What’s the most efficient and cost-effective way to rent a vehicle?
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Turo recently released a report on travel trends in Canada, noting that U.S. travel has dropped. Instead, Canadians are going on longer, out-of-province road trips — as they should, there’s so much to see in this big, beautiful country, just ask Driving contributor Stephanie Wallcraft who has been travelling coast to coast with her daughter.
During the summer break, I was (working from) home with three kids by my side, so trust me when I say, I’d take any and all the help I can get. I love when my sister visits because there’s no one better at keeping the kids entertained than her. However, last year she moved to B.C., so this year I took the kids to her. We didn’t road trip to B.C. from Ontario because my sanity wouldn’t survive that kind of travel with three kids. Instead, we flew from from Toronto to Victoria. My sister owns a car, butit’s a Nissan Kicks, and while it’s perfect for her and all her midwifery equipment, it’s far too small for her plus my family of five. The obvious thing to do was rent a minivan, right? If only it were that simple…
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Renting a vehicle through a well-known car rental company used to be the simplest way. Unfortunately, finding a minivan to rent from the airport in Victoria, B.C. proved to be far more difficult than I expected, in fact, it was quite literally impossible as none of the traditional car companies had a minivan available, despite searching two months in advance of the trip.
Fortunately, today we’ve got far more options when it comes to needing a vehicle. I was able to book a minivan using Turo and the host even brought it to the airport for us, which is exactly where we also dropped it off at the end of our trip. It was convenient.
Sure, you may have a friend or family member willing to lend you their vehicle, and that would likely be the cheapest option since your main expense would be fuel, but that won’t always be an option. Let’s take a closer look at three specific ways to get behind the wheel of a vehicle that doesn’t involve having/using your own: Turo, car-sharing and traditional car rental companies.
If you’ve used Airbnb, then you’ve got the basic idea of Turo. Instead of owning a house that people can rent for a period of time, Turo is full of car owners who are willing to let others rent out their vehicles for a period of time. Costs will vary across the site (as it would on Airbnb) based on the size of the vehicle, the make and model, timing and duration of your requested rental, etc.
You can use the desktop site or download an app that is surprisingly simple to use, but I still prefer using the computer because it’ll let you open several tabs at a time to compare different options. Enter in some preferred booking dates in the dropdown, scroll through listings in specific areas and narrow down the search using various filters like vehicle type, year, make, and more. I used Turo last year to find a Tesla Model Y to review; a Turo representative suggested booking with an “All-Star Host,” someone who is top-rated and has experience with bookings. You don’t need to do this, but it definitely adds some peace of mind. You’ll need to add some sort of protection plan and there are also a few add-on options the host can offer, such as a car seat or phone mount, at their own set prices.
Note that Turo won’t always be the cheapest option but there’s more variety across the site to likely find something within a slightly better price range than the fixed prices from traditional rental companies (unless you have a discount code, but that’s a whole other story). We’ll dive deeper into pricing in a bit.
Car-sharing is likely the most affordable and eco-friendly option depending on your needs, however, it’s not likely to be the option for you if you’re only looking for a vehicle for a weekend getaway or week-long road trip. Instead, car-sharing sites like Communauto offer several tiered memberships for those in need of access to a car (more on pricing below), which they can pick up within their neighbourhood at any time. It’s billed based on your membership tier and then by time and kilometres traveled during the trip.
Car rental companies operate out of many different areas, including airports, making it simple for passengers to rent/reserve a car following their flight. Companies, such as Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, etc, rent out their vehicles to customers needing access to a car for a short period of time — anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks.
They offer variety from their maintained and updated fleets and pricing will fluctuate depending on the size of the vehicle needed, as well as the option of a luxury car or not. A person can choose which location they’d like to pick-up their vehicle from, as well as where they’d like to drop it off, as many of these companies have branches in many different areas.
Rental companies buy new cars directly from the auto manufacturers and many times, they’re bought in bulk.
Let’s preface this by saying every car rental scenario will differ and cost will not only depend on the type of vehicle, but also the location of the rental, as well as other varying factors.
