So…I want to rent a Turo car next week but I am unsure about how the insurance works.
It looks like my personal insurance won’t cover me for a Turo rental, and Turo’s additional rental is 100% of the rental price.
I know others have rented from Turo in the past – am I missing something?
Thanks!
I’ve looked at it too but haven’t actually rented. Our insurance agent wasn’t sure if our plan would cover it so he recommended purchasing coverage from Turo. But, if I remember correctly it was only like $50 for the basic coverage. If you go through the checkout process it will show you the insurance options (before you click confirm).
I really want to try it sometime as picking up rental cars recently has been a giant pain with long waits and cars not ready.
You are wise to figure out insurance RE car rentals. Most insurance for rentals is about damage to the vehicle, not liability coverage, which can end up being extremely costly. You are wise to try sorting this out before renting, to be sure you have no costly gaps in insurance coverage.
I have full coverage through Farmer’s and my agent told me it would not cover me for a Turo rental. She also suggested I search online for stories that warn against Turo, extra charges for “excessive” dirt (car not excessively dirty at return), and owners cancelling at last minute, as well as cars that had mechanical issues (like flat tires) but unlike a “big box” didn’t have a replacement to get the renter back on the road in a timely manner.
I do like the concept of Turo, but not the potential pitfalls.
I am also reluctant to use Turo because of potential problems.
I might use Turo for a short trip, but nothing too elaborate. I didn’t realize there was an insurability issue with Turo, so that makes it all the more likely that I wouldn’t use them.
We’re going on a college road trip shortly. I had already booked a car through Priceline, and I can’t get a lower price than it has. For kicks, I tried the same trip through Costco yesterday, and it was MUCH more expensive. I don’t think there is any one site where you’re guaranteed the lowest prices.
As I’ve suggested before, shop around as much as you can for rental cars. There are decent deals to be had, but you need to look for them. Costco is not always the cheapest, as much as I love Costco for most anything.
Sadly i am not finding anything even halfway reasonable anywhere🙁
If you want to PM me your itinerary, I can try.
Otherwise, try aggregator sites like Priceline, Hotwire, and Kayak. I searched many sites before settling on Priceline a few months ago when we booked the car, and they are still showing up to be reasonable. You can try the single brands (e.g., Hertz, Avis etc), but there has been so much consolidation in the rental car industry, I’m a bit dubious about them. But keep trying!
I’d advise to keep checking for more reasonable rates, book them and then cancel the higher rate reservation. Pre-Covid we saved $100s that way often.
Thanks – I’ve done that in the past. Right now, all the rentals I am seeing are only “Pay now”, with a charge to cancel them.
Maybe because it’s spring break time?
Yikes! Costco has never historically had a pay now nor cancelation fees. Haven’t traveled since 2029, so haven’t kept up.
It might not have been Costco with those fees but they came in at a couple hundred more than I wanted to pay!
I thought this column had some helpful ideas. I had not heard of Autoslash before. Also didn’t know that some Toyota dealer do car rental.