What Is the Most Profitable Car on Turo? How to Pick Yours

There is no single most profitable car on Turo. The most profitable car is the one that keeps the most money after Turo's share and your own costs, in your own market. A car with a high daily rate can still lose to a cheaper car that rents more often and costs less to own. This guide gives you a simple way to find the winner for your city, before you buy or list a car.

What car is most profitable on Turo?

No single car is the most profitable on Turo. The right car depends on who books in your area, what the car costs to own and how much of each trip you keep. The most profitable car for you is the one that fits local demand, rents often and still clears its costs after Turo takes its share.

So start with your market, not a model list. Ask three questions:

• Who books near you? Families on road trips, business travelers and people staying for weeks want different cars.
• What is missing? Search Turo for your city and dates. A car type with few listings has less competition.
• How will you host? Short trips mean more hand-offs and more cleaning. Longer trips mean fewer.

Write down the two or three car types that fit your answers. Those are the cars worth running through the worksheet below.

Which car types should you test first?

Test types, not models. Pick one car from each group below that fits your three answers, and run each through the worksheet.

1. An everyday car. A plain sedan or small SUV fits the widest range of trips and renters.
2. A family car. A three-row SUV or minivan, if your first answer showed families or groups.
3. The gap in your search. Whatever type had few listings when you searched your city and dates.
4. A higher class car, only with care. These cars have narrower renter pools. According to Turo's security deposit page, guests must be 30 or older to book Super Deluxe Class vehicles. Deluxe Class guests must be 25 or older, per the same page.

This is a method, not a ranking. No car type wins everywhere, so let your own worksheet pick the winner.

What is the most profitable rental car?

The most profitable rental car is the one that leaves the most after costs, not the one with the biggest earnings figure. Earnings figures leave out your loan, insurance, cleaning and repairs. A cheaper car that rents most days can beat a pricey car that sits. The worked example in the next section shows how that happens.

Many numbers you see online are earnings, the money a car takes in before your costs. The value the car loses each year comes out of that too.

How do you work out a car's real profit on Turo?

Use the same five lines for every car you are thinking about. Fill them in for one month. Use real numbers from your area, not hopes.

For line 1, look at similar cars near you on Turo. Note their daily rates and how full their calendars look. Be careful with booked days. A new listing with no reviews may book less at first.

For line 2, use your plan. According to Turo's earnings plans page, a host keeps 70%, 80% or 90% of the trip price on its three US earnings plans, so Turo keeps 30%, 20% or 10%. Turo's help center also says that the higher the host share, the higher the damage responsibility. According to Turo, it applies a variable host share in Austin, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Maui, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle, where your share also depends on how far in advance a guest books. Turo says the host share is displayed on the trip receipt, so hosts in those cities should use the share on their receipts. Read the plan terms before you fill in this line. Our Turo fees guide walks through each plan in dollars.

Do the worksheet for each car side by side. The car with the biggest number on line 5 is your most profitable car. It may not be the one with the highest daily rate. If you need help setting the daily rate, read how to price your rental cars.

A worked example with two made-up cars

The numbers below are hypothetical. We made them up to show the method. They are not Turo data, averages or a forecast for any city. According to Turo, a host keeps 80% of the trip price on its Balanced plan, so suppose both cars are on that plan.

In this made-up case, Car B brings in more money but keeps far less, because it rents fewer days and costs more to own. Change any input and the result can flip. That is why you run your own numbers.

Which cars can you list on Turo?

Check this before you buy. According to Turo's vehicle eligibility page, a US car can't be more than 12 years old, with exceptions for classic or specialty cars. According to Turo, the car must also have less than 130,000 miles. Turo requires a clean title, and a car that was ever declared a total loss can't be listed.

According to Turo, a listed car must also have a fair market value no greater than $200,000. Turo also lists cars it does not accept, such as limousines, motorcycles and RVs. Read the full page before you commit to a car.

How do you keep more of what each car earns?

Picking the right car is half the job. The other half is line 2 of the worksheet: how much of each trip you keep. On Turo, the platform keeps its share of every trip. When a car earns more, Turo's share grows with it.

A booking site of your own changes that for renters you find yourself. Think of your website, your Google Business Profile, local referrals and people who already rented from you direct. Rentovation is booking software, not a marketplace. Every plan includes a branded booking website that renters book on directly. Renters pay through your own connected Stripe or Square account, and Rentovation charges $0 per booking. Starter is $197 per month and Pro is $297 per month.

Be fair with the math, though. Guests who found you on Turo stay on Turo. A direct booking still has costs: card processing, renter checks, insurance for direct rentals and the work of finding renters. Avoided commission is not the same as profit. On a direct booking, line 2 changes. Instead of Turo's share, you pay card processing on each rental and one flat software fee that covers every car you run. Put both channels through the same worksheet and compare. Our Turo fees calculator does the commission side for your fleet. For the bigger earnings picture, read how much you can make renting out a car.

Ready to run bookings on your own site? Rentovation starts with a 14-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime. See Starter and Pro pricing for the current trial terms.