Everything you need to know about Turo, the car sharing app used in two US attacks

A car sharing app that was used in two deadly incidents in the United States yesterday was launched in Australia two years ago and has quickly become the nation’s largest car share marketplace.

Turo, an American peer-to-peer car sharing app headquartered in San Francisco, was used by perpetrators in the Las Vegas Tesla Cybertruck explosion and the alleged terrorist attack that killed 15 people and injured dozens more in New Orleans. The incidents are not thought to be linked, the FBI has said.

Both incidents involved rented vehicles, and Turo chief executive Andre Haddad confirmed both incidents involved cars booked through his start-up’s app.

A Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel early on January 1. Credit: AP

“It is with a heavy heart that I confirmed earlier today that this morning’s horrific attack in New Orleans and this afternoon’s Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas both involved vehicles rented on Turo,” the CEO, a former eBay executive, said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.

“Our trust and safety team is actively partnering with law enforcement authorities to share any information that could be helpful in their investigations. The renters had valid US driver’s licences and did not have criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat. We are not currently aware of any information that indicates the two incidents are related.”

Turo was founded in 2009 and launched in Australia in 2022. The app is available in the US, Britain, Canada and France, and Australia is its fastest-growing market. It claims to be Australia’s largest car sharing marketplace.

Turo does not own or maintain any of its own cars. Its platform is similar to Airbnb and allows car owners, or “hosts”, to set their own prices and availability and connect directly to drivers, or “guests”, who book through the Turo website or app. The company claims its cars are cheaper than traditional rental companies.

In the US, Turo’s users must be at least 18 years of age and hold a valid driver’s licence. In Australia, users must be 21.

Turo was founded in 2009 and launched in Australia in 2022. Credit: AP

“When you’re booking your first trip, you’ll go through a quick approval process by entering your driver’s licence and some other information,” the company’s Australian website reads. “In most cases, you’ll get approved immediately, and you’ll be set for all future road trips, day trips and business trips!”

It is now expected that there will be questions about whether Turo will strengthen its vetting processes for prospective drivers.

Turo was previously a rival to Uber’s car-share division, but late last year it signed a partnership with the company, so Australian Uber users can rent vehicles from Turo’s collection directly from the Uber app. Uber scrapped its “Uber Carshare” product in September 2024.

A Turo spokesperson told this masthead that the company is “outraged by the misuse of our marketplace by the two individuals who perpetrated these acts”.

“Every Turo renter is screened through a proprietary multilayer, data-science-based trust and safety process. We utilise over 50 internal and external data sources to build, maintain and improve on our best-in-class Turo Risk Score,” the spokesman said.

“These individuals in question had valid driver’s licences, clean background checks, and were honourably discharged from the US military. They could have boarded any plane, checked into a hotel, or rented a car or truck from a traditional vehicle rental chain. We do not believe these two individuals would have been flagged by anyone – including Big Rental or law enforcement.”

As of mid-2024, Turo had more than 2400 vehicles on its marketplace in Australia and more than 220,000 users.

“Turo operates a safe and trusted marketplace,” the company spokesman said.

“As of September 30, 2024, we have collected data from over 90 million booked days, 27 million trips, 8.6 billion miles driven, through 12 years of operating history, less than 0.10 per cent of Turo trips end with a serious incident such as a vehicle theft.″