Step-by-step Process to Build the Next Car Rental Powerhouse Like Turo

Quick Summary: Launch your car rental platform like Turo with this step-by-step guide! Explore market research, unique selling points, and app development essentials. Craft a user-friendly platform with top features, a robust front end, and a secure back end. Buckle up and transform the car rental industry with your innovative marketplace.

Car rental platforms have revolutionized the way people travel. They have become a go-to solution for those who seek cost-effectiveness, convenience, and variety of cars. Turo, one of the leading car rental platforms, has made its mark in this industry by providing engaging features and the right solutions to its users.

With over 14 million users, Turo has become a necessity for many travelers worldwide. If you are considering building a car rental platform similar to Turo, you have come to the right place.

In this blog, we will guide you through the step-by-step process of creating a car rental platform that can become the next big thing in the industry. So, let’s get started.

11 Steps to Build a Car Rental Platform Like Turo

Follow these 11 simple yet crucial steps to create a P2P car rental platform that provides a seamless user experience and robust solutions to the users. With careful planning and step-by-step execution, you can create a successful car rental platform that connects car owners with renters and earns you handsome profits. So, let’s get started with the first step.

1. Begin With Market Research and Identifying USPs

Your first step towards building a car rental platform like Turo should be deep market research. Find out the demand for this platform in your target market, what type of people need this, and the exact solution they need. During this process, you also need to figure out who your target audience is and the exact solution they need.

The below shared stats prove that the demand for car rental platforms is going to rise.

Along with the market research, you also need to identify your business USPs. You can do it by looking at the market gaps and solutions that have not yet entered the market. 

For instance, some USPs of the Turo app include:

• Peer-to-peer car rentals: Skip the rental counter and rent directly from local car owners.
• Unique car selection: Find anything from luxury vehicles to sporty convertibles to family-friendly minivans.
• Competitive prices: Often cheaper than traditional car rentals, especially for longer trips.
• Convenient delivery options: Get the car delivered to you or pick it up at the owner’s location.
• Flexible booking: Rent cars for hours, days, or even weeks.
• 24/7 roadside assistance: Peace of mind knowing you’re covered in case of emergencies.
• Secure platform: Verified hosts and insured rentals for a safe and reliable experience.
• Community-driven: Read reviews and connect with other Turo users.
• No hidden fees: Transparent pricing with all costs upfront.
• Earn money by renting your own car: Turn your unused car into a source of income.
• Eco-friendly alternative to traditional car rentals, supporting a sharing economy model.

2. Choose A Business Model that Matches Your Business Requirements

Once you know your target audience and USPs, the second step is to pick the right business model for the platform. To build the best rental car apps, you must select an appropriate business model that is easy to use and meets the customers’ demands.

You could either build a native app or a cross-platform app based on your budget and business requirements. 

Let’s look at the Turo business model to understand better how this industry works.

→ Turo uses a peer-to-peer business model for the car rental industry. It links car owners with those who are searching to hire cars. Renters may explore available vehicles, choose their preferred vehicle, and schedule the rental using the app. Owners post their cars on the platform.

In addition to facilitating the transaction and offering insurance, Turo also provides other services like roadside assistance. A portion of the rental cost from the owner and an additional charge from the renter is how the business makes money. Through the use of the sharing economy, this model gives owners of idle vehicles a way to make money while providing renters access to a large range of cars at affordable rates.

Other than the P2P car rental platform, you can also build on-demand taxi booking app like Uber or carpooling apps like BlaBla. These two popular models have also gained a major share in the market, fulfilling the specific demands of the target audience.

3. Focus on App Design and User Experience

App design and user experience are two of the most important factors in making your car rental platform a success. The reports have stated that about 90% of users stopped using an app because of its bad performance.

Your app design must be simple yet engaging to ensure that app users can easily navigate from one feature to another. Further, the design should also match your brand tone, giving it a unique look.

Some tips while designing your app design for a better user experience are:

• Design a clear and intuitive navigation system
• Maintain a consistent app design
• Simplify user input to reduce errors
• Use visual hierarchy like size, color, and placement
• Optimize load times for a better user experience
• Add personalized features wherever possible

The images below show how well the Turo app is designed, guaranteeing that its users always get an excellent experience.

