Miami Turo host scammed me?
Has anyone else had a Turo host submit questionable tire or smoking claims after a trip?
I’m looking to connect with anyone who may have had a similar experience with a Turo host, especially involving tire damage, nail-in-tire claims, smoking fees, cleaning fees, or other post-trip charges that were submitted with unclear or non-identifying evidence.
Here’s what happened in my situation:
After I returned the car and left the host a positive review, the host claimed there was a nail in the tire and said I needed to pay to replace the entire tire. The photo he sent was a close-up of a tire, but it did not show the car, rim, license plate, timestamp, location, or anything clearly tying that tire to the vehicle I drove.
The biggest issue is that the tire tread in his close-up nail photo does not to match the tire tread in my photos of the rental vehicle.
When I asked for wider photos showing the nail in the tire on the actual car, he refused. He said the nail was in an inside spot where it could not be photographed from farther away, but in the photo he sent, the nail appeared to be on the outside-facing portion of the tire.
I also offered to send someone to inspect or patch the tire if appropriate, but he refused. He said I needed to pay for a full tire replacement or else he would submit a claim with Turo and that it would be a lot more expensive.
He also told me Turo does not allow tire patches and requires full tire replacement, which does not appear to match Turo’s published tire guidance.
Then I was charged a smoking fee. I do not smoke, and no one smoked in the vehicle during my trip. The evidence submitted was a photo of a lighter on a car floor (I never saw one when I cleaned the whole car out) and photos of alleged ash, but again, the photos did not clearly identify the car I rented.
The host also harassed and bullied me, saying I had 15 minutes to pay him or he would escalate this to Turo and that I would not win.
I’ve disputed the claims with Turo and asked them to review the full picture, including the tire tread mismatch, the lack of identifying evidence, the host’s messages, and whether there is a pattern of similar claims.
I’m not posting the host’s name publicly because I want to keep this within Reddit rules and avoid doxxing. But if you’ve had a similar experience with a Turo host involving questionable damage, tire, smoking, or cleaning claims, especially after leaving a good review, please comment generally or DM me.
I’m trying to understand whether this was an isolated situation or whether other guests have experienced the same type of post-trip charges.