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Creative Ways To Avoid Paying Turo Young Driver Fees

Learn what a Turo Young Driver fee is, why they're so expensive, and practical ways to avoid them.

Key Takeaways

  • Turo charges an additional fee for renters aged 18-24 due to higher risk factors.
  • Choose commercial hosts on Turo to potentially bypass young driver fees.
  • Adding a driver over 25 as primary can avoid the fee.
  • Use other rental services or leverage memberships to reduce or skip young driver fees.

What Is The Turo Young Driver Fee?

The Turo Young Driver Fee is a specific charge levied by Turo on renters aged between 18 and 24 years.

This fee compensates for the higher expenses and risks involved in renting cars to younger drivers, who are statistically more likely to return cars that require significant repairs.

a screenshot of a Turo Young Driver fee from a Reddit user
Image Credit: Reddit

For renters who are 18 years old, the fee is $50 per day, and for those who are 21 years old and older, it reduces to $30 per day.

As you can see from our example screenshot, the fee really starts adding up after a while!

Why Do Young Driver Fees Exist?

Young Driver Fees exist primarily because drivers under the age of 25 statistically pose a higher risk for accidents and costly repairs.

Research, including data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, shows that drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be involved in car accidents.

Additionally, in 2015, drivers aged 15 to 20 accounted for 10% of all fatal accidents, despite only representing 7% of all licensed drivers.

Car rental companies, not knowing each individual renter, use these fees as a precaution to offset the higher insurance claims and auto repair costs associated with renting to younger drivers.

These fees are analogous to how younger or first-time drivers often face higher charges for regular car insurance and liability insurance policies.

Ultimately, these fees are also a measure to promote safety among young drivers.

Brett’s Take: Thoughts From an Expert

I agree with Turo’s Young Drier fees due to the increased risk, but not how they’re calculated.

The current fee structure remains the same, regardless of the vehicle’s age, value, or rental price. This leads a lot of renters feeling like the fees are more about generating extra revenue and less about mitigating risk.

I wish they were tiered in price, or somehow relative to the cost or type of car that was booked. That way, a simple way for younger drivers to save on the fee would be to simply rent a less expensive car.

Or, for a complicated yet fairer approach, the platform could easily justify the fees by using a dynamic pricing model directly that sets prices based on a driver’s history.

The downside to this would be an easy cash-grab for Turo, as they would likely roll this out to all drivers sitewide instead of just younger ones.

Other Car Rental Companies That Charge Under 25 Fees

Several car rental companies impose additional fees for drivers under the age of 25, similar to Turo’s policy. Here are the fees charged by various companies for 21-year-old renters:

  • Alamo: $25 per day
  • Avis: $27 per day
  • Budget: $27 per day
  • Dollar: Ranges from $15 to $35 per day, depending on location
  • Enterprise: $20 to $25 per day
  • Hertz: $15 to $30 per day for 20-year-olds
  • National: $25 per day
  • Thrifty: Ranges from $15 to $35 per day, depending on location

These fees illustrate that choosing a different rental company does not necessarily allow one to avoid such additional charges for younger drivers.

Can I Get My Young Driver Fees Waived?

Unfortunately, there’s no direct way to receive waived young driver fees on Turo, even with personal insurance, a clean driving record, group memberships, automobile club affiliations, or any other proof showing you’re a skilled or responsible driver.

How to Avoid the Turo Young Driver Fee: 5 Ways to Do So

Despite the impossibility of directly getting a waiver for your young driver fees, you can get around it while still getting a car ride to your intended destination in several ways.

Here are the five best options you can consider:

1. Rent From a Commercial Host Through Turo

Apart from the peer-to-peer hosting option, Turo also provides services for commercial hosts—third-party rental companies who use Turo to facilitate bookings.

Commercial hosts can opt between using Turo’s default insurance options or providing their own. In the latter case, they may decide to phase out young driver fees or provide ways to avoid them.

As a young Turo user, you may want to seek out hosts like this, and check their service terms of conditions to make sure there are no young driver fees before deciding to rent a car.

2. Add a Driver Who Passes the Age Requirement to Your Trip

When booking a car from Turo, you can use the “add driver” feature to designate another Turo user as the primary driver for the trip.

They’ll assume all financial responsibility for the car and will have to be the one to pick it up and return it to the host.

If the primary driver qualifies to avoid the young driver fee, you won’t be obliged to pay it even if the booking is made via your account.

This option is useful to keep in mind when carpooling or going on a trip with friends where one member of the group happens to be 25 or older.

3. Pack In More Bodies And Split The Costs

When using a peer-to-peer rental on Turo, you have the option to share the rental with a friend, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria, such as being of minimum age and possessing a valid driver’s license.

By requesting Turo.com to approve an additional driver, you can significantly reduce the overall trip costs by splitting the fees.

For instance, if you’re 21 years old, your fee would be $30 a day. However, you and your friend can share this cost, each paying $15. Turo permits adding up to 8 extra drivers, potentially reducing your share to just over $3 a day if you manage to include nine people in the car.

To aid in planning and vehicle selection, you can use a Turo calculator to compare prices with different numbers of drivers.