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4. Choose the Right Features

Once you have worked on the UI/UX of the app, it is equally important that you choose the right app features. When building a P2P car rental platform like Turo, you have to ensure that both car owners and users can easily connect for a quick process. Further, each app should consist of all the necessary feature sets.

When creating the car rental app, you need to build three solutions, each for customers, car owners, and admin. Hence, the features for each app would vary based on their role and demands. 

At ValueAppz, we specialize in building a car rental platform that provides the perfect solution through engaging features. Connect with our team today to discuss how we can customize the features for your brand.

The table below shows the must-have features for each app.

Feature	Customer App	Admin App	Car Owner App
User Authentication	User registration/login	Admin login	Owner registration/login
Car Search	Browse available cars	View all listings	Manage listed vehicles
Booking	Reserve/book a car	Manage reservations	Receive booking requests
Profile Management	Update personal information	User management	Manage owner profile
Payment Integration	Secure payment processing	Payment tracking	Receive payment notifications
Notification System	Booking confirmations	System alerts	Booking and status updates
Rental History	View past reservations	View past reservations	View rental history
Rate and Review	Rate and review rented cars	Monitor user feedback	Respond to user reviews
GPS and Navigation	Find rental location	Monitor fleet locations	Track rented vehicles
Support and Help Center	Contact customer support	Handle support tickets	Contact support for issues
Document Upload	Upload required documents	Document verification	Submit necessary documents
Admin Tools	N/A	Analytics and reporting	Manage user accounts
Content Management	N/A	Update terms and conditions	N/A

Adding these features will ensure that users and car owners get the perfect solution from your app, hence bringing in more customers.

➡️ Learn the must-have features for a car pooling app with our in-depth blog.

5. Select the Right Technology

Choosing the right tech stack for your car rental platform like Turo is another crucial step. The tech stack decides how the app will perform across various devices.

Here is the right technology for its development:

• Frontend Development:

Mobile app development: Flutter is the best technology for the front end of mobile app development. Its single codebase for both Android and iOS enables faster development and a consistent user experience.

Web development: Various tech stacks like React, Node, and Next.js can help develop an engaging front. These technologies empower developers to build interactive user interfaces with reusable components.

• Backend Development:

The backend is equally important to ensure that the platform works smoothly and error-free. Hence, you need the right tech, like Node.js, for the Backend development. Its event-driven, non-blocking I/O enables efficient handling of simultaneous connections and high performance.

→ 💡Know the role of AI and how it can help businesses enhance user experience.

6. Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Ensuring legal and regulatory compliance is a critical step in developing an app similar to Turo. It involves confirming that the platform complies with several legal requirements. In order to achieve complete compliance, this comprises company registration and licensing, insurance compliance, laws pertaining to data protection and privacy, consumer protection regulations, taxes and financial rules, safety and vehicle compliance, local regulations, and legal advice. 

In addition to safeguarding the company and its customers, the app can establish a solid basis for long-term success by thoroughly addressing legal and regulatory obligations.

7. Decide the Monetization Methods to Make Money

With an app like Turo, how would you make money? Well, there are several ways, like subscriptions, commissions, advertisements, etc., that can help you earn revenue. As a startup, you may add one or two ways for revenue generation and add more methods with time.

Some of the Turo Revenue Models Include:

Marketplace Fees:

• Booking Fee: Turo takes a fee on every rental reservation; this commission usually ranges from 15% to 45% of the total rental price. Their main source of revenue comes from this.
• Delivery Fee (Optional): Turo gets a portion of the amount that hosts charge for providing delivery and pickup services.
• Excess Mileage Fee: Renters will be charged an extra cost per mile beyond the permitted distance limit. A percentage of this money goes to Turo.

Value-Added Service:

• Insurance: This add-on insurance plan guards against monetary losses brought on by accidents, theft, or damage for both hosts and visitors. Turo costs extra for this kind of assistance.
• Turo Protect: This add-on insurance plan guards against monetary losses brought on by accidents, theft, or damage for both hosts and visitors. Turo costs extra for this kind of assistance.
• Roadside Assistance: For a surcharge, Turo provides 24/7 roadside assistance to renters.
• Cleaning/Disinfection Fee: In order to offset the expense of cleaning the vehicle in between rentals, hosts may choose to impose a cleaning fee. Turo keeps a percentage of this cost.

