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BHPian zubin245 shared this recently with enthusiasts.
Hello everyone! As promised, I’m here to share my first reports (2018-19) with car-sharing company Turo.
Let me start off by saying the Canadian Dream is basically the American Dream with free Healthcare.
It’s worth noting Ontario’s tax scenario: almost everything is taxed at 13%, I won’t take that into account when talking about vehicle prices.
Anyway, when I got to the North Pole to pursue my Canadian dream, I had to leave a lot of luggage in Delhi and move here. Aside from the obvious, friends and family, I had to abandon my family’s fleet. Technically, those cars were mine; My parents had worked hard for them, but I had the privilege of driving them. Our garage in 2016 included:
2010 Ford Effort 4×2 2. 5 MT
2009 Escapade Scorpion 4×2 MT
2010 Toyota Corolla Altis G Gasoline MT
Mitsubishi Lancer GLX Diesel 1999 (SOLD in 2012, when I was a freshman at the university in Jaipur. His loss has affected me the most since I learned to drive that car and hoped to take it with me. )
Looking ahead, I said goodbye with the utmost honesty to those valuable vehicles, which marked the beginning of a new bankruptcy in 2016. I earned my master’s degree from the prestigious University of Toronto while juggling part-time jobs to cover my expenses.
Most of the friends I’ve made through those jobs have chosen the (reckless) direction of financing their first vehicle with a $0 down payment, settling for unreasonable financing rates (especially for Canada) with long terms, such as 7-8 years. Some of us even finance new cars on those terms.
After researching, I understood the tactics used by those dealerships to take advantage of them and searched for the most suitable monetary package for my situation. I had a few cars in mind and was looking for a car that qualified to be used through Uber. (It’s vital to note that I come from humble beginnings and only focused on making ends meet. )
In 2018, after completing my graduation, while searching for a stable job, I narrowed down my car options specifically for Uber use, until I secured a more permanent opportunity.
The option of the Evo seemed a long way off. Canada has an import rule that allows cars over 15 years old to be imported into the country, but this was rare at the time. In addition, insuring a 22-year-old with only one right-hand drive (RHD) vehicle from Japan was simply due to the lack of available insurance features (he didn’t know this market was about to explode). I’ll save that story for another time; stay tuned for Evo’s thread (Yes!I’m running on it too. )
Now let’s talk about Ontario car insurance, which is among the most expensive in the world. They are not likely to insure other people under the age of 25, let alone something as unconventional as an imported car with the “wrong” (read “good”) look. It’s very difficult to think about, so I abandoned this plan.
As for choosing between the other three vehicles, my focus was on the Civic and Elantra (either), but the Outlander served as a reliable backup option. We’ve been able to experience Mitsubishi’s reliability and versatility firsthand thanks to you owning it with a close friend (the white Outlander in the Endeavor photos above).
After driving through corridor after corridor and almost settling for a blue 2016 Civic EX-T priced at about $19,000, I learned the monetary strain that would come with being a recent graduate.
Disappointed by this realization, I opted for the cheaper alternative—the Outlander. A white 2011 with only 80,000km caught my eye online at a Dodge Dealership in Brampton (Yes, the stories are real). It was listed for $17,000. So, like a novice, I headed to the dealership, unaware of what awaited me. This marked my first real encounter with a salesperson, and let me tell you, the cliché of a pushy salesman was spot-on. From the moment I stepped in, I felt pressured to buy the car, which turned me off completely. Despite the car’s low mileage, they kept pressing me, claiming another buyer was also interested at the same time and whoever puts their offer in first will get dibs. The car needed extensive work, including new tires and brakes, so I decided to make it easy for them and got up and left.
Driven by frustration, I drove to the nearest Mitsubishi dealership, expecting a similar experience, not even knowing if they had the car I wanted. To my surprise, I was greeted warmly and the dealership was not stressed in any way. He temporarily checked his stock and discovered a 2013 model with 105,000 km (a moderate mileage in Canada, considering widespread highway driving, which averages 50 km/trip or more). Adding to the excitement was the GT version, priced at around $16,000. Trying it, I was hooked. I asked him for a day or two to think about it and he was understanding.
