Lease to rent out on Turo

Did you stumble upon this idea while searching for a rental on Turo?

I think what you should do, if you’re serious, is ask Turo and Nissan if they’re ok with you renting out a lease. also ask what, if anything, you’ll be liable for.

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Would my personal insurance rates go up if anything happened?

What are Nissan leases looking like now?

What’s a Mott?

That’s a question for them. Mine asks if the vehicle will be used generically for business, or for rideshare, or for sublet like Turo. Turo allows you to choose how much they insure and a subsequent reduction in your cut. But any accident could end up in subrogation, and potentially any injured by your Turo driver coming after you personally.

I did a lot of research before I became a Turo host: and I hosted one rider and decided it wasn’t worth it. I can see a lot of scenarios where it might work, but I spent a ton of time on with my car and umbrella carriers before I did it — I recommend you do the same.

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I know someone with a pretty successful Turo stable, but they buy the cars and it seems like it is a ton of work. They are always picking cars up, dropping them off, or cleaning them. Turo and business insurance takes a bunch of the money and I am still not convinced they won’t have serious issues personally if there is an accident and someone is hurt. Not worth the risk to me.

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If the car is registered in your name you are ultimately on the hook for any judgement beyond what your insurance will cover. Turo is the sort of business you want to run through an LLC. Definitely don’t want to expose yourself to personal liability if a renter drives drunk and kills a few people.

Of course, if you have no assets it doesn’t matter nearly as much since all you have to lose is your credit.

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I wouldn’t feel totally safe even with an LLC in the kind of situation you describe. The protections are not absolute, and I am sure a good enough lawyer could find some way to come after you personally.

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If you keep everything Kosher, they will have a hard time coming after you personally. Also if you had an LLC, you would have insurance for these type of things.

Yeah if you have an LLC or some other corporate structure, and do everything by the books (that part is real important) your personal assets are going to be protected.

If so, insurance matters less. You probably get the minimum insurance possible and if something bad happens you just drag out the litigation while winding down operation. Then by the time the judgement is issued the plaintiff is trying to recover from a defunct entity (i.e. trying to get blood from a stone).

How can you accomplish that?

I offered up my lease vehicle on the GM platform Maven years ago. While in theory it was an easy way to make extra money it became way too much hassle. The car smelled of weed, trash was left, curb rash, door dings. My car being dumped off miles away. Dropped off late. It wasn’t for me.

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Disclaimer - not legal advice. Just general legal theory. Always get legal advice from an attorney barred in your jurisdiction.

Let’s take Florida for example only because I had a friend who worked on a matter somewhat like this there.

Someone drunk driving your Turo rental kills someone. You immediately recognize that you are going to be liable. You start winding down operations, sell any remaining assets and take the money out of the LLC.

Let’s say it takes the plaintiff six months to file a lawsuit. Florida says presumptive trial court time to complete a civil case with a jury trial is 18 months. Now you are 24 months out, way past the look back period in bankruptcy. And if you want you can appeal, that’s another 180 days before final judgement.

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Won’t your insurance cover in that scenario?

It depends.

How much insurance do you have? How does the state you are in calculate the value of the person(s) killed? Are their punitive damages etc.

It’s really expensive to carry enough insurance to cover a worse case scenario.

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Individual car insurance won’t cover you on a Turo rental. You’d even need specialized commercial insurance… They have specific exclusions for that liability in standard individual or commercial policies. .

Turo has coverage that is tied to how much you make on a rental Detailed explanation of protection plans | US hosts

The “60 plan” covers you pretty well but it’s also just a pain in the ass to deal with claims and the process.

And they take 60% of your money…

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40%… but yes still a big chunk

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  1. Yes, I am assuming you properly form/operate an LLC and get the right business insurance.

  2. Even the 60% plan doesn’t cover you against worse case scenario. It’s only 750k in third party liability insurance. Your renter kills one person and puts another passenger in hospital for a month you are looking at way more than 750k in liability.

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There are ways to attempt to pierce the LLC. Just one example off the top of my head: they claim the floor mats stuck the accelerator and you’re personally responsible because you vacuumed the car. You don’t win any money as a defendant, but it sure can cost a lot of money to “win.” You know all this but the OP who is 18 yrs old may not.

Now someone will claim you can preserve the personal protection from liability by outsourcing every single aspect of this operation. Well, first, watch much or all of your profits evaporate. Second, it doesn’t really cost the plaintiff much to attempt to pierce the LLC. It can cost you a lot to defend it, though.

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I heard that if you have insurance with a decent amount of coverage, then your insurance will send down a lawyer for you.

On a side note, most people can be stuck in that situation if, God forbid you hit someone while driving your personal car. It’s a bigger issue if you have real assets under your name.