#1 Car Rental Newport Beach Alternative

Car sharing is private vehicles made available to guests on an online marketplace and a great alternative to car rentals. Each car is individually owned by a host, and you reserve a specific car rather than a category of car. All transactions are handled through the marketplace, but your interaction is with the individual hosts. Car sharing is commonly referred to as "the Airbnb of cars".

Traditionally, when you rent a car from a car rental company, you rent directly from a commercial enterprise and the car you rent is based on vague category guidelines. When you arrive, you get assigned a car in the chosen category (if one is available). With car sharing, you select the exact car you want to drive at the time of booking. The vehicles are owned by private individuals, who have a vested interest in keeping them in great shape and deliver a top notch experience for every guest. You are able to select from a very large pool of vehicles - each with complete details and pictures of the car.

With car rental companies, you get your rent a car at their office locations, but with car sharing, the vehicles are typically located at the host's home address. This means you often can reserve a vehicle in a specific area. Many car sharing hosts also offer delivery and pickup of the vehicle. Newport Car Sharing delivers to most hotels as well as residential addresses in Newport Beach and surrounding cities. Take a look at our Service Area page for more info.

Obviously, we think car sharing is a better option than car rentals in Newport Beach. But other than the better overall experience, car sharing is also good for the environment. The vast majority of the world's vehicles sit idle for large periods of time. This is inefficient use of resources. When you choose to rent a car from a traditional car rental, you are driving cars that were produced as additions to the world's car inventory. If we shift to car sharing instead of car rental, we can eliminate hundreds of thousands of cars. That lowers carbon footprints and reduces toxic waste. 

Unlike with traditional car rental, with car sharing you get to select the exact car you want to drive. If you would like to reserve a car from our collection, click on any of the listings above to go to the car's booking page. From there, you can click on Book It to be taken to our spot on the Turo marketplace, where you will be able to see further details and reserve the vehicle.

Within 24 hours of your pick up date, we will send you detailed information on where to find the car, how to access it, and pertinent information about the specific vehicle.

At the scheduled time, your car will be waiting for you in the location you selected. You can expect to find a freshly washed, cleaned, sanitized, and filled up vehicle in excellent condition. We take detailed pre-trip photos before each trip, and the photos will have been uploaded to your trip page in the Cloud. Depending on if you opted for a contactless handover or not, you will either access the car via your phone, or meet us in person to receive the keys.

No, we are not a rental car company and we are not able to rent directly to guests. We make our vehicles available for car sharing exclusively on the Turo marketplace, and all reservations and transactions are handled via the marketplace. This keeps both you safe, your transactions secure, and gives you the peace of mind of having a large commercial network backing your reservation. As your trip hosts, we are available to answer questions, assist with most aspects of your trip, and you will deal directly with us for the pickup and return of your vehicle. We have been sharing cars longer than most in the area, and have maintained a top tier rating on the Turo platform. This makes us the #1 alternative to car rental in Newport Beach!

Turo is our exclusive booking partner and the world's largest car sharing marketplace. They are partially owned and backed (in the US) by Liberty Mutual. Turo makes vehicles from individual hosts available on an online marketplace, and they supply the infrastructure and support for all trips and transactions on the marketplace. You can find more information about them here or reach them by phone at (415) 965-4525.

In order to create an account, you will need:

Any ONE of the following:

• Facebook account
• Google account
• Apple ID
• personal email address

A phone number tied to a text-enabled mobile phone in your name

In order to get approved to drive, Turo will ask you to supply the following:

• A profile photo
• Phone Number
• Email address
• Drivers license
• Physical address

Similar to how car rental companies offer insurance, Turo offers optional protection plans for guests. In most cases, you do not need to have existing insurance in order to reserve a vehicle on the Turo marketplace (but if you don't have existing insurance, you will be required to choose a protection plan). Which protection plan to select is an individual choice, but be aware that since car sharing is different from car rental, your existing auto insurance may not cover your trip. Check with your provider to find out if you are covered. Additionally, rental car coverage from most credit card companies will not apply to car sharing trips. When in doubt, always check with your insurer or credit card company before deciding on the protection plan option for your trip.  More information on insurance and Turo trips can be found here.

In short - you don't. All financial transactions are handled by Turo. Guests pay Turo directly for their trips (usually with a credit card) and hosts get paid separately by Turo. 

We are located in beautiful Newport Beach, CA. Our car sharing location is close to the iconic Pacific Coast Highway in the northern part of Newport Beach. We are also airport close. About 5 miles from the SNA / John Wayne airport and 35 miles from Los Angeles airport (LAX).

To keep our cars and neighbors secure, we don't disclose the exact location of your car until your booking has been completed. Feel free to contact us for more details. 

No, unfortunately we are not able to offer one way service to destinations outside of our local Service Area. But if you want to do a "one way" between your hotel and the SNA airport, that's no problem at all. We can pick your vehicle up from the SNA airport, your hotel, or anywhere else in the local area.