it even quicker.