How I started earning money by renting my car on Turo
Journey, learnings and takeaways from a long time host
In 2021, I was faced with a decision about what to do with my 2014 Mazda 6, which was gathering dust after we purchased a newer model. Selling it could offer a quick cash boost, yet there were times a second car would be handy. Then, a friend introduced me to Turo, where he was renting out a Corvette in Florida. The idea of turning my idle car into a profit-making machine was too tempting to pass up.
Deciding Not to Sell
We had family visits a few times a year so “it would have been nice” to have a second car for those occasions. On the other hand, paying insurance and registration fees for a car that isn’t used most of the time wasn’t smart either.
At that time, the car had around 60k miles and was worth about $10,000. A nice chunk of cash to put into savings. I was getting really excited about this payday :) but as you can already suspect I didn’t end up selling it.
Discovering Turo
Right around that time I learned of Turo from a friend of mine who told me how he’s renting a Corvette in Florida. The idea of “employing” sounded very enticing so I decided to learn more.
Key factors that made me want to give it:
No upfront cost
Fully insured trips from the host or renter’s side
I downloaded the app, followed their instructions and 30min later my car was listed for rental.
The Initial High
I listed the car for about $55/day and soon I started getting booking requests. I finished that year earning around $600/mo which was beyond expectations. It covered my insurance, registration fees, maintenance and left with more. . In fact, those earnings covered the highlander loan payments.
Real Costs of Car Sharing
“Almost” is the keyword here, the money was paying for my car expenses but it wasn’t free. Here are the real costs behind these numbers:
Time - each trip takes about 15-45min of work to prepare the car. An average over 4 trips per month amounts to around an hour to three of work.
Cleaning & Maintenance Costs - car washes, extra oil changes, air filters, tires, etc.
Wear and tear - extra milage (it was around 1k miles per month), interior wear etc.
Starting with $3,613:
Turo took 10% (this number is adjustable) - $361.3
Maintenance and insurance - $300
Registration - $600
That left me with around $2300 of pure profit which is around $380 per month.
For those still following the math, it’s about $90 - 200 per hour!
That made me quite satisfied with the efforts I was putting in and returns I was getting.
I sold my Mazda 6 in 2022 for $7000 after it has earned me $8,000. Not too shabby for a first go at Turo. In retrospect, I should have kept the car for another year and squeezed even more profit out of it.
Unexpected Challenges
I still remember the feeling of my stomach dropping the first time I received call from a customer telling me he got into an accident. I wanted to quit Turo right at that moment but told myself “this is just the cost of doing business”. Turo’s claim process worked as expected and everything got resolved in a week. This wasn’t the last of it:)
Over the one year I had the Mazda rented I experienced the bitter side of the business.
Small accident - paid by the renter with his deductible ($500)
Broken side window - paid by the renter with her deductible ($1500)
Smoking violation - reimbursed $150 by Turo directly.
Luckily, I had no major accidents or crazy renters but I expect that one day I will.
“This is just the cost of running a business.”
Key Takeaways
Over last 3 years I learned many lessons of what it takes to be a successful host on Turo. I will share that in another blog post, but I hope this article gives you a good real world example of a journey you might expect if you decide to join Turo as a host.
Renting your car on Turo can be very profitable and satisfying
It’s a great learning experience of running a small business
It will change your perspective on car ownership and attachment to things
Got your own experience to share or a question? Leave a comment bellow!