Harvard Business School classmates Shelby Clark, Nabeel Al-Kad, and Tara Reeves were impressed by the business models they saw at Airbnb and eBay. They believed that they could accomplish something similar with cars, using the same basic peer-to-peer model. Founded in 2009, the company was originally named RelayRides. Later, the decision was made to renamed itself Turo in 2015.
Turo teamed with GM and their OnStar program to enable owners to unlock their vehicles using their smartphones. Although this was later discontinued, it was just the start for Turo to enable clients to work together.
Turo offers more than 800 makes and models of vehicles. Owners offer their cars, sometimes including delivery, in more than 2,500 cities and 300 airports across the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. 
Unlike other car rental agencies, Turo does not own the vehicles, nor does it perform maintenance. Turo simply provides the platform by which customers and car owners can connect.
People who wish to generate income from their vehicles while they’re not being used can register the cars with Turo online to be rented by other Turo members. The car owner states the time and place where the car will be available. A client wishing to rent the car reserves a specific time slot for the car online and pays for the amount of time they signed up for. Car owners can set their own prices or use Turo’s dynamic pricing suggestions. The company takes 25% of the sale. In most cases, renters pay approximately 35 percent less on average than a traditional rental car company.
Turo covers vehicles with up to $1 million of liability insurance to protect car owners against lawsuits for injuries and property damage. All renters are also screened for safety. Cars must have less than 130,000 miles and be a 2005 model or newer to be listed on the site, although there are a few exceptions allowed, such as listings for antique cars. 
In 2015, Forbes listed Turo as #14 on their list of “Hottest On-Demand Startups. Headquarters are located in San Francisco, California.
Turo is frequently given excellent reviews by both customers and on review sites.
In November 2022, Turo announced that it would soon be in operation in Australia.
Turo.Com
Harvard Business School classmates Shelby Clark, Nabeel Al-Kad, and Tara Reeves were impressed by the business models they saw at Airbnb and eBay. They believed that they could accomplish something similar with cars, using the same basic peer-to-peer model. Founded in 2009, the company was originally named RelayRides. Later, the decision was made to renamed itself Turo in 2015.
Turo teamed with GM and their OnStar program to enable owners to unlock their vehicles using their smartphones. Although this was later discontinued, it was just the start for Turo to enable clients to work together.
History
Turo offers more than 800 makes and models of vehicles. Owners offer their cars, sometimes including delivery, in more than 2,500 cities and 300 airports across the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Unlike other car rental agencies, Turo does not own the vehicles, nor does it perform maintenance. Turo simply provides the platform by which customers and car owners can connect.
People who wish to generate income from their vehicles while they’re not being used can register the cars with Turo online to be rented by other Turo members. The car owner states the time and place where the car will be available. A client wishing to rent the car reserves a specific time slot for the car online and pays for the amount of time they signed up for. Car owners can set their own prices or use Turo’s dynamic pricing suggestions. The company takes 25% of the sale. In most cases, renters pay approximately 35 percent less on average than a traditional rental car company.
Turo covers vehicles with up to $1 million of liability insurance to protect car owners against lawsuits for injuries and property damage. All renters are also screened for safety. Cars must have less than 130,000 miles and be a 2005 model or newer to be listed on the site, although there are a few exceptions allowed, such as listings for antique cars.
In 2015, Forbes listed Turo as #14 on their list of “Hottest On-Demand Startups. Headquarters are located in San Francisco, California.
Turo is frequently given excellent reviews by both customers and on review sites.
In November 2022, Turo announced that it would soon be in operation in Australia.
I have been owed a refund of $76.71 since 12/23/22. I have received nothing but lied and run around from the CSR’s I’ve spoken (daily) as to my refund. The car that was advertised was supposed to have been a Kia Cadenza I got a Chevy Malibu there was no Kia Cadenza even present at the time of pick up. I want my $76.71 refund, my Atty had me file a complaint with BBB. The next chain of command would be contacting CEO Andre Haddad of which of course there is no phone number for. I will do my due diligence of my investigation to get my money.