Returning two days later with my Uncle to seal the deal, I tried to leverage his experience as an adept negotiator, buying cars in Canada since the early 2000s. We started off our shrewd negotiations with an initial offer of $14,000. To our surprise they countered with $14,900 (instant $1,100 drop). After two hours of back-and-forth, we hit a deadlock at $14,400 from my end and $14,700 from theirs. We had to walk away, assuming they might get a full-price offer, and I’d lose the car for good. Two more days passed, and they called back offering it for $14,700 yet again. I politely declined, countering with $14,500. After an hour, they called back with yet another refusal (to my frustration) but a compromise at $14,600. I decided to go for it. Papers were signed, and I initiated financing with a $5,000 down payment and 5.99% financing over a five year term (a decision I would NEVER make again in hindsight).
Fantastic! I now own the vehicle and it’s August 2018. Like any other 24-year-old juggling a newly financed vehicle with monthly bills and probably unaffordable insurance, I signed up as an Uber driver. After working for about a month until September 2018, I landed a full-time job a stone’s throw from home. This meant that I didn’t really want the vehicle during the week, but only for my free time on the weekends. At first I had thought about renting the vehicle from Turo (a car-sharing platform) when I bought the vehicle. However, as a vehicle enthusiast, the concept of letting someone else drive my most precious asset didn’t sit well with me. But now, with a monthly commitment of more than $500 and a new assignment that didn’t offer a living wage, it was obvious that owning the vehicle was still a luxury I couldn’t afford.
I first discovered Turo through one of Doug DeMuro’s videos in 2015, and it was introduced in Canada the following year, in 2016. I rented a 2013 BMW 328i in the spring of 2018 and was very inspired by the concept and diversity of cool vehicles. on the platform.
As for insurance and Turo, I understood the desire to have a number one insurance policy for my vehicle, covering daily driving, deliveries, refueling, and maintenance. Turo protection, while not technically insurance still works the same way, kicks in at the start of the rental trip. It covers any physical damage caused to the vehicle while it is in the renter’s possession. This policy provides $2,000,000 in liability and imposes a $0 deductible for maintenance of damages on my part. Initially, when I started in 2018, Turo would deduct 30% from the base rate set for my vehicle. Over time, this deduction was reduced to 25% under the same conditions.
I’ll talk about other shared commission plans later in my story, as they’re recent additions to the platform. Similarly, I’ll talk about damages, payment strategies for repairs, and how they were replaced over the years. parts of my story.
So, on the first Friday of September 2018, I put the Outlander up for sale on Turo. The next morning, I woke up to a reservation request for the entire weekend: Boom!$150. This eliminated a third of my monthly obligations in a single weekend!Hmmm, sounds promising.
Luckily, though, I had to go to the next city to paint shortly after September 2018, so I reluctantly put the Turo directory on hold for the time being.
Fast forward to New Year’s Eve (2018-19), my parents expressed a preference for a layover in Canada for about 6 months and would like a vehicle instead of relying on me to drive them. Having heard about Turo through me, I was recommended to buy some. another vehicle and rented it from Turo when they were abroad, blocking it when they were here. That gave me an idea! Under the agreement that the vehicle would be his, I would manage it on Turo and credit his account with the expected vehicle proceeds. But now the question arose: WHICH CAR?
Based on my initial list, when I selected the vehicles, I settled on the cheapest Civic and Elantra in the province. Surprisingly, the Civic was much more expensive than I expected, just about $18,000 for a car with 120,000 km on the odometer. However, I stumbled upon a low-mileage gem (a 2017 Elantra GL with just 36,000 km) at a Kia dealership about an hour’s drive from my home. With a price tag of $16,000, its value dropped to $15,500, that’s when I went to see it. I tried it. I sent him in the bitter bloodbath of January 2019, corresponded with my parents about his condition, and paid a deposit.
The dealership promised me that the vehicle would be ready in a week and the full cash payment, wired from my parents in India, was made on delivery day.
I relaunched my Turo account by adding the second vehicle with fewer restrictions. Given the peak of winter, there were almost no bookings until February 2019, when we won our first booking in the middle of a snowstorm, which terrified me. Never see the car again! Thankfully, he was back in really good shape and things started to pick up momentum from there.
Both were left covered in snow after a primary snow storm.
I should mention, this entire time I lived in Downtown Toronto in a room within a dated house at the edge of Chinatown. Parking was a hassle even with a street parking permit, and there was no on-site parking on the property.
Managing parking, renting at least one car, and commuting to work, which used to take more than forty-five minutes each way, has become increasingly complicated (where does that leave us?). So, in March 2019, I moved to the neighboring township of Etobicoke (pronounced Etobicoke), as I was financially able to own my own condo in a giant building, just a 5-minute drive from work.
Move-in day!
