Chris Witmer

by Chris Witmer

posted on June 6, 2018

Shipping up to Boston  

The Boston area was where Turo first got started about nine years ago and has consistently remained one of our top markets over the years. Since last year’s market guide, Boston has seen a steady increase in average owner earnings and nearly doubled in size. With such strong growth comes a few changes to our most mature market and what better time to explore than right before tonight’s annual community party?

Dan’s 2018 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 2LZ

What cars are wicked popular?

In previous years, the market had nearly two-thirds of bookings from locals. The share of local guests in the Boston area has slowly been decreasing each year and represents just over half of all bookings in the last year. Accordingly, searches by map that were once the most common search refinement in previous years (used in 21 percent of all searches) have become just as common as searches sorted by price (each was used in 17 percent of all searches in the last year). The search for a conveniently located car likely makes less of a difference with the increase in searches for cars that offer delivery. In the past year, the number of searches filtered for the delivery option has doubled from 4 to 8 percent of all searches.  

Gopinath’s 2012 Honda CR-V EX-L

Despite a strong preference for convenience and affordable prices, many guests in the past year have had a proclivity for cars on the fancier side too. In fact, Luxury and Upscale car listings garnered more page views than the typical daily driver sedans for the first time this year with more than 36 percent of all listings viewed. BMW listings were viewed more than any other make in the area. Aside from just standing apart from the pack, many guests in the last year were actively seeking these types of cars out. About 7 percent of all searches in the past year were looking for a particular make and all the most sought-after makes were on the snazzier side.

MOST SEARCHED MAKES:

  1. Tesla 
  2. BMW 
  3. Mercedes-Benz 
  4. Porsche
  5. Audi 

Rei’s 2015 Tesla Model S

What cars get parked in the Harvard yard?

Demand for higher-end cars is now starting to translate into more bookings and earnings. This year, bookings for Luxury and Upscale cars accounted for about 19 percent of all bookings, which is nearly double its share of just under 10 percent last year. The Tesla Model S was the top producing type of car this year and while the BMW 3 Series was also toward the top, daily driver cars like the Toyota Corolla and Yaris, as well as the Honda Civic, ended up generating similar total earnings by stacking up a high number of bookings.

MOST BOOKED MAKES:

  1. Toyota
  2. Honda
  3. Jeep
  4. BMW
  5. Nissan

Ade’s 2017 Toyota Sienna XLE

Seasonality and trip types

Boston has remained a very seasonal market over the years. The later summer months tend to be the most popular with each month leading up to June being busier than the last then winding back down into the quieter months of January and February. In previous years, host earnings would be about double in the summer months than in the winter months. This past June was the market’s best month to date and saw earnings soar almost four times that of the market’s slowest month of February.

As the market now tends to attract a greater share of out-of-town guests, the average trip duration has also increased slightly to about 3.1 days from last year’s 2.8 days. Although the traditionally slower winter months have tended to see fewer bookings, the average trip length still tended to be above average but not quite as high as the nearly 4-day average length in the popular late summer months.

Tyler’s 2009 Nissan GT-R

Make way for the ducklings (again)

These rookie hosts listed their car less than a year ago and have already learned how to fly above even the most seasoned veteran hosts.

    1. After booking a car as a guest for the first time last summer, Sherwyn decided he wanted to provide the same great experience to folks visiting his city. Nearly 400 trips later, he is among our most active hosts in the Boston community with top-notch reviews to boot.
    2. Family man and car guy, Angelo started hosting late last summer and says the “endless amount of awesome people” he gets to meet from all over the world is what keeps him motivated. Angelo’s own awesomeness has also come through with his flawless five-star track record hosting hundreds of trips in the past year.
    3. Raviwat recently hosted his 200th trip after also just starting last summer. His cars are particularly popular with locals that rave about his hospitality and clean cars.

Titletown Champs

These top hosts have been honing their hosting game for years and are still among the most active in the area.

  1. From Prius to Tesla, Ade has got something for everyone and every trip. In addition to hosting more than a hundred trips, he’s also an avid Turo guest too!
  2. Raul specializes in “high-end products and competitive prices” as both a real estate investor and owner of a sweet collection of high-end cars. Having hosted over 700 trips over the past few years, he has also had the highest number and highest share of five-star reviews than any other host in the area.
  3. Corey is a software engineer by day and hosting extraordinaire full-time. He’s been crushing it over the past couple years with his two cars and has even developed his own technology to improve remote key exchanges for other hosts.
  4. Maggie and her family started hosting after using Turo for the first time as guests on a family vacation about two years ago. Maggie and her family were among the top rookies last year and now with over 200 trips hosted, they’ve become seasoned pros with their own YouTube channel.

Want some more?

Don’t forget to swing by our community party tonight to meet some of these great hosts and receive even more helpful insights on our very first market. If you haven’t had the chance to RSVP, be sure to do so soon!

Chris Witmer

Chris Witmer

Chris is the Community Manager at Turo. He’s a proud father to three rescue dogs and has become immune to jet lag in all his travels (or maybe it’s just the coffee).

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