Gee! What could possibly go wrong?

coltle6920

coltle6920

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Been seeing a new product in commercials called "TURO."

It's a peer-to-peer carsharing company not unlike UBER or LYFT. You download the app to your smartphone. It allows you to rent a vehicle from people who are likely strangers to you and at a cheaper price than most rental companies will charge.

I seriously doubt that whoever brainstormed this idea has all bases covered. I can give the owner all the forged documentation they require and use their vehicle in a bank robbery or to transport drugs to another state.They might be covered for any loss or damage to their vehicle but I'll bet they will think twice before renting their vehicle out again due to the inconvenience I will have caused them.

Any thoughts or experience with this product feel free to share.
 
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One of the 25 something guys at Church has been Ubering for about 6 months. He finds it exciting and considers it a great form of work, (sleep in, work when you want, not requiring strength or exercise!!!) and he meets so many new people! His bills are paid, and he's not trying to support a family. So why not!!!

Ivan
 
My niece and her husband that live in downtown San Francisco, use this service or Uber in lieu of owning a car. They also rent all their furniture, so that when they move they get identical furniture from a warehouse near their new home. They have no interest in owning a home, family heirlooms or antiques. Its a new world I suppose.
 
coltle6920 said:
I can give the owner all the forged documentation they require and use their vehicle in a bank robbery or to transport drugs to another state.
Click to expand...

You might benefit from a discovery that I made some time ago:

If you live in the gun culture, maybe carry most of the time, and generally develop the somewhat mistrustful mindset toward all strangers which tends to go along with that, it’s useful to occasionally come up for air and remind yourself that the vast majority of people are actually honest folks who are not transporting drugs or robbing banks or even just abusing stuff they rent. ;)

There is a percentage of risk in every business. I wouldn’t do this because I’m way too protective of things as personal as my car. But for most people, this will probably work out okay.
 
Absalom said:
You might benefit from a discovery that I made some time ago:

If you live in the gun culture, maybe carry most of the time, and generally develop the somewhat mistrustful mindset toward all strangers which tends to go along with that, it’s useful to occasionally come up for air and remind yourself that the vast majority of people are actually honest folks who are not transporting drugs or robbing banks or even just abusing stuff they rent. ;)

There is a percentage of risk in every business. I wouldn’t do this because I’m way too protective of things as personal as my car. But for most people, this will probably work out okay.
Click to expand...

It's not being in the "gun culture" that gives me my cynical attitude toward people and vehicles, it's my experience of working in the car business and seeing cars coming back from renters and loaners.

Does it happen to EVERY car? No, of course not. It has, however, happened enough, that I not only will not rent my car out to strangers, let alone allowing people I know, not even family. That goes for tools, too.
 
The few rental cars I have had got driven pretty hard. The best one was from rent-a-wreck, and was something like $19 for the weekend. It was already trashed, and it ran just fine.
I reckon all rental cars have a hard life.
The get good maintenance and are kept in top shape, but man....they take a poundin'.
 
Absalom said:
You might benefit from a discovery that I made some time ago:

If you live in the gun culture, maybe carry most of the time, and generally develop the somewhat mistrustful mindset toward all strangers which tends to go along with that, it’s useful to occasionally come up for air and remind yourself that the vast majority of people are actually honest folks who are not transporting drugs or robbing banks or even just abusing stuff they rent. ;)

There is a percentage of risk in every business. I wouldn’t do this because I’m way too protective of things as personal as my car. But for most people, this will probably work out okay.
Click to expand...

To play the Devil's Advocate here the vehicle you rent could've been stolen or worse. The gate swings both ways.

I am also very protective of my property whether it's my truck,lawnmower or tools. It's more about Murphy's Law than trust.
 
pittpa said:
Airbnb for cars. Can I rent a Shelby or Vette? Why not?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

It's been done: In 1966, Shelby American paired up with Hertz in a program to rent '66 Shelby GT350H's (for $17 per day and $.17 per mile), commonly known as "Rent-A-Racer". Pretty slick promotional gimmick for Ford/Shelby, but flawed in that the cars were often actually taken to the track and raced, most times the complete GT350, and sometimes the engine would be jerked then slid into the drag racer's own Mustang. After the race, the engine was reinstalled in the Hertz car and returned. Quite often the car, or engine, or both, would be turned in with serious damage done.

In the final tally, I doubt that Hertz came out on top with that one. Drive it like ya stole it, indeed! ;)
 
I could class my oldest daughter and her husband as millenials. Their washer and dryer have been busted for a couple months and they have this home repair contract. But both of them work during the days. I offered to come over and house sit while they get this stuff fixed. Both refused. So we wear out washer & dryer. Someone's making out and it ain't us. The sir conditioning went out and they sent two idiots to fix it. They had to come back a few times before they got it right. And the washer and dryer are less than a year old. I really don't get it. Frank
 
coltle6920 said:
To play the Devil's Advocate here the vehicle you rent could've been stolen or worse. The gate swings both ways.

I am also very protective of my property whether it's my truck,lawnmower or tools. It's more about Murphy's Law than trust.
Click to expand...

I guess you’re always playing the percentages.

Some friends of mine have a house where the original owners built out a section as a separate unit for elderly parents. My friends have been doing the Airbnb thing with that for some years now. They travel a lot for work and hardly ever meet any of the folks who rent half of their house. Theoretically the place could get trashed by a drug-fueled party any weekend. But they’ve been raking in the cash and not had any issues since they started.

So it just depends how risk-averse you are.
 
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