You need to get the fact that your insurance will cover anything that is excluded in the policy (like renting out your car). Turo does have some insurance options with Liberty Mutual, however I would not trust that this is a catch all. It is a dangerous game to play (along with swimply or the app that allows you to store other peoples stuff). I am sure that if you read the agreement between you and the tech company behind these type of things you will see you are ultimately on the hook- not them.
Does anyone remember this case? Uber denied liability as no passenger was in the car. Personal insurance company denied liability as the driver was using his personal car for commercial purpose. It was a huge mess.
Not sure if this is relevant, but I was speaking with my State Farm agent, and he told me that even in not such clear cut case’s, like I put my address down as Utah but really live in Jersey, State Farm would still cover, but may raise the premiums.
He also told me (remember he works for State Farm so take it with a grain of salt perhaps) that other companies like Allstate many times don’t cover in those cases.
And let’s get back to what we’re talking about… maybe making a few hundred extra dollars a month and working for it with a lot of risk? Yeah I’ll pass.
There are some entrepreneurs who have built some nice businesses with Turo similar to the way you can do it with airbnb. It’s work. it’s risk. But there’s money to be made. I’ll stick to flipping 4xes while that party still has some punch left in the bowl.
In a lease, the financial company assumes risk of ownership (this is one of the things that makes leasing appealing). So obviously, they’re not willing to increase that risk by offering it up for rent.
With a purchase, you assume all risk of ownership. So you can do as you wish with the car.
While doing insurance shopping, I came across several companies that had the option to list a separate garaging address. I did not try a out of state address, but did use a garaging address in another city.
OP, close friend of mine has been doing Turo from 2018, he leased 2 (more) toyota hybrids in 2021 and renting it on Turo (in Bay area). For business nums, he says he breaks even lease cost on slow / winter months and makes ~2x of his lease cost on busy months. Turo covers the insurance for the rental trips but he did say working with Turo insurance was a painful experience for some small dents/scratches he had to get it fixed. Another important point, he gets the car washed (inside out) after every trip.
My take based on his feedback and efforts so far, its just NOT worth the time and effort for potentially extra 3k-5k annual profits for me.
It sounds like you are armed with a lot of good info and really want to do this. There is a good Turo section on Reddit that has a lot of good info. If you want some real, non-You Tube numbers, the person I know doing it has three people helping and is running around eight cars. Their gross YTD on Turo as of last month was $33k. That is before car payments, insurance, expenses, and paying themselves.
Just a suggestion… might be helpful to find a mentor or a business coach… someone you can bounce things off of that you trust and will work with you through this process. Trying to find workable solutions via internet strangers and subreddits is… hazardous
Having said that, all the best as you work this out. Love the initiative and entrepreneurship you are showing at this age.
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