I’m having similar problems. Have you any progress getting contact info such as email address of the CEO? I have tried w/o succes.
Vlad cancelled with us at the curb at LAX saying the car was in an accident. Said he reported to Turo and they were to cancel. We had a doctors appt. So had to rent a car from Avis. Called to cancel and they said they had never heard from host. Now they tell me I can’t even leave a review about my experience and give the “5 star” host what he deserves.
Oh and the car is listed as available 4 hours later. This is the definition of “a racket”.
Booked a car over 2weeks in advance and gave the host a heads up we were flying into LAX for a doctors appt. Let host —Vlad—know flight was on time before leaving Texas and the terminal. Let him know we landed and were headed to baggage and the pickup area. As we waited at the curb I get a message the car was in an accident and he was not coming. Also said he reported to Turo. We had to act fast and start a car rental process so called to cancel the booking. Now apparently because it was canceled I’m not allowed to leave a review for the “5 star” host. What a worthless rating program. Out of curiosity I just checked back on Turo and guess who’s car is available to book—Vlads! Accident my foot. But Turo is covering for him.
I’m done.
After reading these reviews with my situation that I’m dealing with I see that Turo is more on the Host side then Guest. I will NEVER recommend anyone to use this company to rent cars. Treating people nasty but saying you’re trying to be fair, I don’t see that at all.
My car was stolen by a renter and Turo is not on my side they won’t help the host they don’t care about either of us
So I got picked up by a friend tht used a turo app I’m not sure who’s name it was under I got arrested out of the vehicle. My personal belongs was in the car the owner picked up the car while I was in jail and now I’m on a while goose chase for my iPhone with pictures of dead family members as well as 300 dollars sneakers and my back packs. I have a police report with the host name license plate make and model of vehicle and they claim its not enough because I don’t know who the guest booking was under. I’m ready to take the owner and turo to court ???? this is the shi**est thing to deal with.
Don’t worry about calling the number attached to this website as it belongs to some energy consultant. This is the way that TURO treats even their Power Hosts. What a sh*t show. And I’n actually trying to get a problem fixed that will make them money???????????
Thanks for letting us know the site was out of date. We have updated the listing
I’am a power host and have had a problem with my vehicles being seen and easy to find. Iv’e been doing this for almost two years now and have nothing but five star ratings and rave reviews. I go out of my way to truly be a host from helping with tours, restaurants, diving, what ever. Many of my guests are first timers to TURO and have loved their experience and think TURO is great. I have made TURO a fair amount of money and created repeat customers for the company. I feel after calling every day and emailing every day, being told I will get a response and that problems will be fixed that I deserve better assistance and much better support! I am now getting nothing. I am very upset and feel left high and dry after making over a $100,00 investment to do this!
Cold hearted!!! My son lost his best friend last night to suicide. I had to cancel our entire Hawaii vacation because It wouldn’t have been a fun vacation and it’s more important for him to be with family and friends to grieve. My host was understanding. Turo was not! They want a death certificate or hospital reports to offer a full refund. That is so wrong and so inconsiderate. That’s not something you can just go ask a friends family for. That’s personal. This is not something that I would wish upon anyone! Turo’s refusal of a full refund is beyond disgusting. I bet we were maybe 2-3 hours outside the 24 hours. I contacted the host as soon as I was able to gather myself as this kid was close to me also. I would never want to patronize a company with zero ethics and zero compassion for the unexpected situation, totally beyond our control.
I rented a car Sept 27-Oct 4. I never picked up the car. I cancelled it on Sept 26 @4.26 am. I have called several times inquiring. my refund, and i continue to get excuses. I am owned 483.38. When i cancelled i asked the host would he deliver the car, However, he said no, previously, with another rental. I was given that choice, I am tried of waiting for a resolution. I will ask for assistance from the BBB, which you are not a member. The federal trade commission and the SF states attorney’s office, I really would like to afford that. But, you are giving me no other choice. This company seems to be scammers, I was charged before for something i did not do. Then it was 125 dollars now almost 500.
