Even before the last wave of price increases, car rental prices have skyrocketed. This year meets peak demand, so even those who are willing to pay will not always find a car available if they have not booked it months in advance, especially those looking for less common vehicles, such as automatic cars in Europe.
So you should always check if you can make the family trip by public transport, Europe has a network of heavy and light trains, costs and underground that also runs on weekends, and will save you not only expensive rent, but speed reports, entry into forbidden areas and parking that will chase you back. The rent imposes high fees on handling the report even before you have paid it. We have done such trips in recent years in Paris and Italy, but this time there was no choice.
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The Vauxhall offered in Toro
The late Bar Mitzvah trip to the British Isles did indeed include nine days in London, where a car is just a punishment, with an alternative to a metro network, buses and trains that one can only envy. But the plan also included a departure from the city, for five days to get to the National Automobile Museum in July, and a tour of the Beatles sites in Liverpool. “Just as Tel Aviv is not Israel, London does not represent England in terms of public transport availability, do not rely on it,” British family members warned us.
The large rental companies demanded £ 800 (NIS 3,300) for a compact family car for five days including full insurance, and that’s just because we were happy to choose one manually. Automatic gearbox required an extra £ 200 (NIS 830) and was not available at all companies.
So I looked at the Turo option, which allows you to rent a car from a local resident. Like Airbnb, only with cars. The company was founded in 2012, and in 2019, just before Corona, the American holding company Inter Active Corp. invested $ 250 million in it at a value of $ 1 billion. Despite talk of an IPO, the company has so far remained private, and last year reported that its rental fleet, which as mentioned belongs entirely to private individuals, stands at 350,000 cars.
Unlike all kinds of luxury rentals in Israel, Toro comes with insurance, and the company only operates in countries that allow a private person to rent their car, in the US, Canada and the UK. In Israel, for example, this is forbidden. You can choose between three levels of insurance. The deductible in the event of an accident is from £ 750 to £ 250, but can add up to 25% to the basic rental price. In the US in the high insurance class there is no deductible.
Unlike rental companies where the vehicles will usually be up to two years old, in the Toro you will also find 12-year-old cars, which of course lowers the cost, but attaches not really new cars, even if there is a filter designed to make sure they are well maintained.
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Unlike a classic rental, where you rent a car of a certain size, in Toro you can choose a specific car, just a car like you have in the country, or one you always wanted to try, up to the color level and equipment specifications, and where the car owner lives, to find one close to your hotel or apartment .
For £ 502 (NIS 2,200) for 5 days I found a Vauxol (Opel) Astra 1.6 liter turbo diesel manual 2016, both family and economical, and Adam, its owner, lives one kilometer from the apartment we rented. For the same price I could rent a Toyota Prius hybrid and automatic model 2018, or a Citroen 4C Grand Picasso 7 diesel manual from 2017. Smart for that period would have cost half the price, Tesla Model 3 would have cost 50% more. And there is also a range of Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Land Rover and Porsche models.
In Los Angeles you can now find Rolls Royce Ghost 2011 at $ 450 per day, or $ 1,530 for five, after a $ 272 discount on rentals for more than 3 days. There’s also the 2022 Chevrolet Corvette at $ 220 a day, or $ 792 for five. Struggling with the cost of living? The 2017 Toyota Camry will be yours for $ 39 a day, or $ 160 for five. And the highlight: the 2014 Hyundai Accent, at $ 35 per day / $ 140 for 5 days. Each car and its owner are rated with a score of 1 to 5 given to them by previous tenants, and each excellent vehicle has been rented several times through Toro.
Picking up was simple, the first drive through the streets of London while shifting gears with his left hand was a nightmare, but from there it only got better. After 5 days I used only 700 of the 1,000 miles (1,600 km) that were included in the price, I enjoyed a fuel consumption of about 20 km per liter, and a car that took us all the way to Stonehenge, and a private tour of the house where Paul McCartney grew up. Because of the traffic I was half an hour late for the original return date we set, a man made no interest, found no new scratches, and next time pointed to his BMW. During the rental he was available for my questions on vehicle operation.
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Even luxury cars
There are a few catches compared to renting at a big company. I had to return the vehicle to the person home, which led to an hour and a half drive from Heathrow, after I dropped the family off for the flight to Israel, while we are charged a new tax the port started charging in early July at £ 5 for unloading passengers in the field, and traveling through tax zone Congestion in the British capital (£ 19.5 for a diesel car if paid in advance, retrospective payment more expensive). Then back to the field on the Underground’s new Elizabeth line, which took even more than an hour.
In addition, there are no branches and road services: in the event of a malfunction, you should contact the app that will instruct you on how to handle it, and a wear and tear malfunction such as a puncture that will require a tire replacement may require you to deduct. The Astra I received was clean and refueled, but there could be glitches with other landlords.
All this in addition to the dubious pleasure of driving on the left, on camera-rich roads that measure average speed, and within London, there is also a speed limit of 20 miles (32 km / h) that there are on many roads. But Toro can no longer be blamed for that.
Three years ago I rented like this from James Tesla a 3-year-old model for 24 hours in Los Angeles, driving that then cost $ 210 including full insurance and prepayment for 100% battery charging in case I did not have enough myself. Even then the rent went smoothly. So I got a credit card-like plastic card that is used for entry and exit, today Toro already allows you to use the app for that purpose, as Tesla owners do. Today you can find a Model 3 from 2018 for about $ 100 per day or $ 400 for five. In the US Toro also offers road services for an additional fee.
Bottom line: If you are willing to compromise on convenience in pick-up and return, and greater preoccupation in the event of a breakdown on the road, Toro offers an interesting and discounted alternative to established rental companies, and a much larger and more accurate range for your motor needs and fantasies.