Own a vehicle but seem to never touch it?
Shelling out a monthly payment for a vehicle that’s collecting dust in your driveway?
What’s the point?
Well, as it turns out, you can sign up to make money off your vehicle instead of letting it turn into a rust bucket.
And Turo just might be the ticket.
Turo is a car-sharing company that gives you the opportunity to make money from renting out your vehicle.
You won’t need to drive for a rideshare company like Uber or Lyft — you just need to sign up and let others rent your vehicle.
Sounds pretty convenient, right?
In this article, we’ll go over how you can put your vehicle on Turo in six easy steps.
By the end of the process, you’ll have one more way to make money on the side without expending much effort.
What Is Turo?
Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace that enables you to make money renting your vehicle to other drivers.
The Turo app makes it possible for car owners to list their vehicle on a rental platform, find potential renters, and get paid all through one app.
This car-sharing service is unlike your traditional car rental company.
Think of it as the Airbnb of rental cars.
The platform is free to use and makes it incredibly easy to find renters who are willing to rent your vehicle when you’re not using it.
This additional cash can help you pay your monthly car bill or just put some extra cash in your pocket.
Turo was founded in 2010 in Boston — now based out of San Francisco — and is now available in over 50 countries.
Since then, it has grown to over 10 million users with more than 350,000 rental vehicles available on the platform.
The service allows you to set your rental availability, mileage limit, rental price, or opt for dynamic pricing.
When a renter reserves your car, you have the option of meeting them to drop off your vehicle, getting your vehicle delivered to their location, or remotely unlocking your vehicle from wherever you are.
You can be assured that your vehicle is in good hands since all renters are screened before joining Turo.
Your vehicle is also protected by $1 million in liability insurance coverage through Liberty Mutual.
You’ll even receive your car back with a full tank of fuel after the rental is complete.
Listing your vehicle takes only 10 minutes.
Once it’s listed, you can start making money off your vehicle in no time — just follow these six steps.
1. Meet Turo Requirements
In all rental regions, Turo allows gas, hybrid, or electric vehicles that can carry eight or fewer passengers.
In some places — but not all — you can even rent your truck, cargo van, specialty vehicles, or classic cars.
Turo doesn’t allow motorcycles, RVs, and other select vehicles that can be found on this page.
Turo has an exclusivity policy, which means you can only list your vehicle on their platform.
You can receive fines and penalties if your vehicle is hosted on other rental sites.
Your vehicle must meet all of the following requirements to be listed on Turo:
- Unique Vehicle Identification Number
- Registered in the United States, except New York
- No more than 12 years old
- Vehicle is insured
- Fair market value of up to $150,000
- Fewer than 130,000 miles
- Clean title
- Has never been totaled
- Follows maintenance guidelines
If your vehicle meets all of these requirements, you can head to the Turo website and click on the “Sign Up” button on the top right corner.
From there you’ll need to list all the required information.
2. List Your Vehicle
Listing your vehicle on Turo is quick and easy and takes about 10 minutes.
First, you’ll need to provide some of your personal information and your vehicle details to set up your account.
The sign-up process requires you to provide the following information:
- Driver’s license
- Address
- Last four digits of your SSN
- Photo of yourself
- Valid car insurance
- License plate number
- Vehicle make, model, and year
- VIN
After you’ve provided this basic information, you’ll need to upload pictures and a description of your vehicle.
Your vehicle description should be detailed so the renter knows exactly what they’re getting.
One photo of your vehicle is the minimum.
However, it’s recommended that you include several shots of both the interior and exterior.
Having high-quality photos will help your vehicle stand out and show renters how nice it is.
You can even sign up to get free professional photographs taken by Turo.
3. Set Your Price
This is where you set the price to rent your car.
You can manually set your own price or you can do automatic pricing.
Dynamic pricing can be an advantage because it will fluctuate depending on factors like the location, local events, and overall demand.
There’s also a Carculator that helps you figure out a price if you want to set your own.
Additionally, you can provide extra amenities for a certain price.
These could be things like prepaid fuel, unlimited mileage, post-trip cleaning, or the option to have a one-way trip.
You can allow renters to reserve your vehicle at a discount if they would like to rent for an entire week or month.
All of these pricing options will help you make more money on every rental.
4. Manage Your Vehicle Bookings
You’ll then set your vehicle’s availability for prospective renters to see.
Turo gives you the option to meet the renter in person, have your car delivered, or remotely unlock it from a different location.
You can also allow renters to book instantly without you confirming the reservation.
If you don’t enable automatic booking, you’ll have eight hours to approve the rental after you receive a notification within the app.
When you confirm a rental, you’ll need to verify the renter’s driver’s license before they take your vehicle.
If this is in person, then you can take a look at their license at the pick-up location.
If you’re remotely renting out your vehicle, then you can have the renter upload pictures of their valid driver’s license.
You should also verify the condition of your vehicle beforehand.
Look around at the cleanliness and take any pictures of pre-existing damage or scratches.
This will help you later if you ever run into problems with a renter.
When the driver is finished with your vehicle, they’ll return it to the designated drop-off point.
You’ll get paid after the completion of their trip.
5. Get Paid
After the rental is complete, you’ll be paid 30 minutes afterwards by Turo.
You should expect to wait for one to three business days for these funds to officially transfer over via direct deposit or PayPal.
If you have a long rental, like a week or a month, you’ll be paid back in weekly installments rather than all at once.
You’ll be paid 65% to 90% of the trip cost depending on the specifics of each rental.
If you offer extras, you’ll be compensated at a higher percentage.
Turo also offers additional insurance options and protection plans which will take away from your total earnings.
When your vehicle is returned, check to see if there is any damage.
You’ll have 24 hours to report any damage that occurred during the rental.
You’ll receive 100% of the reimbursements for vehicle damages, cleaning charges, tolls, tickets, and more.
6. Maintain Your Vehicle
Once you’re up and running and making money off your vehicle, it will be imperative that you maintain your vehicle’s condition.
This will include routine maintenance and regular cleaning.
If a rider reports that your vehicle is damaged, dirty, or misleading from your listing, you can be temporarily restricted from the platform.
You should seek out routine maintenance checks from ASE-certified mechanics to avoid any account cancellations.
Use this maintenance form and specification sheet when taking your vehicle in to get checked up at your local mechanic.
Car Ownership on the Cheap
The beauty of the sharing economy is that you can take the material possessions you already own (but don’t use often) and turn them into income-generating machines.
Turo is an incredibly easy way to make extra money off your vehicle when it’s not in use.
Sign up for Turo and start making money today.
If you’re interested in another car-sharing service, then make sure to check out our guide Getaround for even more money-making ideas.
