How to be a 5-Star Turo Host.
I have compiled the info I used to create my Turo listing, get it rented, handed off to a happy renter, and receive my first 5 star reviews.
Why I’m hosting on Turo
I recently moved to San Francisco from Seattle Washington to roll out a new product. Living in Portland and Seattle for the last ten years I abandoned my car in exchange for ReachNow, Car2Go, BikeTown, Lime and excellent transportation systems with good apps made by GlobeSherpa and others. All those services along with Uber and Lyft made car ownership in the center of those cities unnecessary.
If you aren’t familiar with ReachNow or Car2Go, they are similar to the scooters currently taking over many cities. You simply walk up to a car, unlock it with an app, and start driving. I would borrow a car for anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours and park it anywhere, metered parking or residential, no parking expense required!
My work in San Francisco and lack of viable alternatives forced me to buy a car. You can read more about my efforts in buying a car here. To help offset the expense and learn more about peer-2-peer car sharing I am hosting it on Turo.
The basics
Turo offers some basic advice, which is: take good pictures, keep the car clean, be responsive, communicate clearly, and be on time. Oh, and don’t cancel.
You can read the basic advice offered by Turo here.
But here are my specific suggestions…
Gather Info
Photos: Before you start you need photos
- Make sure you have good daylight.
- Don’t take photos straight on, do it at an angle
- Take at least six around the car
- Take a photo of the entire front dash from between the headrests
- If you have a very nice interior take a photo, but if you don’t then don’t focus on it
- Capture any special features. My car is a hybrid, which allows it to drive in the HOV Lane, so I was sure to capture that
Car info: you need this for the listing
- Year, Make, Model: Example = 2017 Chevrolet Volt LT
- License Plate Number
- Vehicle Identification Number (VIN): there are a few places to find this on your car, or there is an online guide HERE
Description
The price and your first image are the things that will initially grab a potential buyer’s attention. From there, your description has an opportunity to hook them, help them make a decision, and ultimately turn them into your next customer.
When it came time for me to do this, I based the description for my Chevy Volt on those currently selling the same car. You can look at any number of sites, but TRED, where I bought my car, does an excellent job of producing short, engaging descriptions.
Ultimately, what you want to do is tell them why your car makes sense. If you have an economy car and live in the city, then tell them it is “an affordable way to get around. Take it on weekends or just run to the store.” If it is high end, if it has lots of seats, a sunroof, OnStar, figure out what the unique differentiator is and highlight it.
For me, my car is an electric hybrid, so it has AMAZING gas mileage. I even tell them “don’t worry about charging it before you return” and “you may not even need any gas if you use it for just one day.” Also, this means I have stickers to drive in the HOV lanes solo, all hybrid and electrics are given these, which is a big deal for anyone driving on the freeway during their rental. And it still has a gas tank, so there is no range anxiety for the battery. Lean into your unique quality and know who your likely renter is.
Choosing extras
In the Turo app, you can choose “extra” things that people can optionally pay for. The most common are prepaying for gas and cleaning so they can drop off the car and not worry about additional charges. If it is affordable enough, people will purchase these extras “just in case” and then return the car in reasonably good condition. That said, it does open you up to possibly deeper cleaning or a gas station visit before your next rental.
I set my gas fill and cleaning low, knowing that users will likely buy, and I will probably be able to clean or fuel it pretty quickly on my own. Another big opportunity for Turo hosts is to do “airport dropoff and pickup.” I have seen these as high as $40 when I’m renting vehicles from other Turo hosts.
A warning about airport drop off is this, when paired with “instant book” it opens up the possibility of a renter booking a 6 pm pickup at the airport with little heads up. In other words, you must drive in rush hour to get there and then Uber or mass transit back. There is a possibility of spending over an hour getting to the airport, handing off the car, and getting back to the city. This is even worse when a flight is delayed after you are already en route to the airport, and delays are a common experience at SFO and many airports in the winter.
Insurance
There are two (2) main pools of insurance you need.
1) You need to cover the car when the car is NOT booked by someone on Turo. 2) You need coverage when it is booked on Turo.
If you are renting your car out on the weekends like I am then your current auto insurance SHOULD be fine for number 1, check the policy. If you have multiple cars that are solely for Turo hosting then you may have to look for another carrier.
For number 2 you can use the Turo-provided insurance, which covers the car while it is booked by a guest. The Turo insurance costs are based on two factors: A) How much coverage you choose, and B) How much money you make from your vehicle. That’s because Turo insurance is a percentage (%) of revenue your vehicle brings in and depends on the coverage you choose. Here is a graph that Turo provides to help make sense of this.
So your options are:
A. You pay for your personal insurance on your car. Turo takes 10% of your booking as their fee (cost of doing business). Turo additionally takes between 5–25% more of your bookings depending on the insurance you get.
B. You get commercial rental insurance for your car(s). This covers your cars in both situations.
Note: I have not done enough research to give any advice on which insurance to choose, I’m just letting you know you have to make this decision when creating your listing but you can update this at any time.
Preparing for the first renter
Have a welcome message ready to go, saved in your notes so you can copy and paste from your phone. Be brief, welcoming, and open it up for questions. For example:
“Hi Jane, I’m happy to have you use my car for your weekend trip. Please let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise, I’ll see you on April 4th at 10 am.”
Day of rental
They will likely message you. Either to confirm, ask a question, or let you know they are running late. Just know you will likely need to give them a quick reply.
When they arrive I do a simple, quick introduction to the car. If there was anything you highlighted in the post be sure to speak to it. Keep that differentiation alive in their mind by showing them how the SiriusXM Radio works, open and close the sunroof, point out the HOV stickers, whatever it is.
Relieve their concerns by letting them know you are there if they have any questions and that if something happens to the car it is no worry because that is what insurance is for. I have OnStar, so I tell them
“don’t hesitate to use OnStar if you need it, even if it’s a non-emergency, or just call me.”
Goodies!
I haven’t seen people point this out much, but I buy snacks and water. It costs ~$6, they will likely drink the water but leave some of the snacks, but they will love the extra touch when you point it out during the initial handoff.
I’m also sure to tell them to “please use anything you need, it is in there for you.”
Car return
A few hours before the car is due to return Turo will send the renters a couple of messages reminding them of the return time and offering them to extend their rental if they like. They don’t need an additional message from you reminding them.
With that said, I send a simple update an hour before the return:
“I will be at ADDRESS FOR RETURN at SPECIFIC TIME, but if you are running a little late no need to extend the rental, just let me know when you plan to arrive and I’ll meet you then.”
Once they arrive I ask them how their trip was and if they enjoyed the car. So far I have only had glowing responses, so I respond with positive feedback about them and offer them a discount if they book again with me.
“You were great to work with, I will be leaving you a 5-star review and I would be happy to loan you the car again. Next time shoot me a message and I’ll offer you a discount!”
Community ideas
I haven’t done this yet, but I recently had a suggestion that if they seemed happy with the experience to ask them for a review. If you try this tactic and it works please let me know!
Do you have any tips or tricks that work for you? Any pushback on the ones listed above? I would love to hear about your experience and I may use it in my next post.
About the Author
Tyler Phillipi is the CEO of Halo Automotive and has been building and launching software and hardware products for over a decade with a focus on transportation for the last five years.
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