Turo car sharing

I've used Turo several times, never a problem. In addition to individual cars, some people have made a mini car rental business by having several cars. Be sure you dig to the final price including any delivery fee, other fees and the Turo fee. Be sure you know how to get to the car. The price gap seems to be shrinking so the convenience factor, and the fact you are dealing with John or Mary's car rather than Hertz/Avis etc. if you have a problem should also be considered. That said, I always check Turo first, before the big companies. There's a new company, Kyte, that has a somewhat different business model. Check them out too. I may be trying them on next trip.

I have not used them so what I know is from seeing people post their experiences on Trip Advisor.

As far as I can tell the experiences vary wildly from location to location. Some have an easy time, others not so much. A Trip Advisor friend rented a luxury car in Denver to drive to his daughter's in Vail or Aspen...somewhere over the mountains. The wheels of the car actually FELL OFF while he was at speed on I70.

There is no maintenance oversight by Turo and no assistance with issues when they arise. It is merely a platform to link car owners and those wishing to rent.

Here's a long running thread on Trip Advosor with 270+ posts many of whom detail poor experiences with Turo. There are some positive reports as well but fewer than the negative experiences.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i12567-k11686240-o270-Any_reviews_for_Turo_com_Car_Rental-Road_Trips.html

I have a friend who rented with Turo. When she returned the car, the owner claimed she had smoked in it. They charged her several hundred dollars. She’s never smoked in her life so I know she didn’t smoke in this car and she was by herself, so it’s not like she had a passenger that smoked. She said the car did not ever smell like smoke.

When she complained to Touro, they told her that they do not accept any kind of defense you get hit with the $200 charge and the owner of the car is always right - you have no way to appeal anything. Based on that experience I will not rent from them. Basically the owner could say you did anything to the car and you have to pay?

We used Turo in Denver last fall on the advice of our son. He was concerned that we have four wheel drive and the local agencies would not guarantee it. It all went well but was a bit odd to go into a neighborhood in the dark to pick up the car.

We did hit snow going over the mountains and were very glad we had four wheel drive!

Thanks for your responses! Much appreciated. Your comments (and the TripAdvisor thread, thx Pam!) do point up a lot of variability in renter experiences with Turo. Fritzy, your comment about who we’d be dealing with if there’s a problem with the car is well taken. I’m leaning toward paying a bit more with an established rental company, and labeling the difference in price as a “peace of mind surcharge.”