Why We Love Renting Cars from Turo.

Ever heard of Turo? Until a few years ago, I hadn’t either. Essentially, it’s the Airbnb of car rentals—rather than renting from an agency, you’ll rent directly from the car’s owner. You still have to be 21 or older to rent, but it’s available in all 50 states and comes with a bevy of benefits you won’t find at traditional agencies.

Instead of selecting a broad category of car to rent, you’ll choose the individual car, knowing its precise make, model and year. Listings include helpful information such as a detailed car description, a list of its unique features (like Apple CarPlay or a backup camera), location details, the included mileage, and reviews from prior renters. Extras such as toll passes and car seats are often available for an additional fee. If you plan to reserve, say, a Lamborghini, you may be asked to provide a deposit.

Once you’ve settled on a car for your dates, just plug in your trip start and end times as well as the pickup and return location. There’s a benefit to booking early, especially for longer rentals—you’ll often find “early bird” discounts as well as “long-term” discounts for rentals of one week or more. Questions? You can message the car owner directly through the website or Turo app, either before or during your rental.

Three things make Turo standout from the rest. First, its wide selection of appropriately priced luxury vehicles—like this Mercedes convertible and Porsche Boxster, both of which were ideal for cruising Big Sur Coast Highway and which would have cost several times the price at a traditional rental agency.

Second, there’s flexibility with respect to pick up and drop off. Most Turo vehicles we’ve rented have either met us curbside at arrivals or in the short-term parking lot. No more annoying shuttles for us, especially when we’ve got the littles in tow!

Third, solid customer service and a great cancellation policy. We had one negative experience last year with a host who failed to meet us at the agreed upon start time so we had to cancel after the rental technically began. We provided documentation of our exchange with the host via the Turo app and received a full refund that day. If you need to cancel in advance, you can get a full refund for cancellations up to 24 hours before your trip. How’s that for flexibility?