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Renting a car has become expensive and major rental companies may not have the car you want. Enter car-sharing services, which allow people to rent out their cars to others who need a ride. The transaction is carried out through an app, where the renter selects the car he wants and makes arrangements to pick it up. Typically, the renter pays less than they would from a rental car company, and the car owner is paid for the use of their car, which might otherwise have just been sitting on the road.
Getaround and Turo are two car sharing apps. Here’s what you need to know about each.
You behave around
Getaround is available in 250 US cities and 850 cities worldwide. They are working hard to add hosts to their platform and encourage hosts to rent multiple cars, or even start a car sharing business using Getaround.
The guests
When you book a car on Getaround, you will have a choice of vehicles that are available. For example, you can reserve a 2018 Chevy Cruze for 24 hours in Salt Lake City, Utah, for $60.47. Sounds like a good deal, but don’t forget the fees. There are many of them.
You will pay 40% commission on all trips, in addition to the hourly, daily or weekly rate for the car. Visitors pay this directly to Getaround. So if you reserve that car for $60.47, you’ll pay $84.66, $24.19 of which goes to Getaround. The commission includes the platform itself, insurance, roadside assistance, etc.
There is also a booking fee for each journey and extension. It is a percentage of the trip price and is subject to change. There is a license fee for each first time booking or for each change to your licence.
If you are under 25, you will pay an additional fee based on your age. You will pay:
- 75% of the travel price if you are 19 years old
- 45% of the travel price if you are 20 years old
- 25% of the travel price if you are 21 years old
- 15% of the travel price if you are 22 years old
- 10% of the travel price if you are 23 years old
- 5% of the trip price if you are 24 years old
If you cancel your booking within 24 hours of the start time, you may pay a cancellation fee of 50% of the trip price.
If you return the car dirty, you may be charged a $70 cleaning fee.
You are awarded 20 miles per hour of travel, up to a maximum of 200 miles in any 24-hour period. If you exceed this, you will be charged $0.50 per mile for the miles you travel.
If you are in an accident, there is other damage, or the car is stolen during your tip, you may be required to pay a damage fee of up to $3,000. This fee can be reduced if you purchase a protection plan.
If you lose or damage a Getaround key, you will be required to pay the cost to replace the key, plus a $100.00 key fee.
host
Getaround offers guaranteed average monthly earnings based on the make, model and year of your car, where you are located, and whether you will be renting your car daily or just on weekends.
For example, if you drive a 2016 Chevy Cruze and live in the Atlanta metro area, you’re guaranteed to earn $775 in August if your car is available full-time, or $250 if it’s only available on weekends. Plus, you can get a 15% boost to your earnings if you maintain average feedback of 4.5 or higher and another 10% when you enable Drive with Uber, which means you’ll let Uber drivers to rent your car.
Getaround actively encourages hosts to rent multiple cars and even start their own car sharing business where they make a living by renting out a fleet of vehicles.
Host fees
Hosts pay a one-time setup fee for Getaround Connect, the device that allows guests to unlock your car with their phone. It’s $99. You will then pay a monthly fee based on the number of cars you share.
- For a car, you’ll pay $20 a month.
- For 2-9 cars, you’ll pay $18 per month, per car.
- For 10-49 cars, you’ll pay $15 per month, per car
- For 50-99 cars, you’ll pay $12 per month, per car.
- For 100 or more cars, you’ll pay $10 per month, per car.
If you remove a car from in-app service and do not return the Connect, you may be charged $500.00.
If your Connect is uninstalled by a mechanic or someone else, you may be charged $150.00 to reinstall it.
If a host cancels a trip, they may be charged $25.00 if it is less than 24 hours before the trip starts, $50.00 if it is less than one hour before the trip starts, and $100.00 if you are a no-show .
Teaching
Turo bills itself as “the world’s largest car-sharing marketplace” and is available in more areas than Getaround. The price also seems to be a bit more affordable, but that can depend on a number of factors, such as your location and the car you choose.
The guests
At Turo, you can rent a 2021 Toyota Corolla for a day for $59 in Boston. Or, you could pay $106 for a 2021 Tesla Model 3 for one day. You can have the car delivered to you, which is a nice feature if you’re renting because your car is in the repair shop, for example.
Turo charges a ride fee, which is a percentage of the ride price and is variable, based on the value of the car, the length of the ride, how far in advance you book and other factors. You will see the travel fee at the checkout.
You can buy a protection plan that will cover you in case of an accident. The minimum plan is 15% of the price of a trip that is over $25, or 25% of the price of a trip that is less than $250. The standard plan is 40% of the trip price, and the main plan is 65-100% of the trip price. You can decline the protection plan, but you will be responsible for any theft or damage, including bodily injury. Your personal auto insurance, if you have it, would pay first and your Turo protection plan would cover any excess costs up to the policy limits.
Turo charges fees for things like cancellation within 24 hours, cleaning, gas if the car is not returned full, etc.
host
Hosts earn a percentage of the trip price plus distance and late return surcharges. This percentage is what Turo refers to as the “take rate” and it varies depending on the protection plan you choose, but ranges from 60% to 90%. Hosts also get 100% or refundable amounts for things like missing fuel, tickets, tolls, cleaning fees, etc.
Hosts will charge fees for things like cancellations, no-shows, cleaning policy violations, misrepresenting your vehicle, etc.
The final take
Turo and Getaround both bring the peer-to-peer rental model to cars, just as Airbnb has done to accommodations. Whether you’re a renter or renting your car, the best way to determine which one is best may be to try them out and see what you think.
FAQ
- Are Getaround and Turo the same?
- They are different companies but have similar business models. Both allow individuals to rent out their cars when they are not using them and get paid for it.
- Why is Getaround so expensive?
- Getaround charges you to rent a host’s car and then adds fees, including a commission, a booking fee, etc. There are also fees if you cancel, if you exceed the mileage limit or if you are younger than 25. The fees can really add up, so make sure you know exactly what you’ll be paying before you confirm your order.
- Can I rent my car on Turo and Getaround?
- You can rent your car on any of these platforms, but not on both at the same time. You must indicate the availability of your machine when you register with the host and you will run the risk of having two simultaneous or overlapping requests. When you agree to host, you agree to use that platform only.
- Do you make more money on Turo or Getaround?
- This may depend on where you are, what type of car you are renting and how available your car is. That said, Getaround has some attractive bonuses for hosts at the moment, including a bonus for registering a new car and rewards for getting good reviews.
Information is correct as of August 16, 2022.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity involved in this article. Any opinion, analysis, review, evaluation or recommendation expressed in this article is solely the author’s and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity mentioned in this article.