I Rented Out My Tesla Cybertruck on Turo, Now It’s Back With $28,000 Worth of Damages

Even nine months after the Cybertruck started customer deliveries, the all-electric truck’s popularity remains undiminished, with a steady stream of enthusiasts still showing immense interest in the vehicle.

This makes the Cybertruck one of the best vehicles for a car rental business. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, over one million individuals have reserved a Cybertruck.

Tesla is quickly ramping up production to meet this high demand. Current production has reached an annual run rate of 75,000 Cybertrucks per year, and this number is expected to grow to 130,000 Cybertrucks per year by the end of 2024.

Although 130,000 Cybertrucks is a very high number, this is still small potatoes compared to the high demand, and Cybertruck owners who were first to get their trucks have capitalized on this fact in the vehicle rental world.

The going rate for renting a Cybertruck on Turo is currently around $500 a day. Add to these high prices the immense interest in the vehicle, and you are likely to have your Cybertruck rented out for the majority of the month; this means not only can you make your car payments by renting out your Cybertruck, but the vehicle can also act as a good source of income.

Renting out a Cybertruck for just 15 days in a month can bring in $7,500. This income not only covers your loan payments but also leaves a significant amount for your personal expenses, serving as a potential source of income.

While the income potential is promising, it's crucial to understand that renting out your Cybertruck also comes with significant risks. This was the unfortunate case experienced by a Cybertruck owner who decided to rent out his all-electric truck.

James Mackey is a Houston, Texas, resident and a Tesla Cybertruck owner. He has been renting his Cybertruck on Turo for $500 per day or $250 for six hours. Although this is an incredible amount of money to make passively from your Cybertruck, unfortunately, his latest client ended up wrecking his Cybertruck.

James shares his predicament on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum: "It was rented out, and this is how I got it back. The driver is accepting responsibility but will be out of commission for 2-3 months. The estimate is $28,000 and 7 weeks. It’s been three weeks sorting out the estimate. I hope to have it back on the road by mid-September.”

Along with his description of what happened, James shared a picture of his Cybertruck after the accident. If you go to the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, where James shared a picture of his Cybertruck, you can see that the damage is mostly localized to the front of the vehicle.

The hard plastic trim over the passenger-side wheel well is completely shredded, the stainless steel panels over the wheel are dented, the powered frunk is deformed, and the light bar has a crack. Overall, the vehicle is in bad condition.

As James has already stated, Tesla has told him his Cybertruck will cost $28,000 and take seven weeks to fix. It is already frustrating to see your vehicle in such a condition; however, in James’s case, he’s also going to be losing a lot of income.

Another thing you might be wondering is who will be paying the high repair costs and be responsible for the lost revenue while James’s Cybertruck is at the shop.

A forum member asked James, “Curious about the rental/insurance details. Will this be a claim on your personal insurance, or will it be from a service like Turo? It seems that there should also be a claim for diminished value. How did the driver say it happened?”

In response, James answered…

“His insurance is responsible, but he has agreed to out-of-pocket reimbursement to avoid his business manager knowing he crashed his Cybertruck. He has already started paying toward the $9000 a month we agreed to.

So, plan B is to process his insurance If he fails to make the payments as scheduled. And a signed payment agreement saying if we end up in court, we add court cost and loss revenue. It’s a hard thing to trust someone with this amount of money. But so far, he has honored his agreement.

This is all part of the cost of doing business. I rent it for $500 a day or $250 for 6 hours. I love sharing the truck; that’s why I bought it.

I rent directly with a rental agreement that covers the basic expectations. The renter has to share their full coverage insurance information.

I have it posted on Turo. And I have had three renters from that platform. But Turo takes 25% and adds fees, so the renter is paying double the amount I am getting. Most of my renters have been Tesla owners or CT reservation holders.”

Reading James’s account, it’s surprising that the client does not want to involve his insurance provider and would rather pay the entire $28,000 out of pocket.

It appears that James is very trusting in setting up a three-month installment plan for the client to pay the full amount for the damages; in that case, another question is who will be paying for the repair bills if Tesla finishes fixing his vehicle ahead of schedule.

Overall, the whole deal seems suspicious, but let me know if something about the facts of this accident sounds off to you, especially the part where the client says, “he doesn't want his business manager to find out,” so he’s paying the $28,000 out-of-pocket.

Currently, this is all the information we have. However, we’ll be sure to keep you posted on the story if we get further information. Until then, make sure to visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

So, what do you think? Are you surprised to see how much it costs and how long it takes to get a Cybertruck fixed? Also, do you think renting your Cybertruck on Turo is a good business? Let us know your thoughts in the comments by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below.

Image: Insurance Auto Auction, Inc.’s totaled Cybertruck auction

For more information, check out: Why Tesla Cybertrucks Get So Much Extra Attention On The Streets

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.