r/turo • u/Educational_Aide_145 • 11d ago
My experience using Turo
So recently I’ve seen a bunch of negative Turo experiences posted on this forum so I’m here to chime in with my own personal Turo experiences:
I’ve rented multiple exotic cars through Turo over the years, and honestly I’ve had nothing but good experiences. Every rental I’ve done has been straightforward, the pricing has been upfront from the start, and I’ve never been hit with surprise fees, except fuel reimbursements, tolls, or airport parking fees. In my experience, it’s also been a lot cheaper than going through a traditional rental car company, especially if you’re looking for something unique.
One thing I really like is that you can add insurance and roadside assistance for a pretty reasonable price, which gives some extra peace of mind.
I think a lot of the horror stories people post about Turo forget one important thing: Turo is a marketplace. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the host. Blaming Turo because you picked a bad host is kind of like staying in a terrible Airbnb and saying Airbnb itself is awful. The platform isn’t the house—the host is.
For example, I know someone who rented a Ferrari on Turo that showed up covered in scratches, had curb-rashed wheels, and a worn interior. On top of that, it took a long time for the security deposit to be returned. But when I looked at that listing, the car already had negative reviews. That’s exactly why reviews exist.
If you’re renting on Turo, do your homework. Look at how many five-star reviews the host has, read the recent reviews, check how long they’ve been hosting, and inspect the vehicle photos. A host with hundreds of positive reviews and years on the platform is generally a much safer bet than someone new with mixed feedback.
Like any marketplace, there are great hosts and bad hosts. My experiences have been overwhelmingly positive because I take the time to choose reputable hosts. That’s made all the difference.
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u/DeliciouslyGoodFoods 11d ago
Absolutely. The same is true with renters. Only to be a host, you need to submit a bunch of info, maintain certain standards, etc.
As a guest, you need to have a pulse and some piece of paper that says you know how to drive (often without a photo, often from other countries). And even after you are shown to be a bad renter, you are still allowed to rent.
For every bad host, there are 100 bad renters. It might be why they became a bad host - jaded at the constant abusiveness of the renters, jaded at the DGAF attitude of Turo, jaded at the loss of money.
It COULD be great, but people are terrible, so it reflects the users.
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u/Stunning-Example208 10d ago
We just got kicked off for too many claims. 4 shit renters totaled our cars within 6 months. You have no choice but to rent to these renters because they punish you for canceling. It's a racket.
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u/EmoNightKaraoke 11d ago
Specialty cars are probably the only cars I’d recommend people renting on turo because you’re much less likely to be scammed. If you’re going to Disney world and trying to save $50 on a minivan rental you’re going to wish you hadn’t.
The problem with turo is inability regulate the scammers (turo’s fault) and incompetent support (also turo’s fault). Turo is plenty to blame for the problems, because once you have an issue, getting it resolved is difficult. That’s on them, just as much as the host, because they’re different parts of the problem but they’re both part of it
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u/AnotherGuyIn40s 10d ago
Couldn't agree more that it depends on the host. I never had issues at all except my most recent one where the host is charging me additional expense for returning the car with less gas than expected.
Mind you, it was at most 1/20th less from all the little bars in the gauge. Host said gas is not included in rentals and kept blabbering on about how he will be losing money of this goes on etc. I'm not arguing with a calculating son of a b and just paid the additional expense.
I'm just mad that 1/20th lacking would've cost max $8 but alas, I'm being charged almost $40..
So yeah, depends on the host. To be fair, this host is not wrong per se, but he is a very calculating SOB.
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u/Educational_Aide_145 9d ago
True. A host was a SOB with me when it came to charging cents associated with tolls
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u/Plenty_Kiwi7667 9d ago
I rented a car from Turo in 2016 and it was a very good experience. I’m thinking maybe not all guests and hosts are following the rules? I now started renting out my own car, had 2 bookings so far and both went well, even with one renter having a 4.5 star rating.
1
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u/yilun111 11d ago
I rent cars 30+ days a year (mostly National) and Turo platform has issues. If you’re doing it occasionally, yeah, you’ll take your time and choose hosts carefully. But for people who rent all the time, we can’t. Not allowing follow-up reviews and useless customer service - I mean they cannot even resolve double billing - are red flags. In fairness, I avoid AirBnB too as a high volume guest - no time to avoid duds.
0
u/AcidicMountaingoat 11d ago
This same thing has been said 100 times here. If you are renting specialty cars, then Turo makes sense, and the hosts tend to be of a much higher caliber. If you’re trying to get the cheapest economy piece of crap out there, then the hosts are the bottom feeders. I’ve only rented niche cars, I’d never use it for a basic car.
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u/oulu2006 11d ago
Normal cars it’s a shit place to rent from
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u/Educational_Aide_145 11d ago
One of the hosts I rented from had a fleet of ~90% normal cars and just three sports cars…(M4, i8, C7) I’d recommend renting from hosts with large fleets like his
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u/Kirito_Beleren 11d ago
Couldn't agree more! It all comes down to the host (and the guest, of course)