by Virginia Fay
posted on July 12, 2016
11 cars and counting
A lifetime car enthusiast, Zoeb F. was already enmeshed in the car world, as a tire shop owner, when he decided to rent his commuter car on Turo in the fall of 2014. Two years later, his love for cars has led him to accrue a fleet of 11 vehicles that he now rents on Turo.
The Danville, CA resident purchased a 2010 Toyota Prius to use as his personal commuter vehicle in 2014, but decided a few months after buying it that he’d prefer to go fully electric. “Instead of taking a hit on the Prius I just purchased not too long ago, I decided to list it up on Turo,” he explains. After finding success with that first car, he realized that listing vehicles on Turo would allow him to pursue his passion for cars while making a side income.
Zoeb’s Toyota Prius
Growing a diverse fleet
Since he has space to store his cars at his tire business, Zoeb has been able to accumulate a broad range of vehicle types, including everything from a Dodge Ram pickup to a sensible Nissan Sentra, a sleek Porsche 911 Carrera, and three different types of BMWs. Acquiring the cars has been a gradual process: “I owned a BMW X5 for a while [and] I wasn’t using it much so I was going to sell it. Instead I decided to give Turo a shot with that one as well and it was an instant hit. Shortly after that a friend’s dad was selling a pickup truck and that was a hit [also].”
Zoeb’s BMW X5
Zoeb’s Dodge Ram
Having a variety of cars allows Zoeb to help people with virtually any vehicle need — his Sentra and Hyundai Elantra are popular with students who need transportation on the weekends, his convertibles are favored by people wanting to take a jaunt along the California coast, and his SUVs are consistently in demand in the winter months for Tahoe ski trips.
“Knowing the cars I purchase make people happy is an added bonus, from helping someone out who needs a car to get to school to [someone] surprising her husband for his birthday by getting him a Porsche for the weekend. Someone later this month wanted a convertible to drive off in after their wedding, so they rented my BMW 3 series convertible.”
Zoeb’s BMW 3 Series
Renting from both sides
Beyond renting his own cars, Zoeb frequently uses Turo when traveling or when all his cars are rented. “I use Turo almost every single time I need a car when I am out of town. I’ve rented in Las Vegas where I’ve had the owner deliver and pick up the car for me right at the airport terminal and [he] rode off in his bike; [it’s] the most convenient trip ever. Nothing like grabbing your bags, walking right outside of the terminal, and having a car waiting for you.”
Even with such a large fleet, Zoeb’s cars are so popular that on busy holiday weekends he sometimes runs out of cars. In these cases, he’ll often rent himself a car on Turo when dropping off a rental for someone else at the airport. “Then when I am ready to pick up my cars, I have a ride back to the airport lot for myself,” he explains.
Personal passion
Not only has Zoeb found an enjoyable way to supplement his income and help others get where they need to go, but he’s also pursuing his own passion. “I like cars, I always have, so being able to purchase more cars and to make money off them was pretty much a dream come true. It’s motivating knowing that managing my fleet is going to help me continue to buy more and more cars.”
As a fan of personal over corporate interactions, he’s looking forward to continuing to grow his fleet and foster the rental relationships he’s built. “I have a network of repeat customers that can depend on me for a car and it’s nice being able to help them repeatedly. I personally love to support an individual over a large rental car corporation so for that, Turo is amazing. I feel people who rent cars from individuals tend to treat the cars as their own so I feel very comfortable loaning my cars out.”
Virginia Fay
Virginia is equally enamored with words and globetrotting. Whenever possible, she likes to combine the two through travel writing to help other wanderers discover and fall in love with the world.
