Turo Host Review: Worth It? (Pros & Cons Revealed)

If you own a car that sits in your driveway a lot, Turo can sound like an easy way to earn extra money. Instead of letting your vehicle sit unused, you can rent it out to other people and get paid whenever someone books it.

That certainly sounds appealing. But before you decide to list your car, you need to understand how the platform works, how you actually earn, what fees are involved, and the risks that come with renting out a valuable asset.

In this Turo Host review, I'll explain exactly what it offers, how hosts get paid, who can join, and the potential downsides so you can decide whether it's worth becoming a host.

So, let’s get down to business, shall we?

What is Turo Host, and what does it offer?

Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace. Instead of renting cars from a traditional rental company, travelers can rent vehicles directly from individual car owners. So, for you to earn, you must list your car on the platform.

Now, to find out if it is worth it, the best way is to examine the earning opportunity it offers. By doing so, you’ll have a clear idea of how good it really is.

So, here’s how to earn from Turo.

The earning opportunities – Bookings

The premise of this earning opportunity is that you’ll list your car in Turo’s marketplace. Then, once it is listed, all you have to do to earn is accept bookings from customers.

It sounds very straightforward, but the challenge to this earning opportunity is actually in creating your listing for your car. That’s because listing your car on the platform is actually a slightly long process (refer to the photo below).

As you can see in the photo above, creating a car listing involves quite a few steps (12 to be exact). You’ll have to provide important information like your car’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), a photo of your driver’s license, and a few other vehicle details.

You’ll also be asked to take clear photos of your car’s interior and exterior. Turo requires this so they can determine whether your car is eligible for listing.

If your car is model year 2010 or newer, has fewer than 130,000 miles, and holds a clean title, then it is likely eligible for listing. Now, when listing your car, you’ll also be asked to select your host protection plan.

This plan will dictate how much you will earn per booking. The protection plan is your security blanket for damages done to your car. The higher the protection plan, the higher the amount you can collect if your car was damaged during the booking.

Of course, with a higher protection plan, your earnings will also be a bit lower. From what I saw during my testing, hosts typically receive 70%, 80%, or 90% of the trip price depending on the protection plan you choose.

Now, for your peace of mind, every trip is covered with $750,000 in third-party liability insurance under a policy issued to Turo from Travelers Excess and Surplus Lines Company. So, if your car gets damaged during a booking, you can collect up to that amount.

If you want to learn more about Turo’s insurance policies, you’ll have to contact its support team.

As for pricing, you can use Turo’s dynamic pricing tool or set your own daily rates manually. If you want to do so, you must monitor your local demand patterns and adjust your prices accordingly.

You can also decide how much lead time you need for each trip being booked. This can be quite useful because you can plan out the use of your car.

From what I’ve observed while testing the platform, there are many features you can use to filter out the bookings you can accept, which is a good thing because you won’t be forced to rent out your car if you don’t need to.

Overall, once you’ve created your listing, the process becomes a bit simpler, in my opinion.

Recommended: Check Out the Best Passive Income Apps

How do you get paid?

When a client books your car, they will pay Turo. That’s how the payment system works. When the booking is completed, the payment will be released directly to your bank account via Stripe.

Of course, deductions will be made depending on the protection plan you choose. Processing typically takes a couple of days, so don’t expect your earnings to be credited immediately to your bank account.

Overall, I would say it has a very convenient and straightforward payout system. I like that it processes payments automatically and uses a convenient payout method.

If you are interested in more sites that use a convenient payout method, I suggest you also check out the top sites that pay via direct bank transfer.

How much money can you make?

The amount you can earn from Turo will depend on a few factors, namely your location, type of vehicle, how often your car is available, and the protection plan you choose.

As explained earlier, car rental pricing can vary, especially when using the dynamic pricing tool. So, it’s a bit hard to estimate an exact amount. But, in general, if you live in a high-demand market like a big city, own a desirable vehicle, and keep it available most of the time, you can earn a meaningful side income. On the other hand, if you live in a small city, the demand will be low. As a result, your vehicle will be rarely booked. So, you won’t earn a lot from it.

But if you want to get an idea of how much you can earn, the photo above shows the average amount a host can earn. Now, I’m not saying this is what you can earn when you decide to become a host. It’s just a picture of what you potentially can earn.

The good thing, though, is that Turo lets you earn a little extra cash by offering optional add-ons for the booking, like child safety seats, camping equipment, coolers, phone mounts, and other travel accessories.

You can even offer to deliver the car to the airport, which, according to its website, is what most clients are usually looking for. You can do all of these for an additional fee.

But overall, I would say the earning potential of Turo will be quite good if you live in a high-demand area. If you don’t, then don’t expect to earn much from it, especially since there are other ways for people to rent cars.

If you want a snapshot of how much you can earn, you can use their Turo calculator.

Can you use it on mobile?

As mentioned earlier, Turo has an app you can use to create and manage bookings on your phone. The app runs on both Android and iOS devices, and it is designed for both customers and hosts.

The app is very easy to navigate, so you shouldn’t have a hard time doing what you need to do in it. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that you don’t have to use your computer to earn from being a Turo host.

That’s how user-friendly it is, in my opinion.

Who can join Turo Host?

While it might look like Turo is available worldwide, it is only meant for people who live in the US, Australia, Canada, France, or the UK. The website explicitly states that it does not currently operate in any other countries, provinces, or territories beyond the ones mentioned.

You can sign up as a host using your Google or Apple account. You can also sign up using your email address. This is the easy part of becoming a host.

But as explained earlier, the hard part is creating a listing for your car, because you’ll need to provide a lot of things, like vehicle information, photos, and even a Stripe account.

And as mentioned earlier, your car model must be at least 2010 or newer to be eligible. If you have an older car, then don’t even bother joining. Your listing won’t be approved.

Can you get support?

Turo has a comprehensive Help section you can check out. It discusses most of the important topics you need to know about the platform.

But if you can’t find the answers you need, you can get in touch with the support department through the app or the website. It even has an AI assistant that you can use to find any information you need.

This is why I would say it provides decent support to its members, since it offers a couple of convenient ways to ask for assistance.

Final Verdict

Turo Host is a legit platform that lets you earn by renting out your car. It has a couple of great features, but it also has some limitations you must consider.

To help you with your decision, here’s a summary of its pros and cons, so you can clearly see what it offers.

Becoming a Turo Host is not a bad way to earn extra cash, in my opinion, as long as you are eligible to list your car on their platform. You can earn a decent amount per booking, and the platform actually has good security features, so that you can rent out your car and have peace of mind at the same time.

This, in my opinion, is the most important feature the platform provides. That being said, becoming a Turo host isn't as simple as listing your car and collecting money. You'll be responsible for maintaining your vehicle (this includes car insurance expenses), communicating with guests, cleaning the car between trips, and handling any issues that may come up.

If that’s too much for you, then this opportunity is not the right fit for you. I suggest you check out the top survey and GPT sites in your country instead, for easier ways to earn extra cash. The sites and apps on this list all have good earning potential and offer a simpler way to earn extra cash.

Plus, you can definitely find a site or app you can join regardless of where you live.

If you have any comments, questions, or experiences with Turo Host, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.