Despite considerations about reduced bookings after moving from downtown to the suburbs, my strategic location on the outskirts of downtown turned out to be an exclusive advantage. Readily available via public transportation, I am able to meet the desires of tenants in the downtown domain and in my neighborhood. Bookings started coming in: one-week bookings, three-week bookings, and bookings with deliveries. I was on a roll! My vehicle selection also played a vital role; The Elantra’s modern features and fuel economy have made it a sought-after rental car. It was an instant hit in my domain!
In fact, when I moved into my condo building, I discovered that there were two car washes available in our underground parking lot. A bay allows for basic fumigation and is completely free for all residents. The second bay is coin-operated and provides fumigation. , foam and wax services. To manage my expenses, I chose to bring my own soapy solution and used a two-bucket method to wash the cars, as well as a portable vacuum cleaner to clean the interior of the car, reducing my overhead. .
In May 2019, when bookings were going well, it was time for my parents to arrive. I had to block the availability of the vehicle at least until the end of October. When my parents looked at the vehicle’s source of income, they were amazed at how much they had earned in just five months. After much discussion, as a family, we thought it would be a smart concept to continue renting the vehicle and using it as soon as it becomes available.
Once again, the close proximity of my new workplace to home, made me think about renting out the Outlander. My parents advocated strongly for it since it was their suggestion. I needed little convincing; I was already sold. Within the next two months, I rarely saw these two cars for more than a day at a time—they were constantly rented out. So much so that I paid off the Outlander loan by early July. In this time, my mom, dad, brother, and I contemplated the potential and debated if I should get a third vehicle.
Adding a third vehicle was a huge commitment. Although my monthly insurance premium decreased slightly due to a reduction of several vehicles after the second vehicle, it remained relatively high. However, in 2019, at the age of 25 and after leaving the city, I witnessed a 30% relief in insurance rates for both cars combined. This prompted me to add a third vehicle.
At the time, he had two vehicles, both without privileges. When my parents visited me, I had managed to save a very large amount of money by reducing my expenses, avoiding unnecessary expenses, and making an investment.
I wanted to explore more than just the midsize SUV and budget sedan I already owned. The concept of a luxury sedan, specifically a BMW 3 Series, intrigued me as I enjoyed the taste of the F30’s chassis, having noticed that my superiors were driving frames. Therefore, I must explore the features at a BMW dealership.
I deserve to point out why I was thinking about corporate used car dealerships at the time. The answer was clear: They know the products they sell, and qualified used cars usually come with a 30-day warranty. For example, when my Outlander needed a new left rear shock and a new 12V car battery shortly after delivery, all maintenance was covered free of charge. This confidence in purchasing qualified used cars has fostered confidence, and I use this strategy to purchase reliable used vehicles. automobiles, even today.
Back to the hunt for the BMW, I did some research and found that the 2014 and up model year had the updated iDrive system with the bigger center knob and the wide screen so I decided to look for a 2014 3 series optioned with at least the 10″ iDrive and projector headlights. I found one at the local Toronto BMW dealer with only 80,000 clicks listed for $20,000. Additionally, they were offering 1.49% financing for 3 years and since I was putting more than half the value as a down payment, my monthly payment was going to be super low and I wouldn’t be in negative equity during my loan term.
Excited, I rushed to the dealership and discovered that the vehicle had been sold out a few hours earlier. Disappointed, I found out that the dealership helped me anyway. They showed me a stock of over a hundred F30 Series 3 vehicles, from 2012 to 2017. After a lot of road testing and comparisons, I opted for a 2013 328i. It was well equipped with heated steering wheel and seats, the latest generation 10″ iDrive and aftermarket headlights. Although it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, it met my criteria to some extent. Now, for the fun part: it was indexed at $14,707. That’s because they gave him 160,000 My first reaction was to run away, but then I even thought: what’s the point of a low-mileage vehicle, especially if it’s primarily intended for rental?Perhaps having a less intact object can be less painful in case of damage. .
While concerned about the maintenance history, the previous owner appeared to be an enthusiast. I was presented with a comprehensive binder of service records, probably the size of a phone book with detailed records and interactions of the previous owner with the service department. I’m not going to go through all the details of the records but a notable mention is the transmission replacement at 70,000km under warranty. Apart from that, the meticulous adherence to scheduled maintenance quite frankly, blew me away. It really motivated me to move ahead with the deal. Also, one quick phone call to my local mechanic who happened to be a BMW specialist, confirmed that the vehicle was well looked after and to go ahead and pull the trigger. And so I did, they got the papers ready and the entire amount was covered in cash.
