Your vacation sure looks like fun! Can I see the plan again? You’re going to a great city where you will have some great fun. Good food and exciting nightlife await. How cool is that? Oh, what’s this? “Rent a boring car.” Yeah, not so much fun there. However, all that may be about to change. Turo is turning car rental on its head with peer-to-peer short-term driving options. Gildshire, always looking to spice up the vacation options, decided to examine further. Car and Driver helped with the some of the research.
First, we learned that Turo isn’t brand new, but it is newly expanded. Think of it as an Airbnb for rental cars. They provide a convenient platform for owners to get their vehicles into the hands of interested parties. Those who already patronize Turo, use it for vacation cars or short business trips. Sometimes, they use it because they have an itch to drive a car that they have never owned. Or, that they owned and loved.
Now, Turo has upped the ante. They introduced two new categories, deluxe and super deluxe, that make finding performance and luxury rides a cinch. Well, kind of a cinch. Obviously, your selection is limited to the ones owners are willing to part with. However, a cursory check of local (Seattle-area) cars available from Turo include a 2011 Rolls Royce Ghost ($719 a day), a 2012 Aston Martin Vantage V-8 ($659 a day) and a 2012 Maserati Grandturismo (bargain priced at $359 a day.)
Any of the above will get you a slow dance from the homecoming queen at the class reunion.
The sticking point for this kind of transaction has always been insurance, but Turo took care of that with an agreement between their company and Liberty Mutual.
Now, nine years old, Turo has gradually grown over its lifetime. Once, the “nichiest” of niche marketers, Turo is making advances into the kind of vacationer who usually ponies up at the Avis counter. They know that’s the kind of renter that will provide a stable growth in this competitive industry.
Is Turo for you? If you have a vehicular bucket list it might just be. Or, if the idea of another base model Ford Taurus makes you a little nauseous, they might be for you, as well.