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Turo car sharing is essentially Airbnb for cars. Turo has a network of hosts around the world. Customers can book cars from these hosts and even have them delivered to their location.
Turo cars do not have to be returned to the same location. When the first trip is booked, the return location is automatically set to be the same as the pick-up location. However, once the customer has the car and has begun their trip, they can submit a request for a change of return location.
In order to learn more about Turo's services and how to properly return a Turo vehicle, keep reading!
Submitting a location change request for a vehicle
In order to return a Turo vehicle to a location other than where it was originally picked up, users must submit the request through either Turo's app or its website. After the location change request is submitted, the host (Turo's name for the users sharing their vehicles) has up to 8 hours to approve or deny the request.
The approval/denial time is shortened if the user's trip is shorter than 8 hours. The driver must return the vehicle to the original pick-up location if the request is denied. A new area needs to be either within the host's vehicle pick-up range or at one of their areas where they already offer pick-up.
The more experienced a renter is with using Turo, the more likely it is that the hosts will be willing to make exceptions. Although there are still those whose pickup and drop-off location has to remain completely solid
Turo Hosts and their pickup locations
Turo is a peer-to-peer car rental service. This means that people are lending out and borrowing each other's personal vehicles. It also means that when the cars are returned far away, they must take time out of their day to fetch them. Generally, hosts will have their pickup and drop-off locations fairly close to home. However, there are some who will allow farther away drop-off locations for an additional fee.
Some hosts rent out cars in areas far from where they live through a third party. If this is the case, this host would much less willing or even able to change the drop-off request. With the third party involved, the communication between the owner of the car and the potential renter becomes like a game of telephone.
Sometimes hosts will meet the renters in person to hand off the car. According to Turo's guidelines, the host cannot ask the renter to drive them home. If a host ever does so, Turo asks that the renters report the host's actions to them through either the app or the website.
vehicle Pickup Fees and how they change
The pick-up fee is the combined cost of the pick-up and drop-off for the Turo vehicle. Not all pick-up and drop-off locations have fees. If users originally select an area with a pick-up fee and later choose one without a pick-up fee, then a refund will be sent to them via whatever payment method they provided to Turo.
The host is responsible for informing the renter about any parking or other additional fees that may be involved in obtaining their Turo vehicle. The host must also make it clear whether they are handling the parking fee if the renter is responsible for the parking fee. If the renter has to pay any additional parking fees, and their host did not disclose it in the “Description” field of the vehicle listing, then the renter should save the receipt and contact a Turo billing agent for a parking fee refund.
If the host is covering the parking fee, then there are 2 different ways that it can be taken care of. The host can send the renter a message in Turo informing them that they will be covering the parking fees themselves and will be reimbursing the renter at the end of their trip. In this case, save the parking receipt and send a conversation picture to a billing agent. The other way the host can take care of the parking fee is by leaving enough cash hidden somewhere in the vehicle and telling the renter where it's located.
The host leaving cash to cover parking fees is the only situation within Turo where cash exchange is acceptable. Turo operates under a gray market policy. One Turo host's cautionary advice to another:
Side tip DO NOT accept cash for deliveries/changes as Turo will refuse to pay for any damages/changes because you violated their terms and confitions.
– Aleki23
Courtesy
The best policy when borrowing the belongings of others (whether or not you're paying money to do so) is to return it better than you got it. Turo has a system where hosts and renters can rate each other. A good way to receive a higher rating from your host is to return everything cleaned out and full of gas. If a host tells other hosts that you respected their property, more hosts are likely to trust you, which could make it easier to change locations or be trusted with beautiful cars.
Airport vehicle returns
Turo has pickup agreements with several airports and train depots that allow them to have pickup areas. Generally, there is no parking fee for these airport dropoffs. However, there are restrictions on where Turo pick-ups or drop-offs can occur.
Turo renters and/or hosts cannot:
- Park in an EG charging space or parking space
- Wash the car on airport property
- Pick up or drop off Turo cars at the loading and unloading areas.
The airport is considered a relatively logical, safe, neutral zone to exchange the rental car. Especially if the host lives near it. It's not paranoid about being cautious. One Reddit user, who is also a Toru host, expressed his thoughts about using the train station. “I do it all the time. There's a train depot near me where they'll pick up the cars and drop them off at the airport and visa-versa.”
