Renting a Car in the U.S?

danger_mouse_tm

Hi all,

As a long term Boards and Adverts user, I would like to tell you about a scheme called Turo which I joined that allows me to rent my private car out to people visiting here in Southwest Florida. Indeed many people across the states have their own cars listed on it. The feedback I have received from people using the service has been extremely positive. No more waiting in line at the rental desk and being upsold GPS, tolls, and fuel. I meet my guests straight at the luggage carousel or right outside the airport door and hand them the keys. As you can imagine, there are a few hoops to jump through to get signed up, but the potential savings and the types of cars available more than make up for the bit of hassle. Here's a link.
A couple of tips: There can be discounts of renting for a week or longer. to get the discount you may have to extend your booking trip to make sure you book for the full seven days. You may also get free delivery so it could work out to get your free shuttle to the hotel and have the car dropped to you there rather than try to navigate out of an airport after a long flight. Any questions, just ask away.

Atlantic Dawn

How does the insurance work?

danger_mouse_tm

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How does the insurance work?

Good question, Atlantic Dawn. From a renter's perspective, you are given a choice at the time of renting how much of a deductible you are willing to pay for any damage that may be done to the vehicle ranging from $500 to $3000. It's important to note that this is all done at the time of booking rather than at the car rental desk where people often get caught out with more expensive policies. You could still try the likes of "blue insurance" to insure yourself against the deductible amount to see if you get a better deal.

I always advise anyone renting a car (from anywhere, not just Turo), just to use common sense. You don't want your holiday ruined by someone hitting the car with a shopping cart, so park smartly, away from other cars if possible. Many cars on Turo have alloy wheels and performance tyres which renters are directly responsible for if they get a puncture.

It might be worth noting that a traditional rental company may also bill you for every day that the car is in a workshop being repaired (as I found out from Sixt car rental).

Finally, from an owner's point of view, Turo will compensate to the cash value of the car if it's stolen or destroyed. I've heard some good reports from an owner who's BMW m3 was taken (and later recovered) and Turo looked after all the repairs and inconveniences.

One question I get asked ALL THE TIME is "what about an extra driver?" There is NO additional charge, but they MUST be pre approved by signing up to the Turo system in the same manner as the first driver. However, the first driver is ultimately responsible and THEY must be the one that takes the keys and hands back the keys. The owner needs only to see the first driver's license.

slave1

Just put in our dates for Orlando this Summer and current rental booked with Sixt 30% cheaper than the cheapest price I could see.....

christeb

That is an excellent site, $33 / day for a 5.7L Dodge Charger in SF!!

I shall be booking something from here in advance of our 2 week trip to SF in June. Thanks OP!

Speedwell

Danger, do you carry commercial insurance on your car? In several states, and I believe Florida is one, the insurance company can refuse to pay a dime if they find you're using your car for commercial purposes while you are on non-commercial insurance.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2013/10/15/beware-the-liability-of-sharing-your-car-with-strangers/

A more recent writeup pertaining to "rideshare" services (Florida is not yet on the "offered" list):

https://www.policygenius.com/blog/uber-lyft-and-other-rideshare-drivers-now-have-insurance-options/

Evidently Turo have something like their own coverage, but it is prudent to look into whether it covers you in each case:

https://turo.com/insurance

In all cases, renters from rideshare and other services must verify they are properly covered by the owner's insurance, liability and medical issues being what they are in the US. I don't see any provision for medical coverage, specifically, in the Turo offering for owners, and the "coverage" that renters purchase from Turo leaves renters still personally liable for 100 percent of the potential costs. Turo allows renters to purchase insurance for medical costs to the other party, but specifically declines to cover for injury to the renter or anyone else in the same car, or covers only to the (woefully inadequate) legal minimum.

danger_mouse_tm

slave1 wrote: »

Just put in our dates for Orlando this Summer and current rental booked with Sixt 30% cheaper than the cheapest price I could see.....

I went ahead with sixt a few months ago when we flew into Minnesota for 5 days. I think it was close on 20 dollars a day plus tax. I would have gone with Turo except we were arriving late and leaving very early so I decided since there was so little difference in the price we would just go with Sixt.

I think we played 150 dollars online. We flew into msp and found an empty Sixt desk with a phone to call their office a few miles away and they send a van to collect us. At their office they insisted that we hire a booster seat for our 5 year old @ 10 dollars a day. We were also advised to prepay for fuel as it was cheaper. We declined extra insurance.
When we returned we had to pay all the above plus energy charge of 2 dollars a day, 10 dollars vehicle surcharge, 11.11% destination airport charge and 15% sales tax. All in 250 dollars.
Still it was a nice new car but I like yo know beforehand what I'm paying.