Turo, Karshare and carsharing in general

[Sundayjumper]

We'll wait.

Can we leave it until I'm bored, drunk and unemployed ?

Just over 24 hours should cover it the way things are going at work right now

[Beany]

We'll wait.

Can we leave it until I'm bored, drunk and unemployed ?

Just over 24 hours should cover it the way things are going at work right now

Having the same sort of week as me then?

[Explosive Newt]

We should form an ov9 drives club where vetted decent chaps borrow forumites’ cars for agreed sums of money. Those caught trying to pop a J turn in Ian’s M4 get their posting limited to Moaning only.

[Gavster]

I would imagine that of all the car rentals that take place every single day, the total amount of vehicles that get written off because of a "watch this" moment is about 0.00000000001%. It's like an anti-vax argument for car rentals; just because someone, somewhere, once read on Facebook that a sportscar rental got totalled, it doesn't mean it's actually significant enough of a threat to worry about.

On the other hand, as SJ points out, ensuring all mechanical stuff is totally up to date is probably more important, because that's within the host's control. Turo does offer roadside assistance though, in case that's any consolation

[mik]

I would imagine that of all the car rentals that take place every single day, the total amount of vehicles that get written off because of a "watch this" moment is about 0.00000000001%.

One in a trillion?

I would have thought it might be a smidgeypoo higher than that.

[Mito Man]

I remember watching some of Rob Spaghettis stuff out of boredom last year. He has a small super/sports car hire business and I think in the space of a week 5 cars got crashed

[jamcg]

We'll wait.

Can we leave it until I'm bored, drunk and unemployed ?

Only if you buy the cheapest shed you can find like Rev did with his Porsche and camaro

[Gavster]

A guy has taken the car for the weekend to go to a fashion photoshoot. First thing I have realised is that BMW Remote Services will only track the location of your car if you are within 1.5km of the vehicle, so I can’t track the car. It seems the lock/unlock features should still work, but the location doesn’t. Therefore, the Apple tag idea that Mito suggested would be a good idea if they can be tracked over greater distances.

[McSwede]

A guy has taken the car for the weekend to go to a fashion photoshoot. First thing I have realised is that BMW Remote Services will only track the location of your car if you are within 1.5km of the vehicle, so I can’t track the car. It seems the lock/unlock features should still work, but the location doesn’t. Therefore, the Apple tag idea that Mito suggested would be a good idea if they can be tracked over greater distances.

I thought the tracking thing only worked when the vehicle was parked and that you couldn't live track them.

[Gavster]

Sounds right, according to PH, BMW said "the location service is in place to identify where a vehicle is within a 1500 metre radius and is not a tracking service."

[Gavster]

Total of 12 hire days booked so far in August, which is reassuring as this should be a busy month and that's without any minimum trip lengths set. Once I've got to All-star host rating, I'll put a limit on weekends being minimum 2 days rental.

The first guy was a legend, he looked after it like his own car and washed it before returning.

[Gavster]

Had my first disruption for a guest's trip yesterday.

A guest took the car for the weekend and then phoned in yesterday to say he'd got a flat tyre. The car runs on 19s with no spare, so it was a very hurried hour or two getting my head around how Turo deals with these situations, who is responsible for repairs, and how to make sure the guest can carry on with their journey as quickly as possible.

Turo's terms state that when a guest takes a car, they are responsible for returning it without any damage, unless a fault occurred due to disrepair or lack of maintenance. Therefore, if a guest gets a flat tyre from driving over a nail, it's 100% the guest's responsibility to fix it and return the car damage free. This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest. Turo provide roadside assistance, however they were useless when the guest called them, they couldn't locate a replacement tyre, nor could they offer a plug, and were only able to offer to trailer the car to a compound until Monday for repair in Eastbourne.

In the end, the guest was able to call the AA as they had a free membership through one of their bank accounts and get a temporary plug done at the side of the road, as it was a puncture in the middle of the tyre. The guest then decided to return the car early as his weekend had been so disrupted, because this all took about 4 hours out of their late afternoon/evening yesterday.