Data and Technology:

• Turo gathers a ton of information on rental cars, which they can use to create new products and services. They could also sell this data to outside businesses in order to make money off of it.
• Turo’s machine learning techniques enable them to enhance user experience, optimize pricing, and increase search results. Increased income and reservations may result from this.

8. Consider the Cost to Build App Like Turo

While planning to create an app like Turo, you also need to consider the cost of development. On average, the cost can vary from $15,000 to $60,000. The cost can further vary based on several factors, like the number of features, app design, technologies, and the location of the development team.

9. Find the Right App Development Team 

Now that you are familiar with the app features and design, you need a car rental platform development team to help you build the app. The development team should have relevant experience and the latest technology. 

Your development process will include two phases- frontend and backend development as mentioned in the points above.

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9. Integrate Third Parties for a Better Experience

The overall usability and usefulness of a vehicle rental app may be substantially improved by integrating third-party services. The app can provide a more complete and practical experience for car owners and renters by working with payment gateways, mapping and navigation services, identity verification providers, insurance companies, vehicle inspection services, and communication platforms.

Get pre-integrations like online payments and navigation with our car rental app development services at ValueAppz. Book a free demo today and witness our solution in action!

10. Test and Launch the Car Rental Platform

After your car rental app like Turo is developed, you also need to run through testing to make sure that users get an error-free platform and can enjoy the services. One of the most important steps in guaranteeing the car rental platform’s dependability, security, and customer happiness is to thoroughly test and deploy it. Before the formal launch, this involves carrying out thorough testing to find and fix any technical problems, usability difficulties, and security vulnerabilities. 

11. Continuous Maintenance and Support for Lasting Excellence

An app like Turo requires thoughtful and continuous maintenance and support to guarantee the platform’s long-term greatness. First and foremost, in order to find and fix any potential technical problems, security flaws, or performance inefficiencies over time, continuous monitoring and upgrades are essential.

To further promote trust and happiness and ensure the app’s long-term success, car owners and renters should get strong customer care and help, as well as rapid troubleshooting and inquiry resolution.

Build a Car Rental App with Top Services at ValueAppz

You need an experienced team that can help you build the car rental app. ValueAppz is a leading on-demand app development company that has helped clients across the globe.

Our latest tech stack, experienced developers, and industry experts are our top USPs. Partnering with ValueAppz will guarantee that you get a robust platform that helps car owners and people connect to book their vehicles quickly.

Connect with our experts today to discuss your app idea.

Key Takeaways

• Entering the car rental industry with an app like Turo can be a beneficial idea, as the number of users is expected to reach 616.5 million by 2027.
• While creating the app, you must carefully choose the business model that provides the right solutions to your target market.
• Some important features to include in the car rental app are car search, payment integration, easy booking, car listings, in-app chat, and document upload.
• The average cost to develop a car rental app like Turo ranges between $15,000 to $60,000.

FAQs Related to Car Rental Platform Development

Qn 1: How do I Create a Car Rental App?

Steps to create a car rental app like Turo include:

• Market Research and Identify USPs
• Choose a Business Model
• Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Focus on Design and User Experience
• Choose App Features
• Decide the Monetization Methods
• Find the Right Team to Develop the App
• Integrate Third Parties
• Thoroughly Test and Launch
• Continuous Maintenance and Support

Qn 2: What Type of App is Turo?

Turo is a peer-to-peer car rental app that allows people to rent out their personal vehicles.

Qn 3: What is the Cost of Building a Car Rental App like Turo?

The average cost to build an app like Turo varies between $15,000 to $60,000. The cost can further vary depending on design, number of features, platforms, and the location of the development team.

Qn 4: What Features Should I Include in the Car Rental App?

Key features for a car rental app include vehicle listing, easy search, user profiles, review and rating system, in-app chat, and rental history.

Qn 5: What Legal Considerations should I be Aware of?

Seek advice from legal professionals to make sure that peer-to-peer car sharing, insurance, and user agreements comply with all applicable local and federal requirements.