Side hustles – small jobs or occasional income – are a constant source of fascination and inspiration to me. When I meet someone who tells me they do something “on the side” like dog training, teaching a course through a community center or flipping mid-century modern furniture, I’m always asking for the story of how they got started. Side hustles helped us pay off over $80,000 in debt, continue to help us save a bit extra each year and will likely be part of our retirement plan. Today I’m talking about a side hustle that most of us could easily start earning from today and that requires no special skills or start up money: renting your car out with Turo.
Turo is an on demand peer-to-peer car rental company. Thinks AirBnB but for cars. You might be going away on vacation and instead of having your car sitting in the driveway for a week, you rent it out and cover some of your vacation cost. Or maybe you have a second vehicle that really only gets used during the school year. Rent it out over the holidays and summer to make some extra money. Or maybe, like me, you don’t drive a lot. With my new cargo bike as part of the family transportation plan I’m driving even less. It would be great for our family to have some extra income and have it be something easy that I can do without hiring a babysitter. Renting our car out with Turo would be the ideal fit for me.
How does Turo work?
Car owners sign up and list their vehicle. You’ll need to enter:
- your country (Turo is available in the US and several Canadian provinces)
- make, model and year of your car
- miles/kms on the odometer
- if the transmission is automatic or manual
Next you need to verify your identity with SSN/SIN, drivers license, address history etc. The process is similar to filling out a residential rental application. A few more steps to set where your vehicle is located, license plate number, upload some photos and you’re almost done. Lastly you can enter when the car is available and set your price.
How much will I earn renting my car out with Turo?
You’ll earn around 75% of the rental price with Turo. Turo helps you determine your rental price based on model, year of car and location. In general higher end luxury models in bigger cities rent for the highest prices. You’ll find out what Turo suggests for a rental price once you sign up.
What about insurance and safety? Turo offers the car owners three different levels of insurance. The lower the coverage you choose the higher your earnings. The driver also selects a level of insurance. Turo screens drivers and you can look at a driver’s profile and approve or reject the rental request.
Turo isn’t available yet in my province but as soon as it is, I’m signing up. We need our car less and less these days but don’t want to go car-free until our middle child is in a lighter car seat: a few years and 20 lbs away. But it seems pretty extravagant to have our own vehicle when we only use it occasionally. Renting out it with Turo would be a great option to earn some extra income. I love that it’s extra income I can choose the when and where of and that doesn’t require me to find and pay for a babysitter to do.
Would I use Turo to rent a car myself? Absolutely.
Turo is available in the US and several Canadian provinces right now and I would definitely use it on a trip. One of the big advantage for us is that with Turo we would know the exact make and model of the vehicle we were renting. Car rental agencies only guarantee you a class of vehicle with some suggestions, not guarantees, what make and model it could be.
If you’ve ever booked a car rental for a family of five that has three car seats and ‘international move’ quantity luggage plus a stroller then you know how frustrating it is to not know what vehicle you will receive. Our experience has been pretty terrible with getting a vehicle that fits three car seats and fits a rear facing car seat with tall drivers and passengers. So frustrating to come off a long flight, wait in a long car rental line and then find out your car seats don’t fit in the vehicle they selected for you. With Turo I could look up car models that I know would fit our tall car seat-ed family with room for a stroller and bags. Plus, I love that I would meet the owner before driving the vehicle. Car rental agencies never give you tips about the vehicle you’re getting like if the gas tank release lever is in an unusual spot, how to move the seats to a different configuration and local driving tips but car owners do.
You can sign up to rent your car out with Turo here. It’s free and once you’ve completed the sign up process Turo can tell you exactly how much money you’ll earn renting your car out.
So, would you rent your car out?
P.S This isn’t a sponsored post (I just love this idea!) but I have included affiliate links. If you sign up through the links in this post I will receive a small affiliate commission.
