Car Sharing: Earn money renting your car with Turo while travelling

How to make your car profitable during a trip of several weeks abroad? That’s the question Meriem and Clément asked themselves before flying off to Europe.

Rather than leave their 2021 Tesla-branded vehicle – in good condition – prked in the garage, they turned to the sharing economy, also known as the peer-to-peer economy, in the image of the Californian company Airbnb.

Being abroad, we found it a great opportunity to amortize our monthly car payments, instead of losing money.

The couple were immediately won over by Turo‘s “user-friendliness” and “simplicity of use”, as the company’s business plan overturns traditional car rental agencies.

You make your own rental conditions to suit your purpose. You can even limit your car’s mileage. In the event of damage, Turo takes care of everything. A big plus for peace of mind

The company entered the Canadian market in 2016. According to Turo, renting cars between private individuals via this platform “generally costs 30% less than traditional car rental”.

The process for accessing rental services is very simple. Registration is free, and takes just ten minutes. For your convenience, your rental offer will also be displayed on the Turo app.

The vehicle owner can determine the cost of the rental or let Turo‘s algorithm set the price according to several criteria, including the time of the year and the type of vehicle.

Turo’s system makes intelligent price recommendations to optimize your rental chances. But it’s the owner who makes the final decision on the price of their car.

When a customer makes a reservation, you need to confirm the pick-up details with them. Being abroad, the couple called on one of their family members.

This required a certain amount of logistics when handing over the keys, as well as during the assessment. Car cleaning is also required between rentals.

As you can see, it’s best to have someone on hand to take care of this part, especially if you’re traveling abroad for a long time.

Turo ‘s service allows owners to earn 75% of the rental price. Your income is sent by direct deposit within three days of the end of the car rental.

During their trip from August 29 to October 15, 2023, Meriem and Clément rented their car three times for varying lengths of time on this rental site: three weeks, one week and three days. In the end, the couple raised around $1300.

This sum enabled us to pay off two months’ fixed costs on our leased car.

As with any rental service, the couple advise interested parties to read Turo‘s terms and conditions carefully, but also to check the details of their rental contract. If you are leasing your vehicle, are you allowed to rent it out?

While profitability is a given, don’t lose sight of the fact that your vehicle is not immune to material damage.

In fact, the couple experienced this first-hand, as their Tesla suffered a few scratches. Hence the importance of a meticulous inspection at the end of the rental period to detect any damage to your vehicle.

There are risks, but we’ve been reassured with the claims process since Turo does all the legwork. The platform handled the claims process for our vehicle very well.

The verdict? The couple will not hesitate to repeat the experience via this rental site on their next trip.

Since its launch in Canada, more than 1.2 million Canadians have registered with the car-sharing platform, which was founded in the USA in 2009, according to Turo.

One of the best credit cards in Canada forgas purchases is the SimplyCash^® Preferred Card from American Express. You get 4% cash back on gas. As for the BMO^® CashBack^® World Elite Mastercard^®*, it offers 3% on gas.

To reduce your bill, have you considered buying gift cards ? If your credit card offers more points when you shop at the grocery store, buy gas station gift cards.

In mid-November, Turo announced that the French car-sharing company OuiCar is now operating under its brand in France.

This integration follows the announcement that the American platform would acquire OuiCar in May 2022.

Turo is now present in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.