The pros and cons of using Turo to rent out your cars: You can make a lot of money but it's a pain if your vehicle gets wrecked or stolen

Many Turo hosts start by renting their personal vehicles to get an idea of what the process is like. Zorina first rented her family car, a Porsche Cayenne, on the weekends in Miami. This provided her with passive side income while she explored how the business worked.

"I was so impressed by how people appreciate that they can use the vehicle and at the same time, it's also an income," she said. "After the first car, I was like, 'Oh, wow, it really works.'"

From there, she purchased more cars to rent each year and, in 2021, she got her first investors. Last year, her fleet of 69 cars earned her $922,225 in income.

While it is the easiest and cheapest approach, renting out your vehicle comes with trade-offs. Camesha Whitmore started her Turo side hustle in 2021 by renting her Range Rover in Phoenix.

Because it was the only car she owned at the time, the first month came with some lifestyle changes.

"I was getting bookings left and right so I never had a car," she said. "I was taking Lyfts everywhere and I would have to get DoorDash to get food."

Last year, Whitmore earned $76,620 in passive income from her seven cars. Overall, she doesn't mind the inconvenience because most things she needs are within walking distance from her home.

"But if I ever need the car for an important event, I have enough time to block it off my calendar," she said.

David Ruvalcaba and Vale Diaz, two more Turo hosts, recommend renting out a secondary car if you rely on your primary car often. That way, you're not missing out on bookings when you need to drive it.

"If something happens and you need the car, you're going to lose out on a lot of potential money," Diaz said.

The larger you scale your Turo operation, the more work it requires to maintain, clean, and track the vehicles — and communicate with renters.

Riddle became a Turo host in 2021 and earned $72,020 in income last year. Most of Riddle's clients rent his cars for multiple days, so he earns money while he isn't physically working.

"However, it's not passive," he said. "Once the vehicle comes back in, I'm all hands on deck. I'm going to make sure there's no damage and the car is working in proper condition, it gets washed and thoroughly cleaned inside."

To keep up with all her bookings, Zorina hired three employees who help her manage listings, car maintenance, and customer service.

As with any business, there is plenty of risk involved. That's why Ruvalcaba and Diaz started renting on the app as a side hustle while running their startup, Dava Marketing.

"Whenever we try these new projects, we try small and if it makes sense then we start to scale," Ruvalcaba said.

Together, they have rented 16 cars on Turo, including five Teslas. Last year, they scaled back and sold four cars to minimize risk. While they are based in Utah, they also outsource some of their cars to a team in Denver.

Ruvalcaba advises hosts not to buy more cars than they can afford because bad months will come.

"We wouldn't have bought the Teslas and taken out the loans if we didn't have an alternative way of paying them," he said. "There were months when we didn't even make back the money for just the loans, even with all the cars together."

Each Turo host can set their prices based on their target clientele, the type of car, and the demand in their area. Rates can also change depending on the weather. For example, Zorina lowers her prices on rainy days because most of her cars are convertibles.

Riddle has six cars, including a Jeep Compass, a Kia Sportage, and a Honda HR-V. He calls these types of cars "bread-and-butter" vehicles because they aren't luxurious, have four-wheel drive, and cater to people getting to work.

In Detroit, Riddle bases his prices on the school schedule. Business is slower when kids go back to school, so he sets his prices between $45 and $60 per day. In the busy season, his weekday rates are between $55 and $75.

Whitmore recommends new hosts use Turo's pricing insights until they've become familiar with their market.

"They will compare all of the cars in your area that are like yours and tell you the going rate," she said. "For people who are new and don't know how to price their cars, it's a really good tool."

For the first year, Ruvalcaba and Diaz lucked out by having no major incidents with their vehicles. Then one month, they had two accidents in one weekend.

Diaz was on vacation in Hawaii when he found out one of their Hyundais was totaled.

"The renter who was driving it got rear-ended and then hit the person in front of her," Diaz said.

The following day, a renter had parked their Nissan Versa next to a tree and a branch fell on the car.

"We've had three cars totaled and two cars stolen," Ruvalcaba said.

They typically unlock their cars a couple of hours before the renter arrives and leave the keys inside, but sometimes that can lead to thefts.

"We unlocked it a little too early and a homeless person walking by was playing with the car handles, opened it, and took off with the car," he said.

Whitmore had a close call with one renter who didn't return her car for days after his booking was over. The renter initially told Whitmore that he'd gotten a flat tire, then he stopped answering her messages.

"I have tracking devices in all of my cars," she said. "So I just watched him for the next two or three days, seeing where he was going, and I knew what hotel he was staying at."

Turo's safety department worked with Whitmore and sent the renter notifications to return the vehicle.

"So we can sit back while they do all the work," she said. "Once he got the notification from Turo that they were going to involve law enforcement, he returned my car."

Turo also has 24/7 roadside assistance available to renters and hosts in case of emergencies.

According to Turo's website, hosts are covered for up to $750,000 in liability insurance and they are required to choose one of Turo's three protection plans.

Plans are based on the total amount the host earns for a rental. On the highest coverage plan, hosts earn 60% of their rental fee, do not pay a deductible, and Turo pays all eligible damage costs up to $200,000. On the lowest coverage plan, hosts earn 90% of their rental fees and pay a $2,500 deductible, then Turo pays for eligible damages after the deductible.

Ruvalcaba and Diaz opted for the lowest-coverage plan, which comes with more risk, but makes them more money on each trip.

"Our deductible is only $2,500 and when your car's totaled that is pretty much nothing because you make a lot more back," Diaz said. For example, he said he bought the Nissan Versa for $8,000 and after it was damaged, Turo reimbursed him $13,490.

"Not only did we rent it for a year and make money, but we got paid out more than we bought the car for, which helped the profit even more," he said.

To be eligible for reimbursement, hosts must report damage within 24 hours after a trip ends and take clear photos of the vehicle's condition before and after the trip.

Not only has Turo become a thriving business for Zorina, but it's also a way to network with the interesting people who rent her cars.

"I meet such amazing people through this app, like businessmen and famous people," she said. "I actually communicate with a lot of past guests and we sometimes do collaborations."

Whitmore loves to hear her clients' stories from their trips.

"To know that your cars are being used for weddings, proposals, graduations, and major celebrations — it's amazing," she said.

And many people honeymoon with her cars, she added.

"They're like, 'We just got married and we want a nice car to drive off into the sunset with.'"