Are you planning to travel to the United States and are you going to rent a car? So here’s a tip, Turo.com. The platform is like an Airbnb, but you can rent cars!
A little bit of history:
Turo.com was founded in 2009 by Shelby Clark, a technology entrepreneur who was inspired by the idea of sharing resources to reduce waste and promote sustainability. The company was initially called RelayRides and started as a peer-to-peer (owner-consumer) car-sharing service in San Francisco. In 2010, the company was one of the first to participate in the Y Combinator startup accelerator program.
Over the years, the company has expanded its services and renamed itself Turo in 2015. Today, it is a leader in the segment, with operations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany. The company has raised more than $450 million in funding from investors such as Kleiner Perkins and IAC, and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in North America by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.
Turo earns revenue by charging a commission on every rental transaction. The commission rate varies depending on the rental package chosen by the host, but generally ranges from 10% to 35% of the rental price. The platform also offers additional services such as insurance, roadside assistance and vehicle protection plans, for which it charges additional fees.
That is, if you have a car you can rent it by day, week, month and it ends up being an alternative for sports car lovers.
And the experience, is it good?
Many users have had positive experiences using Turo for renting cars. The variety of cars available, the flexibility of the service and the ability to interact directly with owners is something great, and renting through the platform can be more affordable than traditional car rental services, especially for longer rentals.
However, like any service, Turo has some downsides that are important to be aware of. Some users have reported issues with cancellations, late arrivals, and unresponsive hosts. There have also been reports of cars not being in the condition described in the listing or of additional fees being charged by hosts.
Overall, the experience using Turo is very good and can vary depending on the individual rental and the host involved. It is important to carefully read listing details and comments, reviews from previous car hires, communicate clearly with the car owner, and take precautions to ensure a safe and positive rental experience.
The platform has several cars, from sports to more traditional ones, it has SUVs, Tesla and even Ferrari! We already rented with Turo and we had no problem, that’s why we recommend it, but as mentioned above, always read the reviews of consumers who have already rented with that person, this helps to avoid possible surprises.
For those interested, the application is available for Android and IOS, but there is also a web version: https://turo.com/