Here's the rub, this was my eighth trip, and I need to hit 100% positive feedback in 10 trips to become an all-star host. So I decided to swallow the cost of getting the tyre repaired permanently and give him a gesture 50% refund for today, to make sure he leaves me a positive, or at least not negative feedback.

Luckily it was a 'light' problem, and also taught me a lot about how to deal with breakdowns in the future.

[Matty]

it's 100% the guest's responsibility to fix it and return the car damage free. This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest.

But this could have happened if it was their car, your car, or any car. Surely if they did give you a bad review, Turo would take it down as it states in the policy it's not your problem?

"This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest" - I'd be telling them to jog on TBH. It's what they signed and agreed.

[Beany]

it's 100% the guest's responsibility to fix it and return the car damage free. This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest.

But this could have happened if it was their car, your car, or any car. Surely if they did give you a bad review, Turo would take it down as it states in the policy it's not your problem?

"This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest" - I'd be telling them to jog on TBH. It's what they signed and agreed.

I expect that'd be the reaction once those ten positive reviews are in

[Rich B]

What happens if something like a window motor or boot release or something that it could be argued they were abusing it in some way that's caused it to break?

It's a fair amount of risk to hire a car that could be an absolute piece of crap with no easy "phone someone and swap it" option?

[mik]

it's 100% the guest's responsibility to fix it and return the car damage free. This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest.

But this could have happened if it was their car, your car, or any car. Surely if they did give you a bad review, Turo would take it down as it states in the policy it's not your problem?

"This policy doesn't sit too well with the guest" - I'd be telling them to jog on TBH. It's what they signed and agreed.

Its probably the best option, but it’s not really ideal for either party… I don’t have any issue with tyre plugs, but you might find yourself with the car returned with a shoddy half arsed plug job, or you might send it away with an MPS4S and find it comes back with a new SunnyDayLingLong Ditchfinder 3000 (possibly without them even mentioning it). Goes with territory I guess.

[Gavster]

Once I get to all-star rating then I will definitely be a lot clearer with guests who experience vehicle problems about their responsibility to return the car without any damage. At the moment I'm still buying my credibility on the platform, which is why I didn't tell them to jog on. I did explain that they were checking the car back with unprepared damage, which is a breach of the terms, but said I'd fix it myself as a goodwill gesture for their inconvenience, like the simpering host I am.

Rich, I reckon a motor or boot release would end up on my plate.

Mik, they probably have some rules about replacement parts being equivalent, but yes, it goes with the territory, you also can't be too precious about the car.

[Gavster]

First month financial update: Total income for August is ~£800 based on current bookings and could tip higher if I get any further bookings on the handful of empty days between now and the end of the month. For example, Tues, Weds, Fri and Sat are clear right now.

Overall this is a decent result for month 1 - August should be busy. As my first month of operating it was at a very low daily rate and I offered free delivery, meaning that the revenue per day was the lowest I'll ever get. I've already pushed my prices up by 10% and will aim to do the same next month too.

It's been a learning curve about how to process the car between rentals (to clean, or not to clean?) and managing guests. I've already had a warning from Turo about accepting an off-app payment from a guest for the Dartford crossing charge, they're very touchy about 'grey' payments.

Without doubt the sweet spot is 3+ day rentals, so I've increased the discount level for longer journeys. 1 days are a pain in the ass, the time to process the car barely makes it worth it, especially when they book for a Sunday which means it blocks out someone taking the car for a long weekend.

[Gavin]

Wow, it strikes me that some of your issues were the same as when I had the taxi. Smaller wheels are better for cheaper tyres, silver is better for looking smart with scuffs than dark grey or black.

Sounds like you are doing OK, totally understand how you dealt with the flat tyre, it is annoying that you cannot just point at the contract and say "diplomatic immunity" but I guess that will come after the magi 10! Best of luck.

[Broccers]

Sounds positive so far. Also time consuming and a potential drag if you are busy / have to sort out issues 24 hours a day.