Turo

[noleclone2]

So I have started seeing ads for this service. Looks like a VRBO approach to renting out your car / renting someone else's car for less than a rental company. Seems bonkers to me until I remember I live in a small southern town where everyone drives vs a congested metropolis where having a car is a huge pain and cost. Still, not sure how it works for someone willing to let another abuse your car or conversely renting a car that may not be trustworthy.

Such an interesting time to live in-I can see so many people not buying cars now between this and the Uber/Lyft phenomena.

I also can tell you first hand, the current crop of teens are not near as motivated as my generation (X) was to learn to drive. You were odd if you were not the DMV getting your license at 16 when I was a teen. Now, many of them don't get fully licensed until 17-19... Will we someday return to large parts of population not knowing how to drive. I had two grandparents from Boston born in 1918 that never learned how to drive. The other two learned in their 40s.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

This was discussed a few weeks back in this thread:
https://floridastate.forums.rivals....r-to-a-stranger-or-rent-from-a-person.238615/

I'm a believer in community car fleets / car sharing and American society moving away from the one car/driver norm we've been used to among the middle class and wealthy.

Traffic congestion in most major metros has gotten intolerable, self-driving tech is maturing, people are getting used to Uber/Lyft style services and pooling, telecommuting is becoming mroe common, most consumer staples can be ordered online, the trend towards living in city centers continues (but may eventually slow/reverse).

IMO all these are factors that will slowly lead folks to at least consider the abandoning one car in their household.

I live in NYC and maybe 5% of my friends have a car, but NYC is different. I now have a number of friends in ATL, LA, etc... who've also abandoned cars. The aggregate of what they spent on payments, insurance, gas paled in comparison to what they would have spent on ubers. Many friends who do have cars have abandoned luxury cars for small, pragmatic, cheaper cars - treating it as a basic commodity rather than a status sign.

Yet, car purchase data tells us that I (and companies like Turo) are wrong, at least for now, as car sales continue to trend slightly upward, with specific strength in the truck sector.

Companies like GM are looking at becoming fleet managers themselves, which would eventually push the Turo's of the world out of the market.

 

[Semiologist]

I think the difference between letting out your house vs. your car, is the house very rarely will end up in a shipping container going overseas for parts/re-vin-ing before you know it.

 

[FSU_UCLA]

Over the last 15 years, I have seen a dramatic decline in driving among UCLA students. Now, the overwhelming majority of students I see do not own a car, and most of them have never gotten a drivers license. It’s definitely viewed as a very expensive, unnecessary hassle among that demographic group. With mass transit, electric scooters, and Lyft, the car seems archaic here.

 

[seminole97]

I now have a number of friends in ATL, LA, etc... who've also abandoned cars. The aggregate of what they spent on payments, insurance, gas paled in comparison to what they would have spent on ubers.

I guess there are many more city related expenses and hassles (eg parking) that would be an earlier driver of adoption in cities.
But on a cost basis it’s a loser for me when I last ran the numbers. I enjoyed, at the convenience of immediacy with the burden of actually driving, using a car for about $16/day average. Now I didn’t drive it every single day, but most days I did involved more than two trips. I think Uber will have a way to go to become the cheaper option overall for many folks.

There are close to 270 million registered vehicles in the US. The idea that they are a luxury for the middle class and rich is silly.

 

[ReliableOstrich]

I guess there are many more city related expenses and hassles (eg parking) that would be an earlier driver of adoption in cities.
But on a cost basis it’s a loser for me when I last ran the numbers. I enjoyed, at the convenience of immediacy with the burden of actually driving, using a car for about $16/day average. Now I didn’t drive it every single day, but most days I did involved more than two trips. I think Uber will have a way to go to become the cheaper option overall for many folks.

There are close to 270 million registered vehicles in the US. The idea that they are a luxury for the middle class and rich is silly.

I noted in my post that purchase trends are still slightly increasing, so my prediction is still quite a ways off, but with driverless car technology maturing (also still a ways off) I think it's inevitable that urban, suburban, exurban communities slowly move towards car ownership rates of < .5 cars / licensed driver. Localized fleets will be able to provide some of the immediacy benefits with reduced cost burden. The human driver uber/lyft model is just temporary, once humans are moved from the cost equation, prices could come down a bit.

Rural areas may greatly lag in this trend due to distances between points and reluctance to adopt new tech.

 

[RTM58]

 

[ericram]

Over the last 15 years, I have seen a dramatic decline in driving among UCLA students. Now, the overwhelming majority of students I see do not own a car, and most of them have never gotten a drivers license. It’s definitely viewed as a very expensive, unnecessary hassle among that demographic group. With mass transit, electric scooters, and Lyft, the car seems archaic here.

Wow a UCLA sighting to boot!

 

[ReliableOstrich]

Is this the transfer portal Fields, Francois, Hurts, and Tate are getting in?

 

[Urban Cryer]

I will always have a car.

 

[More Kirk Less Spock]

The idea of renting your car to someone just doesn't seem worth the risk. I currently represent a guy who was hit by someone who had rented a car through one of these services. Messy

 

[seminole97]

The idea of renting your car to someone just doesn't seem the risk. I currently represent a guy who was hit by someone who had rented a car through one of these services. Messy

Given how people treat rentals I wouldn’t want them treating my car that way.