The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
I dislike a lot of things about renting cars. The cost, the struggle to find a gas station right before dropping it off, and the general hassle of the process itself.
When trying out car rental service Turo for the first time I was skeptical that it would be much different, but honestly, it made what was once a chore actually kinda fun.
Turo is a peer-to-peer car sharing company, that I liken to Airbnb. Turo car "hosts" simply list their vehicles on the site, and everyday people like me can rent them out.
Some Turo hosts just rent out their cars when they don't need them, while others have vehicles specifically set aside for Turo. So it's basically exactly like Airbnb, but for cars.
I Tried Turo For The First Time & It Changed How I Rent Carswww.youtube.com
To me, this just makes so much sense. Say you're visiting family for a while and just want a car for a few days, you probably don't want to find a ride to the closest car rental service (which are mostly at airports outside of town). I grew up in small-town New Brunswick and many times have been stuck calling the limited car rental companies in hopes of getting something, and ended up with an old Honda Civic and a giant bill.
So when Turo offered to let me test out their service, my interest was immediately piqued. It also happened to time up perfectly with a road trip I was taking through the mountains in B.C., to go from my home in Whistler to Manning Park.
People in Turo car. Morgan Leet | Narcity
With an open mind, I agreed to put the car rental platform to the test, reviewing it based on three main criteria: The booking experience, the service, and the car itself.
The booking
Unfortunately, my Turo experience didn't start out very strong (although it made up for it later).
The website was easy-to-use though, and I scanned the map of nearby cars to see what was available.
Since we were camping for the weekend, I settled on a pickup truck that came with a tent on it — which is pretty cool. With my attitude bright, I booked the car. Fast-forward an hour though and the good vibes had soured.
Turo website. Turo
The host of the pickup truck messaged me to say that he had forgotten to set his truck as unavailable for the weekend, and he had camping plans of his own that he needed it for. Although the host was friendly and apologetic, there was no getting around it — I was bummed.
This points to the main -- and really only -- issue I have with Turo.
The entire premise of the service is that it's peer-to-peer, which means your experience largely relies on how organized and helpful your host is. While traditional rental car companies have a level of professionalism and service you can trust, Turo doesn't.
That being said, you can get some reassurance by looking at host reviews. Some are rated as "All-Star Hosts" which means you're more likely to get a good experience booking with them.
Despite the initial road bump (pun intended), we persevered and chose another car — a Jeep Wrangler decked out in camo.
Turo websitJeep in the Turo website. Turo
Although this is a far cry from what I normally drive (a pretty old, semi-beat-up Subaru Outback), I wanted to mix things up.
My favourite part of the booking experience was just perusing different cars in my area. Booking a rental car you often just get stuck with whatever they have available, so getting to choose something a little more fun was exciting.
Morgan Leet in Turo car rental.Morgan Leet | Narcity
The Jeep Wrangler I picked was a steep $118 per day, but there was actually a good range of price options on the site.
In Vancouver, I saw some cars going for $60 per day, which is pretty reasonable. Looking at Expedia, the cheapest car rental for the same day from Vancouver Airport was $139, so you could be saving some money using Turo.
I also liked that you could filter on the Turo website by price, how experienced the host is, or deluxe cars.
Turo website, map of Vancouver. Turo
Aside from the one hiccup with the booking, I found the booking process pretty seamless.
The service
Okay, this had to be my favourite part of Turo — the delivery.
We live in a world where we love to order everything. Food, groceries, toiletries — you name it, it can be delivered. Some may say it's laziness, and they would be right.
If I don't have to drive somewhere though, I instantly like it more.
It's actually my main gripe with car rentals. Most of the time you have to drive to go get the car, but hello, I'm renting a car because I don't have one.
Obviously, a lot of the time people rent cars when they fly somewhere, but I've had a few experiences where I only want a car for maybe one or two days of a trip. This means that partway through my vacation I'm Uber-ing back to the airport to pick up a car, and then dropping it off again.
