Building a business around a Tesla
When James H. got the email notifying him that it was finally time to order the Tesla Model 3 he had reserved, he and his son Connor were about to go on a vacation to the West Coast. James had put his deposit down years before, but now wasn’t sure he actually wanted the Model 3. So he decided to use their trip, which happened to include multiple days in San Francisco, to help with the decision.
James and Connor live on the north side of Tampa, where James has spent his career in aerospace and where Connor (16 going on 17) will be a high school senior next year. They had heard of Turo, and knew this was their best opportunity to test drive the new Tesla. Predictably, the Bay Area had many Model 3s listed on Turo early on (Model 3 deliveries were still ramping up in July 2018), and James booked one five minutes away from where they were staying.
“So we’re driving the Tesla around the city and down in Silicon Valley, and Connor’s mind is being blown,” said James. “We were just flabbergasted by the car. It really felt like we were catapulted into the future.”
They were having such a blast that Connor turned to his dad and said, “You gotta make this work.” So after some quick math and a little research on the Model 3s people were sharing on Turo at the time, James decided it was time to get in on the action. “My entrepreneurial spirit was being called, so I turned to Connor and said ‘I’m in.’ Before we were done with the vacation I had submitted my order for the car.”


In the black, together
Four weeks later, James took delivery of his brand new Model 3, and one week after that it was listed on Turo. “Together, we figured everything out pretty quickly,” James said. By splitting responsibilities, James and Connor nailed down the logistics of hosting, and the Tesla was a big hit with guests. Through the first 18 months, it was going swimmingly. “It was a totally in-the-black experience. We were making more than my payment, incremental insurance, plus charging and everything else. The car really was paying for itself.”
But the best part, according to them, was the opportunity to work on this project as father and son. “It’s been a really wonderful experience to have together — to basically run a small business,” said James. “Plus we have this amazing car, and between guests we’ve had all kinds of amazing times with the car ourselves.”
Connor, who has entrepreneurial aspirations, has taken on managing the listing and improving their service in efforts to stay ahead of the market. “We’re constantly discussing the business end of things and how to adjust our pricing and settings.”

Connor even created a video explaining the features of the Tesla, which they send to their guests to help them get oriented with driving and charging the car. And last year they integrated the Tesla app into their process for streamlined remote check-ins — after logging in on their own phone with James’ secondary Tesla profile (he updates the login credentials each trip), guests have full access to the car without a key.
When travel all but halted back in March, the decline in bookings presented a big challenge and they’ve had to think hard about how to attract guests. But James and Connor have become a well-oiled machine and the need to adapt didn’t faze them. Connor expanded their cleaning procedure (the regimen he describes is extremely thorough) and retooled the listing to put them in a good position for when travel picked back up.
“We have a good dynamic where I have experience but Connor comes up with all the ideas, does competitor research, and makes sure our guests are as comfortable as possible” said James. “He’s my employee of the month every month.”
As a team, James and Connor have approached Turo with incredible thoroughness and say their main concern is providing the best service they can for guests. Over 60 trips with all five-star reviews should tell the tale. Connor even pulls a note from Jeff Bezos’ playbook. “The key is to obsess over the customer,” Connor said. “Bezos lives by that, and that’s what we try to do — we’ve learned that’s the best way to be successful hosts.”