The transaction involved no negotiations as BMW follows a no-haggle, best-price policy. It’s their rock-bottom price to ensure the best price for the customer and a decent commission for them. Initially skeptical, I later learned from Your Auto Advocate YouTube videos that some dealerships indeed operate under this model and there is actually no more room to lower the price.
The delivery was to be made within a week, according to popular procedure, and the agonizing wait began. To prevent this, the vehicle was supplied with all-weather floor coverings, a boon for Canadian roads as they clean the carpet of salt stains. All of the front finish was also PPF (Front Ffinisher, Hood and Front Bumconsistent), which was a $1,900 investment I didn’t have to make.
With regards to parking, the pressure intensified as I had to find space for three cars with only one designated parking spot and limited visitor parking, available merely 10 nights a month. Feeling the crunch, I decided it was time to explore renting an additional spot. I had noticed an empty spot next to mine on P2 since I moved in and decided to inquire about its ownership. Surprisingly, it belonged to an elderly lady residing a few floors below me who had never owned a car and hadn’t considered renting out the spot for extra income. Once again, I negotiated shrewdly and secured the spot for a monthly rent of $80, significantly below the market average of $120 a month. I assured her of prompt cash payment on the 1st of each month, starting from that month onwards.
New Parking Spot Acquired!!
The car was delivered as promised a week later, detailed so well that it really looked like a new vehicle. I listed it on Turo right away, fully expecting to be waiting a few weeks before our first booking. Ping! We got a booking on the first day. $134 for a day’s rental. Yes please!
Delivery day!
Now, it’s vital to mention that the non-original projector headlights installed by the previous owner were causing electronic failures from day one, in that I was randomly getting a low beam failure warning (and the dreaded BMW chime!). An appointment with BMW service to repair them, however, this new booking was made just before the car was scheduled to go into service. I was heartbroken at the thought of having to cancel the first reservation because of that stupid headlight. Reluctantly, I contacted the visitor about the situation, but he stood his ground and promised not to drive at night. So we agreed to continue. The vacation went without a hitch and despite the headlights not working, I got a perfect score.
I returned the car to BMW the next day and waited for their response. In my rookie mistake, I forgot to lock the car, which resulted in another reservation that I had to cancel. I temporarily blocked it until I received a response from the service center. A few days later, BMW informed me that because the car was originally supplied with halogens, the aftermarket HID ballast was causing problems. They upgraded the ballasts on both sides to be loose which made me very happy. However, after riding a lot over the next two weeks, CHIME! Headlight malfunction! Again?!!!! and my headlights start to flash. I warn and call my salesman, furious! He calmed down a lot and put the car back into service, no questions asked. After another agonizing week, I received a message that the headlight was defective. BMW would upgrade it with factory halogens, again at no cost. When I requested an upgrade from the factory projectors, I told him I would have to pay the full value of each component as this was considered an upgrade and cost a whopping $2,000 per side. I chose to stick with halogens, which ended up growing on me.
After resolving all the problems with the Bimmer, I relisted it on Turo. The business thrived from summer 2019 until October 2019, prompting my decision to buy-out the 2017 Elantra from my parents, thereby consolidating ownership of all three cars under my name. As my parents prepared to return to India, it became my responsibility to manage three cars alongside my full-time job and all my household chores. It was not going to be easy but I was fully prepared to take on the challenge.
Overall, our first year with the company was a wonderful learning experience. Generating enough profit in 2019 to pay off a car in full in the first year was a significant accomplishment. However, it is worth mentioning that at this point, the company was not self-sufficient. I was grateful for my full-time job, which allowed me to buy two more cars with money (my parents’ BMW and the 2017 Elantra). As the following parts of my story will reveal, these paintings played a pivotal role. by allowing me to invest and grow the business until it becomes self-sufficient, reaching the level it is at today.
Another key lesson from our first year is recognizing the seasonal nature of the business, as well as the highly variable weather situations in Canada. I saw a noticeable increase in bookings from May to September, followed by a slow decline in October and November. In short, an increase followed in December for the Christmas season, especially in the last two weeks of the year. January and February remain the slowest months, while March and April point to a peak season.
Throughout that first year, I transitioned from in-person transfers to remote pickups, taking advantage of our condo parking lot to streamline operations. Embracing remote transfers is crucial, especially since I would be managing and developing the business on my own until early 2022.
When the curtain closed on 2019, it marked not only the end of a vital year, but also the bankruptcy of my Turo business. These early reports laid the groundwork for the long-term evolution of my narrative, highlighting growth, challenges, and adaptations. of my adventure in the world of carpooling.
Fin
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