4. Use a Different Rental Car Service

Looking at other rental car companies is always an option since some of the alternatives don’t require a young driver fee.

For instance, Hertz will waive the fee for drivers aged 18-24 who have a AAA membership. Similarly, other companies may waive this fee for drivers with a USAA membership.

Carla is an example of a major rental company that allows you to waive additional driver fees for younger drivers.

Hyrecar doesn’t include a young driver fee, but it’s geared mainly toward gig workers who need a car for their work, as well as requiring all drivers to be 21 or over.

Of course, you can always just decide to rent a car from one of the local, smaller rental car companies, which more commonly avoid including a mandatory young driver fee with their rental cars.

Note: Unfortunately, a USAA or AAA membership does not allow Turo renters to avoid the Young Driver fee. You’ll have to rent elsewhere for that.

5. Use a Ridesharing Alternative

If you don’t mind being driven by another person, you can completely forego car rental companies in favor of a ridesharing option.

While it may be an inadequate alternative if you need constant access to a vehicle for a longer trip or a ridesharing or delivery gig, it’s a solid option if you only need to get from one place to another.

There are a ton of different ridesharing options available at your disposal, including Uber, Lyft, Alto, and many other alternatives.

6. Use Turo Discounts or Promotions

Even though Turo can’t waive your young driver fee, you can take advantage of discounts and promotions for Turo rentals, such as ones offered through their partnerships with universities, workplaces, or other commercial brands.

Sometimes these discounts can cancel out the added trip fees for young drivers, still making Turo the most affordable option.

How Much Is the Young Driver Fee, and What Are the Other Restrictions?

The exact terms and specifications of Turo use for younger drivers depend on the jurisdiction in which it operates.

Here’s a list of all relevant territories and restrictions that apply there, including the respective young driver fees.

United States

  • You need to be 18 or older to rent any vehicle.
  • You need to be 21 or older to book a vehicle worth over $20,000.
  • You must be 25 or older to book Deluxe category vehicles and 30 or older for Super Deluxe or specialty vehicles.
  • Drivers between 18 and 21 need to pay for a mandatory protection plan.
  • Drivers between 18 and 20 pay a young driver fee worth $50/day minimum.
  • For drivers between 21 and 24, the young driver fee is reduced to $30/day minimum.

United Kingdom

  • To book a car, you need to be 21 or older, but no older than 74.
  • You need to be 25 or older for a Deluxe category car and 30 or older for a Super Deluxe car.
  • Drivers younger than 25 can only book vehicles classified in Group 1-16 by the Association of British Insurers.
  • Drivers under 25 pay a young driver fee worth a minimum of £25/day.

Australia

  • Drivers need to be 21 and over to book a car.
  • You need to be 25 or older to book a Deluxe car and 30 or older for a Super Deluxe car.
  • The young driver fee for drivers under 25 is worth a minimum of $15/day.

Canada

  • There’s no young driver fee in Canada, but everyone younger than 23 is barred from booking a car.
  • You need to be 25 or older to book a Deluxe car and 30 or older for a Super Deluxe car.

France

  • To book a trip, you need to be 18 or older and have a driver’s license valid for over two years. Non-residents only need to be 20 or older.
  • Your driver’s license has to be valid for seven years or more to book a Deluxe class vehicle and 12 years or more to book a Super Deluxe or specialty vehicle. Non-residents follow the usual rule stipulating Deluxe drivers to be 25 or older and Super Deluxe drivers to be 30 or older.
  • Drivers between 20 and 23 years old must pay a young driver fee of €5/day, with a minimum of €10 per trip.
  • If you’re 24 or 25, you need to pay a young driver fee worth €3/day, with a minimum of €6 per trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Young Driver Fees Be Considered Age Discrimination?

While private businesses are subject to anti-discrimination laws, privileging or restricting certain customer groups based on direct effects on company profits generally doesn’t fall under them.

Statistically, young drivers create disproportionate insurance expenses for car rental companies, making young driver fees economically rational.

Are There Old Driver Fees for Turo Too?

Turo restricts rentals for drivers who are 75 or older in the UK but doesn’t have any old driver fees otherwise. In some jurisdictions, people over a certain age are categorically forbidden from driving, which naturally extends to Turo rental cars too.

Wrapping Up


When planning a special trip and needing to rent a car, navigating through various fees, including Turo’s Young Driver Fee, can be daunting.

Turo provides a convenient option for road trips to destinations like New York, California, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. It’s important to avoid getting overwhelmed by rental costs and to find ways to reduce them.

Here’s a summary to help manage these expenses:

  • Turo charges a daily fee of $50 for renters aged 18-20 and $30 for those aged 21-24.
  • Choosing a rental from a Commercial Host on Turo can help you avoid the Young Driver Fee.
  • Adding other eligible drivers to your rental allows cost-sharing, reducing the fee for each person.
  • Alternatively, other rental services may waive the young driver fee if you meet certain criteria, like having specific memberships.
  • Regardless of the chosen option, safety is paramount – always drive carefully to avoid serious consequences beyond fees.

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