Technically speaking, car-sharing is the cheapest option per day. A free membership offers $13 per hour of driving (maximum charge of $55 per day) and includes a maximum of 75 kilometres per trip; it costs 30 cents per km after that. Choosing the Value membership option costs $5 a month, but lets you use the vehicle for $4.50 per hour of driving (maximum charge of $35 per day) plus 47 cents per km, and 34 cents per km after 50 km driven.
That said, as established, if you’re looking for a weekend getaway car, car-sharing might not be the best option for you. In that case, you’ll have to weigh your options and decide how much you’re willing to spend. Using Turo and Avis, I entered the dates Oct. 16-19 with a pick-up and drop-off location at Pearson Airport in Toronto, Ont.
Let’s take a closer look at Turo, first. You can filter the results by daily price, vehicle make and model, year, seats, and more. I searched for a minivan (duh) and landed on a 2020 Honda Odyssey from an All-Star Host allowing 900 kilometres for the trip. The total cost showed $376.02 before adding in a protection plan or any extras. Looking for something more upscale? There’s also a 2024 BMW X4 for just under $600 for that same time frame. Turo also has some classic car options for those looking to spice things up, but that’ll definitely add to the cost.
Also note that on Turo, owners can set and adjust their prices as they see fit, so you may find two similar vehicles from the same area for entirely different prices.
Now, for Avis: You can’t pick your exact vehicle but you can pick from different segments such as Economy, Standard car, Minivan, Premium SUV, Signature Series or Mystery, which would get you vehicles similar to a Mitsubishi Mirage, Chevrolet Malibu, Chrysler Pacifica, GMC Yukon, BMW X5 or a literal mystery, respectively. Depending on your choice, there’s an option to pay now or pay at the counter; paying “now” gets you a discount. A Chrysler Pacifica will cost a total of $624.17, quite a bit higher than the Turo minivan option for the same dates and same pick-up location, and here you’ll get 600 km included plus 20 cents per additional kilometre traveled. A Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 for the same time frame would cost $522.47. All that said, keep in mind that Avis and other well-known car rental companies often offer certain discounts with a code provided by some companies or other affiliated partner programs like Perkopolis.
If cost is most important to you when choosing a vehicle, then I’d strongly recommend opening a few tabs and doing some side-by-side comparisons. After nailing down your preferred price point, what’s most important to you? Are you looking for a specific vehicle? Something vintage? Something with a certain number of seats? If the answer to all the above is no, then maybe try your luck with that mystery option from Avis that has a price of $264.82 and unlimited free kilometres.
As previously mentioned, traditional car companies are more likely to offer certain discounts throughout the year and for different corporations. You’re also more likely to get a bit of in-person service at some point, and sometimes that makes the world of difference. However, Turo points out on its site that with an app-based experience, there’s no waiting in lines and you’ll get the exact vehicle you’ve chosen, no mystery.
That said, one of the pros and cons of choosing Turo is dealing with an owner. It’s nice to give back to a local business or person, but in the same way that life tends to sneak up on us and we may have to cancel a road trip, your host may endure a similar experience and cancel plans, leaving you without the chosen vehicle.
While many popular car rental companies have numerous retail locations throughout the country, you will need to pick up and drop off at specific locations. Turo has numerous pick-up locations and sometimes the host will bring the vehicle to a specific destination for you (much like our host did for us when we arrived at the Victoria, B.C., airport), sometimes there will be an extra fee for this convenience, but not all the time.
Something that has made its way through the news circuit is ensuring some sort of damage protection because many customers have been left paying for certain damage they claimed was not their fault. While it’s definitely a good idea to take pictures of your vehicle upon picking it up, Turo allows for this exact thing on its app. It encourages you to take lots of exterior and interior pictures to ensure something doesn’t come back to bite you in the butt. Additionally, at the end of your trip, you can retake all of the photos to prove nothing happened to the vehicle during the trip; it’s a great way to ensure damage protection as everything is dated in the system.
Each option definitely has its pros and cons and your specific needs for a rental car will help you decide which is the best option for you. (Also note, some rental companies have certain eligibility requirements for drivers so you’ll need to ensure you meet those standards before signing anything.)
Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer but overall, if you’re looking for:
Which car rental services are your favourite? Let us know in the comments.
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