As prices plunge, big issues surface that Hawaii visitors should take note of when renting from Turo.
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40 thoughts on “Turo Hits Huge Headwinds in Hawaii: Renters Beware”
As prices plunge, big issues surface that Hawaii visitors should take note of when renting from Turo.
Turo has a tool they call the Carculator (car calculator) which estimates the ROI (return on investment) for a given car in a given market. Thye look at the finance cost per year and the revenue (in a given market) and tell you, the potential Turo operator, what kind of ROI to expect. The estimate is based on 7 rental days/month. Not the 15+ days this article implies.
Yes, there are risks for both the renter and the Turo car owner, but this still looks like another hit job by Beat of Hawaii against Turo.
Another hazard of using Turo is that your auto insurance will not cover you in the event you have an accident or the car is somehow damaged. Found that out the hard way when we used Turo on Kaua’i. You must buy the insurance offered through Turo which adds another $30-$40/day to your rate. Insurance companies won’t cover personal autos used in a retail capacity. We have GEICO, so very reputable. Please check with your company before you engage Turo. Best bet: stick with established rental companies.
yes 1st whats a Turo?
Won’t be renting from Turo as our neighbor has 5 vehicles he rents out. They are frequently parked on our street leaving no where for the other neighbors to park. I’ve already called and written letters to city and county government about it. Locals already can’t find homes to rent due to AirBnB, soon we won’t have our own streets to park on. Limit number of cars they can lease at a minimum!
Put a vehicle on Turo and earn some extra cash
Turo hosts should know better than to take up parking that others need just so that they can park there cars when but rented, it definitely could be an issue. In what area do you live that someone would do that? I know it’s been a problem I’ve seen it on the news. Some people are just trying to make it, I know turo host are making a bunch if $ in fact I know some who barely make their payments . Did you try talking to the person before trying to get them towed or something?
Just reading the comments on this subject seems most posters have had a positive experience with Turo rentals. It’s probably no different than individuals who have a positive experience with Uber they no how to use it and it works for them.
If you’re concerned about a Turo rental than double book a rental car using Costco Travel. There’s no up front payment with Costco and there isn’t a no show fee.
One more thing I’ve been in the car business for 50 years I’ve never seen a bank repo a private party vehicle do to it being used for commercial use.
Hi Richard.
Do a search for Turo repossessions and you’ll start to see what is being reported.
Aloha.
So I did the research saw the video from Ally Bank, by the way Ally bank used to be GMAC financing, but have not seen or read many posts about this happening in any volume. Most of what I read had to do with lack of payment not commercial use of the vehicle.
In California during the pandemic there’s been a moratorium on repossession of vehicles which has recently been lifted. It lasted for 2 plus years, so you’d believe there would be an uptick in vehicle repossessions.
Do to the paper work and large fees associated with repossessing vehicles if your payment is current the likely hood that your car is going to be repossessed for not honoring terms of the contract is slim at best, but we’ll see we are living in the spicy times.
Hi Richard.
Thanks. We’re referring any such future issues too you. Appreciate your nearly 300 comments.
Aloha.
only reason a bank will repo a car, is for nonpayment. If someone doesn’t carry insurance, they’ll notify you then force place insurance which only protects the bank, the car is owned by the bank until its paid off. However if you rent from a rental car agency and don’t buy their insurance, you are not covered under your own policy should the car be wrecked and out of service for any amount of time. My insurance agent said to purchase that type of insurance online for loss of use. who knew!
| Are you still using Turo Hawaii rentals, or has that changed?
More relevant question: Are we still “using” Hawai‘i?
Answer: No.
But locals have made it clear that they’re happier that way, so all is good.
I just recently went on a trip to Oahu from Kauai. I rented a Turo vehicle. He dropped off the vehicle at the airport just outside of baggage claim. Was the best experience I’ve ever had. All the way till the drop off 7 days later.
Meanwhile my stepdad works part time at a car rental agency in Lihue. People are waiting from 1-2.5 hours to get their car. Big companies don’t care about there wait. I also know that when a battery dies or a tire goes flat with a rental company vehicle, good luck getting another car! Maybe 5 hours later. Doesn’t happen with Turo. I suggest just renting a Turo from a A+ rated person with all star reviews. I’ll never rent from a car company again.
FYI: While in-between flights on our way to Maui I found out that my auto insurance would not cover me when renting from Turo. Although Turo is an established app for finding rentals I was actually renting from an unlicensed private source. I was glad my host tipped me off to this and gladly paid for the Turo insurance. Look into it before you decline the Turo insurance option.
You didn’t even touch on one of the most important points!! The fact is that these Turo owners crowd our suburban streets with their rental cars and we don’t have the street space for our own guests!! They are essentially using the city streets that we pay for with our taxes as their business space!! Why isn’t the government tackeling this? The car rental companies are paying a lot to lease the lots where their cars are stored. This is not fair.
I can only atest to my dealings with Turo and those that I dealt with. In February 2022 we rented through a Turo participant. The vehicle was 3 years old and in Great Condition. It was Everything that we were expecting and found the Owner very easy to work with. We rented the vehicle for 18 days without any problems and paid $32.00 per day, 3500 miles for free. With an Island the size of Oahu that was more miles than we would use and we do plenty of driving exploring. Pickup and Drop Off were easy and prearranged for our convenience and flight arrival and departure. BOH, Your Warnings and Cautions are appreciated, possibly our good fortune was due to dealing directly with the Owner of the vehicle and not vehicles that are financed. Be wary!
Hi Ernie.
Thanks for sharing your Turo experience on Oahu. We too haven’t encountered any issues when we rented last year. Things are changing quickly, as we honestly thought would be the case at some point.
Aloha.