Mike K's all Things Turo Thread

Mike K

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I would bet that a lot of financing and/or lease agreements have clauses that prohibit the cars being used for Business purposes. Turo included. The Credit Union I work for, for instance, won't finance a car for anyone intending to use it for Uber/Lyft, etc.

I'd love to see how you guys enforce that. If they want to stipulate in a lease that I can't rent the car out that's one thing but even then, they're trusting that I'm taking full responsibility for their asset so it's really my business. But for a car I'm financing? lol, go eat a D. Well not you, but you know what I'm saying.
 

Mike K

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shit. a salvage title vehicle would be perfect for this.

low intro price. people driving it wouldn't know any different. etc.

They don't take salvage cars on the platform though. :-( I mean, as far as I can tell they don't verify that a car is or isn't salvaged but they say in their TOS that they are forbidden which means that in the event someone is in an accident that requires them taking the title (total loss) they're going to tell you to pound sand.
 

Mike K

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So in the interest of full disclosure, I had my first issue today. Kid drops the car off at the valet lot at 1:00pm on an 85 degree day. I get there at 7:00 tonight and step into the car and it smells like someone was hotboxing in it 10 minutes ago. In the report I got from Turo this afternoon it "passed" for smell of smoke. I'm not sure how. As I'm there I ask the attendant to come smell the car. He pops his head in and is like "Oh yeah that's weed" and says he'll note it with his manager.

At first I'm ticked that the kid would do this in my car but more annoyed than pissed and I was just willing to write it off. So I put the windows down and drive to the store to pick up some organic gummy bears for my kid's school because it's LA so of course I am.

I get back out to the car and it still smells terrible. I get home and tell my wife to go out and give it a smell. She pops her head in and says the same thing as the Turo guy. It's not exactly dissipating and I'm a bit more upset now.

So I send the kid a message and I'm waiting to see what Turo will do. Turo says it's an automatic $250 fine, payable to me, if there's evidence of smoking. The kid shoots back a message to me, basically admits to smoking weed in the car but says he pulled over before dropping it off and must have done a poor job of letting the smell dissipate. This isn't the smell of someone taking a quick hit though.

I don't know what to do. On the one hand it's a dopey college kid that returned the car otherwise fine and even fully charged. On the other hand, the smell isn't going away and it's pretty obnoxious that I have to deal with figuring out how to get rid of it. Seems like common courtesy not to smoke in someone's Corolla let alone someone's $130,000 luxury car.

What say you TCG? Do I wait and see if the smell dissipates and let him off the hook or do I report it to Turo? He's already admitted to it so it's a default $250 in my favor.
 

Mike K

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In other news, I received two more reservations for this month bringing the total to something like $1,400. Most of these people are reserving last minute so I kind of think I'll get to $1600 - $1700 net no problem.

In other other news, in the Turo valet lot was a Ferrari California, a few Bentleys and at least 3 - 4 Model 3's. It really seems that if you can swallow the ownership of an expensive car, that's where the money is. A 911 really looks appealing as you can pick them up for $50,000ish and they rent for $250 -$300 a day.

Give me some baller on a budget cars. Stuff that has the perception of being high end but that's pretty cheap. I'm loving the Porsche Cayman, BMW convertibles (likely a 4 series) or even another Tesla since I know the maintenance costs are fixed. The guy at the lot said Mercedes C300's are really popular as well as current gen Corvettes too.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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They don't take salvage cars on the platform though. :-( I mean, as far as I can tell they don't verify that a car is or isn't salvaged but they say in their TOS that they are forbidden which means that in the event someone is in an accident that requires them taking the title (total loss) they're going to tell you to pound sand.

a car can be a total loss and the owner can keep the title.
 

FESTER665

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What say you TCG? Do I wait and see if the smell dissipates and let him off the hook or do I report it to Turo? He's already admitted to it so it's a default $250 in my favor.

How long do you have to make the claim to get the money and possibly need to spend it on having the interior detailed?

Id say if you can wait to see if the next renter complains about the smell then file. If not, just never rent to that clown again.
 

Mike K

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a car can be a total loss and the owner can keep the title.

How so? I thought if a car is a total loss they take the title and auction the car?

How long do you have to make the claim to get the money and possibly need to spend it on having the interior detailed?

Id say if you can wait to see if the next renter complains about the smell then file. If not, just never rent to that clown again.

24 hours but it's not the next renter I'm worried about. It's me. The car smells bad. Even this morning it smells as strong as it did yesterday.

Tell the kid to paypal you half and call it a day?

I re-read his message to me last night and he didn't admit to smoking in the car. What he did admit to was making a stop before dropping the car off and said that the odor probably carried into the car with him but that can't be true. My friends have made a couple "stops" at pot dispensaries and they always smoke you up and they've never smelled strongly of weed when coming back to the car, certainly not enough that it would smell a day later.

