Turo Delivered in the UK: Is Offering Delivery Worth It for Hosts?

Turo Delivered could win UK hosts a lot of new bookings this winter, but only if delivery does not eat your week.

In September, Turo announced Turo Delivered, a new way for guests to search for cars that come to them at a hotel, home, airport or train station, with the delivery price shown up front. It launches in November across the US, UK, France, Canada and Australia.

The demand is there. Turo says bookings with delivery to a hotel or home address have grown 32% this year. But delivery is also the most labour-intensive thing you can offer, and it comes with a risk most UK hosts have never read about.

What changes with Turo Delivered

Hosts have offered delivery for years: up to 10 set locations such as airports, stations and hotels, plus custom delivery within a radius you choose. The catch was one fixed radius, one price, and guests had to dig to find it.

Turo Delivered puts delivery at the centre of search:

• Guests start with where they want the car and see what can be brought there.
• Hosts get multiple delivery zones with pricing that rises with distance.
• You can charge properly for a 40-minute drive rather than averaging it out.

In the UK, hosts keep 90% of the delivery fee they set. You can also offer free delivery on longer trips to win bookings.

The insurance gap most hosts miss

Read this part twice. According to Turo’s help centre, UK hosts receive no liability or physical damage cover from Turo during any part of the delivery period. When you drive the car to the guest, and when you collect it, Turo’s protection does not apply.

Your own insurance has to cover those journeys. Check your policy covers driving the car for this purpose. If anyone else delivers cars for you, check they are covered too. An accident on the way to a delivery with no valid cover is a very expensive mistake.

The real cost of a delivery

Delivery fees look like extra income. Often they are not, once you count everything. A single delivery and collection usually means:

• Driving the car there and getting yourself home again by train, bus, taxi or a lift
• Doing the same in reverse at the end of the trip
• Parking or drop-off charges at airports, stations and some hotels
• Your time, often at awkward hours

Work out what a typical delivery costs you before setting your price. Two hours of your time, two train fares and an airport drop-off charge add up fast. If your fee does not cover that, you are paying guests to book you.

How to price delivery

Price delivery like a job, not a favour. Start with what one delivery and collection actually costs you, then add a margin.

Here is an illustrative example for a 15-mile delivery to an airport. Use your own figures:

At 90% of the fee, you would need to charge around £75 just to break even. Charge £85 to £95 and delivery starts to earn.

With multiple zones, set a price for each distance band rather than one flat fee. Close zones can be cheap enough to win bookings. Further zones should carry the full cost, or they quietly lose you money on every trip.

Free delivery can still make sense on longer trips, where the rental income covers the cost several times over. Just do the maths first.

How to make delivery work without being there

Hosts who make delivery profitable remove the parts that need them in a specific place at a specific time.

Drop early, not on the dot

With keyless access, you do not need to meet the guest. Leave the car in the agreed spot when it suits you, send the exact location, and the guest unlocks it with their phone on arrival. A delayed flight is no longer your problem. More in our post on Turo remote access.

Collect when it suits you

The same applies at the end. The guest locks up and leaves. You collect later that day.

Know exactly where the car is

Airport and hotel car parks are big and confusing. A tracker shows precisely where the guest left the car, so collection does not turn into a search.

Protect a car that sits unattended

A car parked alone at an airport or station is a target, especially a keyless one. An immobiliser and tracking mean it is not an easy one. Our guide to protecting Turo vehicles from theft goes further.

Batch your runs

If you run several cars, plan deliveries and collections so one trip covers more than one job.

Where delivery pays in the UK

Delivery works best where guests arrive without a car and do not want to travel to yours.

• Airports. The obvious one. Guests landing at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh or Glasgow are the most likely to pay for a car waiting for them.
• Mainline stations. Travellers arriving by train for a weekend away or a business trip.
• Hotels and holiday lets. Guests who want a car for part of their stay, not the whole trip.
• Homes. People between cars, or visitors staying with family who need wheels for a few days.

Each comes with practical questions. Check airport rules and charges for dropping off and collecting cars. Ask hotels whether a car can be left in their car park, and for how long. A car left somewhere it should not be can be clamped or towed before the guest arrives.

Is it worth it?

Delivery makes most sense if:

• You are near a busy airport, station or hotel area where guests do not want to cross town
• You run keyless access, so delivery does not mean waiting around
• You have checked your insurance covers delivery driving
• Your price covers your real cost, not just fuel

If you rely on meeting guests in person with a physical key, delivery will probably cost more time than it is worth. If your cars are set up to be handed over without you, Turo Delivered could be one of the easiest ways to win more bookings this winter.

Traknova makes delivery work without you standing in a car park. Keyless handover, live location and immobilisers for every car on one dashboard.

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