Uber Joins The Car Sharing Market! Is It Worth Listing Your Vehicle on Uber Carshare?
This post is all about Uber Carshare and what this means for you as a Turo host.
Big news for Turo Hosts! Uber has officially announced they are entering the peer-to-peer car sharing market.
Uber first acquired the company Car Next Door and began testing this car sharing model in Australia. Now Uber Carshare, is ready to bring their operations over to North America, starting in Boston.
It has become very clear that Uber is directly competing with Turo. The big question on everybody’s mind… How does this benefit me? Is this going to have a positive or negative impact on Turo hosts?
I actually think this could be a great opportunity for Turo hosts, and I’ll explain more about that a little later in this post.
First, I want to talk about what Uber Carshare is, what do they have to offer and what makes them different from Turo?
How Does Uber Carshare Differ From Turo?
These are the biggest things that stood out to me about Uber’s car sharing model that differs from Turo’s model:
1. Older Cars Are Allowed
Uber allows cars to be listed on their platform that are up to 15 years old. That is a few years difference from Turo’s allowance which is 12 years old. This could be a great thing for people who have an older vehicle they were unable to rent before, but now can on Uber Carshare. Just keep in mind, older cars tend to come with more issues which could result in unhappy customer reviews and more cost to you with maintenance. However, if you feel confident in a vehicle that you have well maintained and runs great, absolutely list it on Uber Carshare.
2. Uber Allows Cars With More Mileage
On Uber Carshare, you can list vehicles with up to 200k miles on it. That’s a 70k mile difference from Turo who only allows up to 130k miles.
The same applies here as with the first point. Be careful which cars you feel comfortable renting out to people. Just because you CAN rent it out, doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Do your research and make an informed decision you feel comfortable with. This could be a game changer for car sharing hosts.
3. Cash Value Coverage Up To $50k
This is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than Turo’s cash value coverage which is $200k! What this means is if you rent a vehicle on Uber Carshare that is worth $80k and your renter totals the vehicle, Uber Carshare will only pay you up to $50k in coverage which is a $30k loss to you.
I would stay away from listing any car worth over $50k on Uber Carshare for this reason. This also is very telling about what kind of reach Uber Carshare wishes to have. Turo caters more toward the high-end, luxury vehicle market, and Uber Carshare seems to be leaning towards the more economic car rental market.
4. $0 Deductible On Damage Claims For Hosts
This is a big deal. As a Turo host, you know that on Turo, the host has to pay a deductible on any damage claims. With Uber Carshare, there is a zero dollar deductible on damage claims which means as a host, you are not responsible for covering any amount of the damage claims to your vehicles. Uber is calling this the “Owner Guarantee”.
5. Different Revenue Split
Revenue and earnings work a bit differently with Uber Carshare. As a host on Uber Carshare, you will get paid in two different ways. The first is with your “time rate” (Turo calls this the “day rate”), and the second is your distance rate. Uber Carshare will split profits with you for your “time rate” with a straight 40% cut. That means you will keep only 60% of your time rate.
Now if this sounds a bit familiar to you, that’s because on Turo, there is a host protection plan option called the 60 Plan, which is pretty much this exact thing. You pay Turo 40% of your day rate, and you keep 60%. You also have a $0 deductible for that plan on Turo.
So essentially, Uber Carshare only provides the “60 Plan”, so to speak, on their platform. However, the biggest difference is that on Uber Carshare, you also have your distance rate which sounds like Uber Carsharing hosts will keep 100% of.
On Turo, you have the option to choose from any one of their five protection plans:
- 60 Plan: Turo takes 40%, $0 deductible
- 75 Plan: Turo takes 25%, $250 deductible
- 80 Plan: Turo takes 20%, $750 deductible
- 85 Plan: Turo takes 15%, $1,625 deductible
- 90 Plan: Turo takes 10%, $2,500 deductible
Read more about Turo’s host protection plans on their site here.
6. Uber Has A Much Larger Distribution Platform
Uber is a well established company with an existing app that currently consists of 100 millions users! That’s including Uber drivers, Uber riders, Uber eats, etc.
Comparatively, Turo has only 4 million users. That’s a HUGE difference!
Since Uber’s market reach is so much larger, that opens the doors to a lot larger customer base and earning opportunity. Uber is also a largely known and trusted company which increases its chances of success.
What This Means For Turo Hosts
Now that we understand some of the key differences between Uber Car Share and Turo, let’s look at what this could mean for you as a Turo host.
1. Turo Hosts Have A Competitive Edge
I believe Uber Carshare could be a great opportunity for Turo hosts. Getting onto the platform early on could put you ahead of the game and give you a huge advantage. The reason being, most likely a lot of the people who start renting cars on Uber will be Uber drivers. The benefit of that to you as a Turo host is that you have been in the car sharing game much longer than they have, and you understand how it works a lot better. You know how to properly maintain your cars for renting, how to provide a great car rental experience for your renters, how to report damage claims and navigate more complications that arise with any car rental business. Uber drivers or anyone new joining this business will not have the same understanding and strategies right away.
2. Access To A Larger Customer Base
As mentioned earlier, Uber has a much larger audience, so you will have a lot larger of a reach and customer base on Uber than you currently do on Turo. With 100 million people using the app already, I’m expecting a lot more business flow to Uber Carshare.
3. Fresh Reputation
Uber is already largely known and is entering the market fresh. Unfortunately, there are many people who may have used Turo in the past who walked away having a bad experience. They may be willing to give Uber Carsharing a try. That is your opportunity as an experienced host to provide a great experience to people trying out this new app.
Is It Worth Renting Your Cars On Uber Carshare?
My answer is yes. I think it’s absolutely worth testing the platform, and I believe the key will be getting on there early. As soon as Uber Carshare comes to your city, I would get on it and start collecting 5-star reviews.
I wouldn’t move your entire fleet from Turo to Uber and completely ditch Turo. Test the waters with one or two cars.
Since Uber only pays cash value up to $50k, I would stay away from putting high end luxury vehicles on Uber and keep those on Turo. Don’t list any vehicle that is worth over $50k, because if a renter totals your vehicle, you will not get the full value back. So I would stick to more economic cars for Uber’s platform.
Personally, I’m pretty excited for Uber Carsharing to roll out to my city. I think it will be a great opportunity for Turo hosts and I’m excited to hear from all of you how it goes if you decide to try it out. I’ll certainly be sharing more of my thoughts here once I’m able to get on Uber Carshare and start testing it out.
This post was all about Uber Carshare.
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