Rental car shortage hits Canada as border restrictions loosen
If you're looking to book a rental car over the next couple of weekends, you'll likely find them sold out. The same rental car shortage that drove up prices in the U.S. earlier this year has now hit Canada. As pandemic restrictions loosen and the border opens to Americans, there is more competition for rental cars this summer vacation season. (Read More)
Car-sharing marketplace Turo secretly submits US IPO
Car-sharing market Turo Inc sought to take advantage of the country’s ferocious capital markets by secretly filing with regulators on Monday for an initial public offering in the United States. The company’s platform allows car owners in 5,500 cities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to rent cars. From pickup trucks and minivans to luxury cars such as Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and Porsche, there are more than 450,000 listed cars. (Read More)
Tesla Model S Plaid Turo Rental Races 900HP McLaren 600LT
As you can see from the video above, Parker says Brooks rented a brand-new Tesla Model S Plaid from Turo. Since Parker hasn't yet driven, much less even seen the Plaid in the flesh, he jumps at the opportunity to check it out. Parker is driving a 900-horsepower McLaren 600LT, making comments like, "You certainly can't do that in a Tesla Plaid." Perhaps he's talking about the deafening noises coming out of the McLaren inside of a tunnel? (Read More)
Kokua Line: Can I store peer-to-peer rental cars on a public, residential street?
Kokua Line has received numerous complaints about peer-to-peer car rentals that move a business transaction from a central commercial location, usually near an airport, to wherever the owner has parked the car for pickup. Oft-mentioned is Turo, an online platform that allows individuals to rent out their vehicles, similar to the way Airbnb allows people to rent out their homes. (Read More)
Lack of rental cars has triggered a boom in peer-to-peer car sharing
In the Atlanta and Chicago areas, car-sharing hosts have a similar story. Atlanta’s Turo host, Tatiana Pisarski, said she has rental requests 2-3 times a week. She said she had more reservations this year than the last three years combined. In June, she is confident enough to order a Tesla Cybertruck and will rent it when it is finally delivered by the dealer. (Read More)
Car Rental Industry Rebounds As the Economy Rockets Out of the Pandemic
Hertz went bankrupt last June at the peak of the pandemic, weighed down by nearly $19 billion in debt and roughly 700,000 cars parked with no one to drive them. This May, it reached a deal with private equity firms to pull itself out of bankruptcy, rewarding the individual investors who made the company the OG meme stock. (Read More).
Car-sharing startup resumes operations at Salt Lake City airport
After hitting a major roadblock at the Salt Lake City International Airport, the Avail car-sharing app is back in business. Avail views itself as a tech platform, facilitating car owners who are flying out of state to link up with incoming travelers who want to borrow a set of wheels. The airport, however, considered Avail a car rental company and wanted to charge it the same 10% of gross revenues fee it charges other off-site rental companies. When Avail declined to sign such a contract, the airport required its partnering parking lot, the Parking Spot, to stop working with the company in late May. (Read More)
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N4T Investigators: Popular peer to peer car rental service used for crime
Bever said he rented out his car for what was only supposed to be one day, but things took a wild turn. “It was June 27, it was supposed to be returned [June] 28 at 10 in the morning. The June 28 came and no word from the renter," Bever explained. Bever began to worry. By using a special GPS service linked to his Subaru Outback, he was able to see his car was at the U.S.-Mexico Border. He called the police and said they told him his car was seized for being used in human trafficking. (Read More)
New car-sharing program is Zipcar-meets-Tesla
The Boston area already produced the carsharing giant Zipcar. Now a new service is combining that idea with the fast-growing demand for electric vehicles and a mission of helping equality. (Read More)
Are Rental Car Alternatives Safe?
Ridesharing has existed in the U.S. since the 1980s. But with the onset of new technology and questions about insurance liability, are these alternatives worth the risks? Let’s explore a few options. (Read More)
Renting a car in Hawaii with Turo during rental ‘apocalypse’
I just returned from Hawaii and survived the car rental “apocalypse” with the help of a startup car-sharing service called Turo. We’ve written about the service before, but TPG wanted a full review of what it’s like to rent with Turo. And the shortage of car rentals in Hawaii made it the perfect opportunity to test it out. Overall, I can recommend the service, though there are definitely some growing pains you should be aware of before you go this route on your next trip. (Read More)