Hey Dylan. So I’m in a bit of a pickle. When I first got in the car I was annoyed but not upset. I figured it would dissipate. Turo’s lot attendant smelled the car, chuckled and said oh yeah, that’s weed.

Where I started getting concerned is when I took the car to go shopping and I came back out to it and the smell was just as strong. But I put the windows down, figured I’d wait until this morning and get back to you. I just checked it and it’s just as bad. This doesn’t smell like someone went somewhere and carried a lingering odor in with them. It smells like someone was smoking or vaping in the car. Lingering odors don’t stick around.

It’s not my intent to take you over the coals here but I need for my car not to smell like weed. It’s not a good look when I’m taking clients out. Turo only gives me 24 hours to report any kind of issues. I’m going to report this because I have to in that 24 hour window but I am also going to have a look on the internet to see if there is anything cheap/ easy I can do to get the smell out myself. If there is, then I will gladly tell turo that I was able to manage it.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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How so? I thought if a car is a total loss they take the title and auction the car?


:nope:

depends on the situation and state.
[MENTION=1983]Outlaw[/MENTION] still has his totalled yukon and the title to it, and got paid for it.

in illinois you can buy back vehicles 7 years or older or something like that.

if this happens, the title will never leave your possession.
 

Mike K

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:nope:

depends on the situation and state.

[MENTION=1983]Outlaw[/MENTION] still has his totalled yukon and the title to it, and got paid for it.

in illinois you can buy back vehicles 7 years or older or something like that.

if this happens, the title will never leave your possession.

Oh ok yeah, I knew about that. I thought you were talking about something else. It wouldn't apply to anything I'm buying for sure. And I imagine Turo's insurance company would look for every out possible before paying up. I don't think it's a risk I'd want to take.

On a side note, I have a buddy who had a 1991 Taurus SHO, totalled it, got a check for $2800 from State Farm and then bought the car back for $26 at which point we parted it out for another few thousand. He used that money to buy another 1993 SHO that had spent it's life in Georgia. So it's paint had turned from a deep red to a pink. He proceeded to rear end a Lexus at which point State Farm totalled THAT SHO, gave him a $4,000 check and allowed him to buy it back for an equally cheap amount. He used that money to get it fixed and repainted and pocketed $2,000. It was a good couple years. :rofl:
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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Oh ok yeah, I knew about that. I thought you were talking about something else. It wouldn't apply to anything I'm buying for sure. And I imagine Turo's insurance company would look for every out possible before paying up. I don't think it's a risk I'd want to take.

On a side note, I have a buddy who had a 1991 Taurus SHO, totalled it, got a check for $2800 from State Farm and then bought the car back for $26 at which point we parted it out for another few thousand. He used that money to buy another 1993 SHO that had spent it's life in Georgia. So it's paint had turned from a deep red to a pink. He proceeded to rear end a Lexus at which point State Farm totalled THAT SHO, gave him a $4,000 check and allowed him to buy it back for an equally cheap amount. He used that money to get it fixed and repainted and pocketed $2,000. It was a good couple years. :rofl:

what'd you think i meant? :rofl:
 

FESTER665

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Mike K - Man, Turo is great, you can make money renting out your car and drive it for free a few days each month when it's not rented.

Also Mike K - some bastard stunk up my Tesla with weed!

:rofl:

I would think it should tone down faster than it is, but you may need to try some products in order to have it rentable for the next guy.
 

Mike K

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Apr 11, 2008
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idontthinkyoushoulddothat.jpeg

i just still wonder if you could buy a salvage title vehicle and get it past turro and have it rented out

renters would be none the wiser.

The juice just isn't worth the squeeze for me. A salvage title Z4 is $14,000 whereas a clean title car is $18,000. $4,000 is worth the piece of mind for me. And if that person wrecks the car or goes over a sidewalk GTA style and takes out a bunch of hookers I don't want it falling on me because I needed to save a few thousand dollars.
 

Mike K

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Apr 11, 2008
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Mike K - Man, Turo is great, you can make money renting out your car and drive it for free a few days each month when it's not rented.

Also Mike K - some bastard stunk up my Tesla with weed!

:rofl:

I would think it should tone down faster than it is, but you may need to try some products in order to have it rentable for the next guy.

Yeah I'm really surprised at how pungent it still is. I mean he's full of crap when he says they didn't smoke in the car.
 

Yaj Yak

Gladys
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The juice just isn't worth the squeeze for me. A salvage title Z4 is $14,000 whereas a clean title car is $18,000. $4,000 is worth the piece of mind for me. And if that person wrecks the car or goes over a sidewalk GTA style and takes out a bunch of hookers I don't want it falling on me because I needed to save a few thousand dollars.

well you already said you weren't relying on your insurance so what's the difference at that point :rofl:
 
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