Car Rental Companies or Turo?

Ever heard of Turo!? I hadn’t either! A recent trip called for my first Tesla experience, which equated to my first Turo experience. Now that I have tried both for myself, I can safely say I recommend a car rental company :)

My cute boyfriend next to the Tesla we rented through Turo in Seattle :)

On my most recent trips, I have tried both renting a car and using Turo. Both are great options for ways to travel, but after my experiences, I would highly recommend getting a normal rental car over renting from Turo.

I took a trip last year to Seattle and needed a rental car for part of the week. My boyfriend, Vince, is big into Tesla and had rented one a couple other times through Turo. He had been wanting me to experience a Tesla, so we rented one for a few days on our trip. We met the owner at the airport, which was very convenient, but returning was hard because the owner wanted us to take it back to the airport. Since we didn't need the car for the whole week, we were hoping to meet him in a spot where we didn’t need to take an Uber back to downtown Seattle. It took numerous conversations to figure out where we were going to meet to return the car. Doing it this way also cost us more money than if we were to drop it back off at the airport.

Another thing I found stressful about renting a car through Turo was the fact that it is someone's car and they expect you to keep it clean. Whereas, with a normal rental car, you can return the car as is with no consequences. Renting a car through Turo in Seattle, a city that is known to rain a lot, was stressful. We often had muddy shoes so we were nervous each time we got back into the car about getting things dirty. We also had to spend about a half an hour cleaning up the car before we gave it back. The time stressing throughout the week and needed to clean the vehicle, could possibly take away some enjoyment from a trip. And no one wants that! 

On the flip side, I have such great experiences with renting a car the good old fashion way. My family has rented cars over the years, and have always had good luck. Although through Turo you can get a bigger variety of vehicles, I trust the cars through a normal rental agency more. I know they are being well kept and have the newest version of cars to offer the user the best experience. And if you are as lucky as my dad, you might be upgraded to a Jaguar for free and ride around San Francisco all week in style ;)

Further, I had a rental car when I went out to Salt Lake City for work. Utah can be a dusty and muddy state as well. I just felt so much more relief knowing I didn't have to change shoes or clean out the car before I returned it. Further, knowing I knew where I would be returning the car and they would handle the rest also gave me a sense of relief.

Have you rented through Turo? If you have, what are some tips you could provide me about it?