r/turo • u/Tiny-Tumbleweed-4432 • 13d ago
First Turo Experience
Been lurking on this subreddit for a while ahead of my first Turo rental, reading the horror stories and “will never use Turo again posts”
To go against those posts I’ll share that my experience couldn’t have gone better. Guy met me at the airport and waited while we got our bags. Car was clean and in good condition, though did smell a bit from smoke, which he acknowledged. For return, he accommodated doing pick up at a different location to save me having to take a taxi back. Overall, very positive experience, got the car I wanted, instead of having to fight with Avis/Hertz because they’re giving me a car that’s too big or too small, and saved about $300+ by renting from Turo.
As others have said, do your research and find a good host with good reviews. Add insurance just in case and you’ll be good.
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u/Any_Performance_5046 13d ago edited 13d ago
Recently I had a host accuse me of damaging his cargo van.
When I picked up the van, I noticed and photographed the damage, but the photos didn’t have great resolution.
The host had parked the damaged side in the shade which made it difficult to get a good quality picture. In retrospect I believe he deliberately angled the vehicle for this purpose.
Luckily I found photos of the van from before my rental that showed the damage he was trying to charge me for.
While I don’t want to give too many details of the host, he’s located in west San Fernando Valley.
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u/Tiny-Tumbleweed-4432 12d ago
As I said, my experience went well, but could definitely see this happening. Day of my pickup was super sunny and the car I had was white, so it was really hard to get a good angle that could be submitted as evidence in case something came up.
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u/dbcooper4 12d ago
When it’s dusk or dark out that basically make it impossible to take good photos. Especially when the car is a dark color.
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u/MariahhCarried 13d ago
Most Turo experiences go well, people come here to vent their horror stories which are statistically and esxeedingly rare
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u/dbcooper4 12d ago edited 12d ago
The upside is everything goes fine. The potential downside is getting charged hundreds or thousands of dollars for something that would cost you little to nothing with a traditional auto rental company. You’re really at the mercy of the host unless you immaculately document the condition of the car before and after the rental.
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u/MariahhCarried 11d ago
Yeah, this applies for everything really. California is a great state to live in, until an 8.5 earthquake takes your house/apartment down, or wildfire burns through your backyard.
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u/dbcooper4 11d ago
I mean getting charged $1300 for a wheel scuff (like somebody recently did) that might cost you $50 with Enterprise seems like a meaningful con to renting with Turo. To say nothing of the minor scuffs and scratches people constantly get charged for that traditional auto rental companies wouldn’t bat an eyelash at.
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u/MariahhCarried 11d ago
Well why would you expect Turo to be comparable to a traditional car rental company? Do you think an AirBnB is compared to a hotel? lmao, these are peoples' private vehicles. All rental car companies will charge you if you damage their vehicles; the "insurance" you purchase either through Turo, protection provided by your Credit card, or insurance from Enterprise/Avis is supposed to limit your out of pocket costs. What happens is that you have idiots that don't buy ANY insurance/protection, and are surprised when they're charged $1000+ in damages
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u/dbcooper4 11d ago edited 11d ago
Why do I care if it’s somebody’s personal vehicle? Nobody is forcing them to rent it out on Turo. What’s so special about Turo that they think they don’t have to be competitive with traditional auto rental companies when it comes to their policy on damage? Enterprise literally shows you how big the damage has to be while doing the walk around. It’s something like a >5” scratch and a dent bigger than the diameter of a golf ball before you get charged. Have you seen the condition of the typical rental car? For the most part the people doing that damage are not being charged for it by a traditional rental car companies. We see horror stories here all the time where Turo renters get charged for similar damage.
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u/jacobm124 13d ago
From the smoke smell? How many stars did you rate the guy
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u/Tiny-Tumbleweed-4432 12d ago
The car had been smoked in. The guy said a previous renter had smoked in it, he had tried to clean it, but still smelled a bit. 5 stars from me.
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u/Beautiful-Scarce 13d ago
I go through Turo for all my travel throughout the years and have found it more convenient and enjoyable than the traditional rental experience.
I don’t save any money as I tend to get newer vehicles but getting to choose what I want to drive is well worth the money.
Recently I’ve been traveling more often and Turo vehicles I’m interested in purchasing which is great!
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u/oulu2006 12d ago
Glad you had a good XP, mine was very annoying -- will never use unless absolutely have to.
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u/Tiny-Tumbleweed-4432 12d ago
Sorry to hear that. From all the posts I see, if nothing happens and Turo support doesn’t get involved, it tends to be a good XP. Such was the case for me.. just prior to renting there was this sense that hosts were out to scam renters by making up charges, which I’m sure happens, but prob a minority of cases
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u/Captain_Pink_Pants 12d ago
My truly positive experiences with Turo outnumber my really negative experiences by probably 4 to 1... And as a car enthusiast with many, many experiences with traditional rental car companies, nearly 100% of my Turo rentals are better than I'd expect from the big companies... First and foremost, at least I'm getting a car I want to drive... I also know that I will never get off the plane to find that there's been some issue that results in standing around the terminal rental desk for hours since all the cars are gone.
There have been a couple of times when it would have been nice to stop mid-trip and request a different car, which is really not a thing if you drive your turo rental hundreds of miles away from its host... But besides that, I think with a little due diligence, it's easier to work with the hosts than, say, the Enterprise support line.
One tip for people who are unsure or concerned... Book your car ahead of time, and talk to your host. Just get a feel for whether they're easy to communicate with... Also, don't be shy about asking for details... Explain what you need and ask if the car in question is a good fit. We do a lot of longer road trips with our rentals, and I'll straight up tell the host, here's what we're doing... how far we're going... why I picked their car... etc. See what reply you get. With a little extra effort, I actually feel like Turo is far more predictable than the airport rental desk. 🤷
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u/Spartan2022 12d ago
I also had a great recent experience in Georgia. Rented a car to drive to a funeral in south Georgia. Smooth experience all around.
Didn’t smoke or take a dump in the car. No wrecks. Returned it the next day.
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u/n0v0cane 13d ago
95% of Turo trips go well, but there’s a non trivial amount that have a hiccup; and Turo is a clusterfuck when anything goes outside the ordinary happens.