Car-sharing platform and app, Turo, continues its ongoing global expansion, announcing a move into the Australian market, providing travellers with another choice for vehicle hire in one of the biggest countries, with some of the most epic drives. The Turo App has already been updated with a wide selection now showing in major Australian cities.
Turo App Reaches Australia
If you’re unfamiliar with Turo, the platform is to car-hire what AirBnB is to the hotel sector. The Turo app now offers car rentals in over 7,500 cities in North America, the UK and now, Australia.
Taking on the Aussie market is an exciting and interesting move for the platform as this vast country is best explored by car and very, very long road trips. However, these tend to be from city to city and not start and end at the same location unless you take an extended break and tour the country.
Maybe that is Turo’s Australia 2.0 plan, and for now, they aim to win market share in the cities.
At launch, November 29th, Turo has hosts, people who rent their vehicles out on the platform, in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. This list will likely grow as hosts from other places around Australia sign up for the platform.
How Does Turo Compare
I picked a week in February next year, just as the summer should be starting to cool a little, to compare Turo rental prices out of Sydney against some of the big car hire brands, and I looked for a small to mid-sized SUV.
| Class | Mileage | Additional | Rental | |
| Turo | Mitsubishi ASX 2016 | 2,100km | A$ 0.16km | A$ 356 |
| Avis | Subaru Forester or similar | Unlimited | – | A$ 2,068 |
| Hertz | Mitsubishi ASX or similar | Unlimited | – | A$ 2,068 |
| Sixt | Mitsubishi ASX or similar | Unlimited | – | A$ 1,798 |
Admittedly, the big three would give you a newer model compared to the 2016 ASX I found on Turo, and they all offer unlimited kilometres.
The Turo rental was set at 2,100 km, but this is more than enough for a roundtrip to Melbourne for the week and even an excursion up the Gold Coast.
There are always local taxes, tolls and insurance levels you need to consider when hiring from any rental company, and this is only an example of the stated prices from each company for the selected dates. Avis, Hertz and Sixt offered slightly discounted prices on “Pay Now” options.
Why Turo
I’ve covered Turo’s expansion for several years, which has been a slow and steady growth mainly in the US and strengthening its offerings in the UK, so a move down under is tremendous growth.
As a petrolhead, the selection of cars Turo has is mouthwatering but does vary considerably by market. Sydney, at the moment, has the lion’s share of rentals, including two Bentley Continentals, BMW M3 and X3 models, plenty of Audi Q7 SUVs and even my personal favourite, a GT86!
If you’d prefer a dull and lifeless driving experience, there are plenty of electric cars too 🙂
Download the Turo App (Android | Apple) or visit turo.com to get started.
