One Turo host’s experience renting her Tesla is just another addition to the pile of horror stories surrounding the car rental service. Chelsea Espejo (@chelsea_devinn_) shared her “worst Turo experience” she had as a host. Her nightmare has spawned a four-part saga on TikTok, earning more than 100,000 views combined.
A Turo nightmare
Turo is a peer-to-peer car rental service, often dubbed the “Airbnb of cars.” Several social media users have gone viral after sharing their less-than-stellar experiences with the platform–both renters and hosts.
In this situation, Espejo is the one who had to file a claim with the company.
In her initial viral TikTok, Espejo shares how she had one booking ending on Monday, with the next booking being on Friday. To make some extra money, Espejo decided to list her Tesla at a cheaper rate on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Immediately, a renter booked the Tesla from Tuesday to Wednesday. But then red flags started going off.
‘I got a message from the renter’
“I got a message from the renter to bring it to a nearby park,” Espejo shares. The TikToker clarifies she never does pick-ups and drop-offs, and lets the renter know this. Espejo was already suspicious of the renter after he claimed to have spotty service, which she says was unheard of with other customers.
Espejo lives in a gated community that requires a code to get in, and explains all this to the renter.
Eventually, the renter asks her to just bring it to the leasing office, to which Espejo agrees.
Once the renter picks up the Tesla on Tuesday, he lets Espejo know that he might extend for another 24 hours. She assures him that’s fine, as long as he’s back before Friday.
However, she did not expect things to take a turn.
‘He tells me he’s 7 hours away’
The scheduled time to return the Tesla rolls around, and the renter is nowhere to be seen. Espejo pings him, and the renter asks her to call him on the phone.
“He tells me he’s 7 hours away in Arizona and wants to know if he can extend for an additional 24 hours,” Espejo says. “Mind you, we’re at 4:30pm on Thursday and we have a renter on Friday at 11:30am.”
Espejo calls Turo in a panic, and they ask her if she can extend the renter’s booking to 7:30am to give him time to bring it back.
Espejo agreed, after all she had no other choice, but said she was already “not trusting” of this person.
The renter thanked her and promised to bring it back by then.
It gets worse
The next day, Espejo hears nothing from the renter. She checks her Tesla’s location and notes it is back in San Diego, but 30 minutes away from her. The renter doesn’t answer her or Turo’s call. At this point, there won’t be enough time to have the rental ready for the new customer, so Turo finds a replacement rental for them.
“That trip that I was supposed to have scheduled was like $150,” she says. “Because it was for the weekend, a 3.5-day trip.” The trip was booked 2 months in advance, and Espejo lamented the fact that she lost that booking because of the previous driver.
Around 3pm, Espejo gets a message from Turo. Apparently, the renter who had ghosted them earlier in the day wants Espejo to pick up the car at his house.
“Mind you, I am a single woman, no family, no one to help me,” Espejo says. “I’m not going there alone. It’s a hostile situation at this point.”
She tells Turo she will not be picking up the Tesla. Then the renter messages her saying he has four children and can’t drop it off.
The renter ends up returning the car on Saturday evening. He left it on the side of the road, and Espejo didn’t notice until hours later. Once she has the car back inside the complex, she notices that it smells of marijuana smoke.
In the end, Espejo rates the trip 3 stars despite being very upset about the situation. However, the renter did not give her the same grace.
“Worst experience,” the renter posted in his 1-star review on Turo. He shares his own version of events and lists several things he had issues with such as dirty interior, exterior, instructions, punctuality, and more.
But wait, there’s more
To prepare for Monday’s booking, Espejo starts cleaning the car on Sunday. This is when she discovers what she claims are marijuana crumbs inside the center console. She promptly snaps a photo and sends it to Turo as proof of smoking. A smoking fee, she says, is $150. However, Turo does not approve the fee since they can’t confirm whether it is truly marijuana. At the very least, Turo removes the renter’s 1-star review.
Espejo concludes her four-part series questioning whether she wants to continue renting on Turo.
“The money definitely doesn’t outweigh the amount of effort and work and stress that goes into it,” she says.
@chelsea_devinn_ ♬ original sound – C H E L S E A
In the end, the renter ended up paying $70 for the late return fee, which Espejo says is not nearly enough for what she went through.
The Mary Sue reached out to Turo and Espejo via email.
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