How Lee Ann turned an idle SUV into real profit
Turning an eight-seat liability into a huge windfall
After a rough breakup, Lee Ann, an Arizona resident and marketing manager by trade, found herself saddled with an extra 2012 Chevy Traverse. “I was the unfortunate person who kept the SUV, because it was in my name,” she explains. “I had two cars and two car payments every month, and it was a struggle to make ends meet.”
On top of her mortgage and bills to pay, Lee Ann’s eight-seat, three-row SUV was yet another financial liability, sitting in the garage with nothing to do.
The Airbnb for cars
Lee Ann had heard of Airbnb, and started to wonder if there was something similar, but for cars. Luckily, she found a news article about Turo.
“Turo was exactly what I was trying to find, and it was easy to get started. I created a profile, listed my car, and was shocked as all heck at how quickly I got tapped for my first trip.”
Fueling adventures
The Traverse wasn’t fancy or new, but guests loved to book it for camping and road trips. Putting her marketing chops to good use, Lee Ann updated her listing to frame the car as the perfect travel companion for outdoor adventures and big vacations.
“I was helping families do bucket list stuff, like visiting Disneyland in California or hiking Moab in Utah. I understand completely — you don’t really need an SUV for your daily life, but it’s great to fit all your kids and luggage in one vehicle when traveling.”
Before long, Lee Ann started to turn a profit — “Some months, I actually made quite a bit more than the monthly car payment from this SUV I thought I couldn’t afford.”
Using Turo to fund her dream car
After seeing how much the Traverse earned on the platform, Lee Ann realized she could also list her personal car, a 2017 Honda CR-V, to cover even more of her expenses. “The Honda’s been booked pretty steadily. As long as I keep an eye on the calendar, I could keep switching between the two cars and always have something to drive.”
With the two extra sources of income, she was able to buy something for herself. “Last year, I bought my dream car — a Jeep Wrangler — knowing that I could use Turo to help mitigate that cost.”
A seasoned host’s advice
After two years on the platform, Lee Ann’s grown into an expert host with 45 trips and a perfect five-star reviews. “Hosting’s been amazing. I’ve never had any bad experiences, and a fair number of people come back for multiple trips.”
Even when a guest returned one of her cars with some minor scratches, Lee Ann managed to get it sorted out. “The guest was super amenable. I could’ve gone through the claims system, but instead we came to a mutual resolution: I got a quote from a detail shop, the guest Venmoed me right away, and my car was restored.”
Her biggest piece of advice for new hosts? “Do your research. Get a feel for how to word your description by looking at other people’s listings, and experiment with your settings to see what works and what doesn’t.”
To make things as convenient as possible, Lee Ann offers unlimited mileage and prepaid refuel, and stores her key in a lockbox attached to the car. “I just text them the code and let them check themselves in, so I never have to meet them in person.”
A huge help for a stressful situation
Lee Ann muses about her Turo journey: “Automobile financing makes it really easy to get into a car, and really hard to get out of it. I bet I’m not the first person who ended up having to pay for two cars due to one reason or another.”
“It was a pleasant surprise when my Turo earnings not only covered the payment on this SUV I didn’t need, but also gave me a bonus source of income. Turo really was a blessing.”
This story was originally published on the Turo blog.