Class action lawsuit against Turo is needed. Turo is not consistent in punishment or helping people with their situations.
Support didn’t resolve anything nor could they explain why I was being charged a random $150 deposit. I rented the same car twice, and on the third time, I was charged $150 for each new time I needed to rent any vehicle moving forward. The representative told me it was “computer generated” and had no explanation to why. I am still currently waiting on a manager to return my call about this issue. The representative thought that I should accept this charge because it would be refunded. It takes 80 hours per their site to receive a refund. 80 hours? So arbitrary. The average bank refund doesn’t even take that long. I rented the car for the last time on Thursday, and now have to wait until Tuesday to receive the refund; leaving me no way to rent again due to the fee. I will not be using or recommending this app or service ever again because of this. There was no legitimate reason for the charge and the rep made it clear she could not do anything to reverse it. I spent 30 mins on the phone repeatedly asking to speak with a manager. For some reason she kept repeating the same information to me and even suggested I rent a “deluxe vehicle” but could not tell me what a “deluxe vehicle” was, and also stated that the deposit would be more if I rented one. Very incompetent. The renter was amazing, this company however is not. A support rep sent me a generic email with details about their rental policy and fees. As stated in the information you sent me. I am outside of the 25-29 year age range that would require me to pay a $750 deposit. I am over 30 years old so that does not apply to me. My trip details were also within the parameters stated on the app when I rented the car. “Our security system auto-applies these deposits” is still not a reason to randomly charge a deposit; especially if I had rented twice before without it. So again you have done nothing to explain yourself. You copied and pasted a generic response that isn’t sufficient. I am STILL waiting on an ACTUAL person to call me.
I’m trying to rent a car, the worst experience ever they said they wouldn’t remove my mother’s information from their website without acquiring more confidential information! They asked for the authorization process documents in order to remove her credit card information. My mother just had fraud on her account from another company. She has severe PTSF and Anxiety, heart conditions, high blood pressure and cancer. Something need to be done she feels threatened and uncomfortable about this whole thing! I have been fighting with them for 2 days straight… please help
I have been renting vehicles for over a year now through turo and never had a issue until now! Last vehicle I rented the guy lied to turo and said I went over my mileage and have to pay him $900 And of course turo agreed with him. Anyway so I tried resolving the issue with turo but by the time I tried to do so my account was no longer active! No warning just completely shut down! So I tried contacting turo support which got me absolutely no where! You can barely understand the people they hire for this position and they are extremely rude and doesn’t try at all to help. Long story short I was told I had to send in my photo id, a picture of me holding my id, proof of residency, my driving report for the last 7 YEARS, check stubs with my social and bank statements? Now why In the hell would you need all of that to verify myself! So when I asked them that same question I was sent to the “Verification team” which still wasn’t any help! I asked them the same thing why would I have to send so much personal information when I’ve been with you all for over a year literally traveled all over the world and would use turo outside the country it’s clear as day under my Rental history! Basically said someone else was under my account that was taken off turo platform which no one have never used my account besides my self! Then after we continued to go back and forth because instead of the representative helping me resolve the issue he rather argue with me! After all that he says “Due to the lack of information that was provided turo has made a final decision to permanently remove you from turo platform” oh and this is a so called computer that makes the final decision lol not a higher authority! And when you ask to speak to corporate or a supervisor visor they can’t assist you with that either I guess there’s no number where they could be reached! So please watch out for turo this company needs better communication/ and customer service! I now have $900 Sent to collections because in order for me to pay for it through turo I had to 1st get my account back active but as you can see what happen to that!
