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32 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | OCTOBER 2022 I must be leading a charmed life, at least for the moment, as a monthly contributor to the Breeze. Last month I sent a request to Breeze Publisher Courtney Taylor to replace the article I had already submitted with one filled with reader recommendations. Lo and behold, Courtney not only granted my request, she provided her own recommendation which follows: I discovered Turo when the little light kind of shaped like a fish lit up in my car's dash. I ignored it for a while and thought, "I should really put a piece of black tape over that." Then my husband was in my car and said, "How long has that been on?" "The fish light? About a month, I guess." He shook his head and said, "That's your ENGINE light." Later he took out some detector tool and plugged it in and found that there was something going on with my boost blah blah pressure blah blah blah. I offered my black tape solution. That weekend I was taking my son to San Diego for a few days before he moved to the east coast, one last attempt to earn Mother of the Year, a title that has always eluded me. I couldn't drive with that light on (especially now that I knew it had nothing to do with fish) so I looked to Hertz to rent a car. Juke? Ford Focus? Mercury? None of these screamed Mother of the Year. They didn't even whisper it. Thankfully I stumbled on Turo, a car-sharing app. Think Airbnb for cars. I registered, a quick and easy process, and started looking in my area. I live in Yucaipa and put a radius of 30 miles around me. A list of cars popped up. They ranged from sensible to exotic. There are a lot of Turos out there. Each one showed several photos of the car, how much they rented for per day, how many miles you were allotted (many offer unlimited), the Turo car owner's rating given by those who rented from them, specific reviews of that car and the owner, and how many Turo trips that car had. All that is important, but I had a 21-year-old to impress. I wanted to drive something cool. I settled on a Tesla in Highland, about 15 minutes away. Ben (the taciturn Gen-Z'er who I spawned on Christmas Day 1999) and I drove to the house and parked my car, whose light had mysteriously gone off. (Turns out if you ignore it long enough, it will get tired and go away.) The Tesla was in the driveway and the keys were in the center console. I didn't have to meet anyone (my favorite thing). All the interaction with the owner was done through the app. It was so easy! Plus, it cured my Tesla curiosity; it was like an extended test drive. See, I spend my entire day in front of a computer and that's how driving a Tesla felt – like I was driving a computer. Give me a stick shift and a soft top, pre 1980 please. "No problem," says Turo. "Hey! You can talk?" "Only for the purposes of this article." On the app, you can go to the Filters button and select Manual transmission, Years 1951-1980, Cars (eliminating Trucks, Vans, SUVs, and Minivans). I just did that and got five results: 1961 Corvette, 1965 Malibu, 1967 Camaro SS,1957 Porsche Speedster (at left), and a 1965 Chevrolet C10 with three bikini- clad ladies. (If I'd gotten that one instead of the Tesla, I would be wearing the MOTY crown right now.) Since that first time, I've used Turo for four more trips, which is pretty impressive during a pandemic. Twice in Kauai (Lexus SUV, Kia SUV), once in San Francisco (convertible Beamer), and once to visit the progeny in Rhode Island (Land Rover). The thing I love about Turo is you get to pick your EXACT car. You don't have to stand in line in a make-shift building while the tall blonde in front of you gets the yellow convertible Camaro you specifically ordered on the Hertz website three months earlier because her legs are longer than yours and she doesn't have a gap between her two front teeth (thanks Grandma Jones). "Hi, can I help you?" "Yes – here is my paperwork proving that I upgraded to a convertible Camaro, just like the one pulling out now." "Ohhhhhhhhhh….." the clerk says as he averts his eyes and pretends to type something on his computer. "That was our last one." So now I'm stuck with a MUSTANG which I DID NOT ORDER and it drives like CRAP and feels like a TIN CAN and I AM FURIOUS and can't sleep my first night in Hawaii (2018, pre-Turo days) and I drive back the next morning and wait until someone turns in their Camaro. Yes, I was traumatized by Hertz. They did bad things to me. And then Turo came out and the sun is shining again and a rainbow is forming above the crashing waves. The Stones once opined, you can't always get what you want… but with Turo, you get pretty darn close. (Note from Steve – Wow. Don't we all wish we could write like Courtney?) If you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Turo: The Only Way To Rent A Car

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