During the low rideshare demand in December, I decided to rent out my car on Turo. Turo is a marketplace for car owners to put up their personal cars up for rent by other people. New drivers can get $70 for signing up and renting out their car on the service with this link. Drivers have a lot of control over how and when to rent out their cars in addition to setting up pricing.
Last week, I wrote about how Uber drivers and Lyft drivers can sign up and list their cars on Turo:
Should Uber and Lyft Drivers List Their Car For Rent on Turo?
If you or your spouse has a strong attachment to the car you want to rent out, do not rent it out on Turo. While most renters will take care of the car, some won’t and it is these people that ruin the experience for everyone. It just takes someone to smoke in your car or trash the interior of your car for you to regret putting your car on Turo. Note that Turo does reimburse for most damage to a vehicle but you may take the damage personally.
If you drive with your only car full time on Turo, do not rent it out on Turo. Most Turo owners make anywhere between $30-$70 a day and unless you have an expensive car, you can earn more money on Uber and Lyft. However, if you only drive a few days a week and your car is parked for certain days of the week, it would be a good idea to rent it out for the days it is available so your car is always making money for you. My previous post on how to list your car on Turo shows how you can set your car availability so it will only be rented on certain days.
You need to view your car as an asset that could be used to make money, rather than a personal possession that should be kept pristine. Once you view your car as an asset, then you are ready to rent out your car on Turo.
What Cars Do Well on Turo?
Typically, cheaper cars that look great inside and out do pretty well due to their lower rental price and lower total cost of ownership of the car. Below are the absolute limits for listing on Turo in the US:
- Cars no more than 12 years old
- Car fewer than 130,000 miles at the time of first listing
- Have a clean (not branded or salvage) title
- Must never been declared a total loss
- Maximum market value of $150,000
The reason why cheaper cars typically do better than more expensive cars is because they tend to be rented out more often than expensive cars, increasing overall revenue for such cars.
What Should You Research Before Listing on Turo?
First, you should look up the cars listed on Turo in your market. In some markets, there are a lot of cheaper cars while in other markets, there are a lot of high end cars. It is crucial to get a sense of the market price and the type of cars in your market.
The easiest way to perform market research is to go on Turo and search for a week rental away from major holidays and a month in the future. You can get a sense of the type of cars listed. If you live far away from the city, perform a search within the city and then near where you live so you can see the price difference for being far away from the city. Consider searching at the airport as well and see the pricing levels there since some Turo owners charge an airport delivery fee, others do not.
Look through the listing and see what type of cars appear on top of the search. The top of the search is a mixture of proximity, number of trips, rating, and price relative to Turo’s recommended price. The more trips and higher rating a vehicle has, the higher it is on the listing. Consider sorting the listing by price as well and see what various cars cost on Turo. Try to search for a car similar to yours and try to determine how much you may be able to list it for. Keep in mind that the cars priced well may already be booked a month in the future and that some Turo owners have listed their cars with very high prices so keep your expectations low.
If you want only occasional rentals, then a high rental price may be appropriate for your listing, but if you want a vehicle rented more than half of the month, every month, make sure that your car is priced competitively.
Have more questions about Uber or Lyft? Head on over to our Rideshare Driver Training Course! Driver Promotions- New Uber Drivers will get up to a $800 bonus after signing up: Sign up for Uber.
- New Lyft Drivers will get up to $800 if you sign up here using this link.