While not all Turo cars have it as an option, some rentals do offer delivery and pick-up. Luckily, my Jeep was one of them.
The Jeep Morgan Leet rented.Morgan Leet | Narcity
My partner, Calvin, was the one doing all the driving (thanks to my expired license), so this was especially hassle-free for me.
We downloaded the Turo app and our host messaged us when they were 30 minutes away from our house. All Calvin had to do was answer the door when they knocked, get the keys from them, and voila! We had a car.
Jeep Wrangler. Morgan Leet | Narcity
Drop-off was equally easy when they just came by and picked up the keys.
Looking at other car options, I saw that the pick-up process depends on the host. Some will just leave the car somewhere with a lockbox, while others will meet you at a pre-determined location to hand it over.
I'd definitely recommend splurging for the delivery fee if you can, which varies depending on the host. According to the Turo website, the delivery fee that the host lists must include drop-off and pick-up, and they can't add hidden costs like charging gas money for making the delivery.
We didn't need to interact with our host much honestly, but to me, that shows how smooth the whole process was.
The car
As soon as I saw it, I knew what the car's nickname for the weekend would be — The Monster. It's not exactly creative, but what else are you going to call this massive thing?
Jeep Wrangler in B.C.Morgan Leet | Narcity
It wasn't exactly an inconspicuous car, so we got more than a few stares driving around, but it made for an entertaining trip.
The two most important things when renting a car, in my opinion, are that everything works and that it's clean. The Jeep got a gold stars for each of these, and some extra points for the comfy pillows included inside.
The best part of this car by far was the fact that we could take the roof off. As we drove through the mountains we spotted vast lakes, waterfalls cascading down cliffs in the distance, century-old trees towering above, and even a few bears.
Morgan Leet in Turo rental.Morgan Leet | Narcity
We got a 360-degree view of it all thanks to the roof, and also managed to get some pretty rough sunburns. Pro tip (that's actually just common sense): if you don't have a roof on your car, you need sunscreen!
Overall experience
I've already told multiple friends about Turo, which is a sign of a good experience. I think the service solves a lot of the issues related to traditional car rentals, like convenience, choice, and price. More options are always better, and that's what this gives you.
This doesn't mean that I'm saying goodbye to car rental companies forever, though. If I fly into a destination and I need a car until I fly out, the airport car rental services are often super convenient, location-wise. In those cases, I'll probably still opt for walking up to a rent-a-car booth, but for anything else, Turo it is.
Trying out Turo has also opened up way more possibilities for me. I'd only rented a car out of necessity before, but it was fun to just try out a new car for the weekend, and I'll definitely be scrolling through the site before my next road trip.
Morgan Leet in Turo rental.Morgan Leet | Narcity
My first stop will be Turo from now on, even before the trusty old Enterprise and Hertz.
Just make sure to pick a car with good reviews, and an All-Star host when possible!
Do you need your own car insurance policy in order to borrow a car from Turo?
You don't need your own car insurance when you book on Turo.
When I booked, I simply chose the Standard Protection Plan so I was covered for my trip.
It's an extra cost though, so you can opt out of this. But only do so if you're absolutely sure that your personal insurance will cover you! You'll want to double-check this, as some insurance might cover car rentals, but not peer-to-peer car sharing like Turo.
What payment methods does Turo accept?
You can pay for your Turo car with a credit card, or using some debit cards from Visa or Mastercard. Google Pay and Apple Pay will also work.
What happens if you damage a Turo car?
When you rent a car with Turo, a security deposit is taken from your payment.
Ours was reimbursed a couple of days after our trip, but if you damage the car, you might not get it back.
If a car is damaged, Turo investigates the claim. If it turns out the damage happened on the trip, you might be responsible for paying to fix it, and your security deposit will be held until you do.
Exact costs will depend on the protection plan you choose with Turo, so it's advised to get the highest protection to avoid damage costs as much as possible.
You can also get charged if you violate Turo's policies. For example, there's a $250 smoking violation fee and a $150 cleaning violation fee.
