By: Jessica Holdman South Carolina Daily Gazette
When Marion Platt’s youngest son left home to attend music school in Manhattan, the Charleston native was left with a Kia Soul taking up space in the family’s driveway. So, he decided to put it to use.
Now, the boxy, kale green car is one of more than 200 vehicles in South Carolina — ranging from luxury sports cars to residents’ daily drivers — available for rent on the car sharing mobile application Turo.
“Right when I put it on the platform, I started getting requests,” said Platt, who runs Star Gospel Mission homeless shelter in downtown Charleston.
And the income Platt makes from renting the car helps pay for his son’s college education.
In the same vein as renting out your house or a spare bedroom on Airbnb for a few days, users can rent someone’s private vehicle or rent out their own to others to earn some extra cash.
The practice known as peer-to-peer car sharing has been around for more than a decade but is garnering more attention in the state Legislature.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Wes Climer sets insurance requirements and other safety measures.
A similar bill he introduced in 2023 never even made it to the Senate floor. But senators could approve his latest attempt just a month after he filed it.
The Rock Hill Republican said the impetus behind the bill is actually to grow — not control — the industry, so South Carolinians such as Platt can earn income from it.
He described the bill as setting “guard rails” for the relatively new industry in South Carolina.
“It is currently operating in sort of a wild west-type environment where a lot of questions around liability, questions around regulation, remain unanswered,” Climer said when explaining the bill on the Senate floor last week.
“Uncertainty has been an inhibitor in this case,” Climer later told the SC Daily Gazette.
Turo has about 350,000 active vehicle listings worldwide and 3.5 million active users, according to a federal securities filing. On the other hand, a competing car sharing company, called Getaround, announced last month it was shutting down operations in the U.S. while staying operational in Europe.
Industry support
Meanwhile, the industry is in favor of the measure as it stands.
Turo, the world’s largest car-sharing platform, provided input to the National Council of Insurance Legislators, said Turo spokeswoman Catherine Mejia. The organization drafted the legislation Climer used to model his bill.
Mejia said 28 other states have enacted similar statutes.
“We don’t believe it’s negative in any way,” she said.
That’s because Turo has worked for years putting protections in place for both car owners and car renters, Mejia said. The company wants to ensure any new companies that may develop abide by the same rules, she said.
Namely, the company carries liability insurance for all cars rented through its application, Mejia said.
Turo also tracks safety recalls on vehicles and makes sure those with an outstanding issue can’t be rented. And the company reportedly keeps drivers’ and owners’ information on file, providing that information to law enforcement and insurance companies in the case of an accident so claims are processed quickly.
All of this would be required under Climer’s proposed legislation.
Mejia said Turo then takes things a step further. The company works with airports to make sure users don’t disrupt operations. It has permits for airports in Charleston, Columbia and Greenville.
It also runs background checks on each person who rents from them.
But safety concerns have been an issue.
Turo made national headlines in January after the drivers of the Ford truck that plowed through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas both used the platform to rent the vehicles.
The company, in a statement following the tragedies, offered condolences to the victims’ families. Turo officials said they screened both drivers but neither had a criminal background that flagged them as potentially dangerous.
Sen. Darrell Jackson said he supports the care share concept. It’s already popular in high-tourist areas like Charleston and Hilton Head Island, where residents can benefit from visitors who need a car for a few days.
“This allows everyday citizens to actually use a vehicle to make a little extra money on the side,” said the Hopkins Democrat.
He also sees it as a possibility for South Carolina college students without a vehicle or a temporary solution for people in rural areas where there’s no public transportation or ride-sharing options.
“This is something so different and could be a gamechanger in that industry,” Jackson said.
Jackson was at first concerned the legislation may have been a move by the insurance and rental car industry trying to “get out in front of” the competition before it really gets popular.
“A lot of people aren’t aware of it, but they’re going to be,” he said.
An added source of income
While on a business trip in Phoenix, Mike McCurdy of Summerville chose to rent a Jeep Wrangler through Turo so he could take the top off and enjoy the beautiful weather while driving between meetings.
He liked that he was able to research it and read reviews from other users. He also enjoys picking the vehicle he’d be driving, rather than being assigned a vehicle at random from a traditional rental car company fleet.
McCurdy began using the app every time he traveled.
He said it also worked well when he was researching vehicles he wanted to purchase. Rather than going straight to the dealership for a test drive, he’d rent a similar make and model from someone on Turo. It gave him a few days to test out how the vehicle would handle without the pressure of a salesman riding along in the passenger seat.
Working in digital marketing, McCurdy said he’s long been open to different technologies and ideas, “not stuck in the mindset of it’s always been done this way. You can innovate.”
Eventually, the McCurdys got into the business for themselves.
The couple lives in the Nexton mega neighborhood about 30 miles from downtown Charleston. In that community, everything they need — stores, restaurants, schools — are within walking distance. And because they both work from home, they don’t always need a car.
They started with one vehicle on Turo. Now they have four, renting them out largely to families coming to Charleston on vacation. In addition to the vehicles, the McCurdys offer restaurant and sightseeing recommendations to their customers. And they throw in extras, such as beach chairs, umbrellas, coolers, child safety seats and strollers.
With Turo, they’ve gone from the expense of a monthly car payment to having an added source of income.
Platt, too, mostly rents his vehicle to people visiting the Holy City, though he has local customers, too.
Sometimes he rents to students at the College of Charleston who need a car to get home to Columbia or Greenville for the weekend. Other times it might be an elderly resident living in an apartment near downtown who needs a vehicle only on occasion to run errands.
Having worked as a pastor for decades, Platt views it as part of “God’s call to show hospitality” as well as a business venture. When a customer flew into Charleston and rented the car to drive to Orangeburg for a funeral, he prayed with the family, trying to offer comfort.
Platt said car sharing has largely been a positive experience. Though there have been times when a renter has returned the car in less-than-stellar condition.
“Like when someone spills Chick-fil-A sauce on the seat, that’s just part of it,” he said. “I don’t find it terribly bothersome. I just consider it part of my ministry.”
Senators could approve the bill and send it over to the House as early as this week.
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