Someone fraudulently used my address and license number to rent a car. QUESTION: HOW DO YOU RELEASE A CAR TO SOMEONE WHEN THEY ARE USING SOMEONE ELSE’S INFORMATION??? The next thing I know I’m receiving a letter from a credit agency, on behalf of Turo, for tolls. Prior to that I never received any communication from Turo. I called several times trying to resolve this issue. Their email (support.turo.com) does not even work and I was on the phone for 2 hours, with someone I could barely understand, trying to resolve this issue. Needless to say, I got nowhere. I never even heard of Turo until this happened. What I do know, is that I would never use this company just because of their horrible customer support. I would rent from reputable places like Hertz, Budget, etc. This way if something goes wrong you have a better recourse. Now I have to put fraud alerts on the 3 credit bureaus because some butthole stole my information. People are so JANKY in this world. Stay away from Turo, because if something goes wrong you will go through hell trying to resolve it!
A ridiculously amount charged to my account!!!?
This a fraud company & have not good insurance to run business. Mu truck is lost & nothing is being done . I rented 4 times & made few hundred dollars & lost my 40K vehicle . Intact insurance called me and refused to honor claim . It is not covered. Get ready for legal action now. It is enough.
Its almost two weeks now since I have lost my truck after renting through Turo. Customer service agents & others are not taking this case seriously & insurance company has refused to help with my truck. I request you to take appropriate actions to recover my truck immediately. Your staff has very ruthless behavior and have not shown any progress so for. Why you are running this business if you don’t have proper insurance in Canada. I will take this case to Social & electronic media early next week. Nobody from your departments bothered to call me back with any progress or updates. This is the way you wan to run a business ????
I rented one time from Turo in Denver last week. The owner was really nice and helpful and accommodating.
I underestimated the traffic in Dennver and it caused me to retunr my car one hour late. Then it took 10 minutes to photograph the car in the dark and then put the lockbox on the door handle of the car.
The owner told me he would not be there to receive the car and to just park at the address and it would be fine.
TURO chraged me $100 dollars for the one hour late (they said I was 1+ hours due to the processing I had to do once returned) and a $25.00 “administration fee”. This was a 2 day rental of a car that was extremely dented.
I had three email exchanges and finally received a phone call conversation with a customer disspassionate customer service person who claimed she could do nothing. I insisted on speakign to a supervisor or manager. She said she would forward my claim to her superior and I would hear from them., She sent me an email saying the same.
I never heard from Turo and they closed my ticket.
I believe this company is a scam and so poorly run that it deserves to go under and suffer from class action suits. I will never rent from them again and I am posting on all social media to post what a bad company they are and how non customer friendly they are. Rent fro m the airport, even if it costs more, they will never gouge you like Turo is designed to.
DO NOT RENT FROM TURO
HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!
Luis refused to transfer me to his supervisor saying “that isn’t how we do things” and I said wel I am unhappy with your service and want to speak to your supervjsor and be continued to refuse to transfer me again and again!
I have had no problems prior and been renting for months. Suddenly I am in verification hell and emailed, text, sent doXXXXents over 50 times and chatted for 3 DAYS now. I was TOLD my hold was remove, but still not and I had to spend money on uber and lyft. There is absolutely no customer support. I am trying to reach Andre Hadad because this is so wrong. I read consumers affairs and was horrified this has happened to other people who have spent thousands with this company like I have for months.
I am completely disgusted with the lack of customer service. I have spent thousands of dollars with Turo and cannot get my issue resolved with efficiency. I have spent 3 days and countless hours contacting Turo still no resolve just the run around.
We have been on hold for over an hour because I requested to speak with someone in corporate !!! We were rented a faulty car with pre existing issues and it didn’t even make it back to our home ! The owner didn’t tell us the car just got back from the shop we found out it had transmission problems . David Venezuela( claims specialist) has yet to get back to us and Michael Scott from Atlanta Georgia was the owner that rented us the faulty vehicle in which the vehicle has been suspended but the owner is still allowed to lease cars after he leased us a car without thouroughly checking it . He rented us a car the day he got it back from the shop. My husband is in the military and he had just gotten off orders he rented this car so we can go on our anniversary which was on the 6th . All we want is our refund back . Please give us a call 770576XXXXX