TL;DR

Dude rents my nice Corvette on Turo, his bi-polar girlfriend vandalizes it, it takes 46 days for Turo to pay to get most of it fixed, and they wouldn’t fix some of it.

Background

Daniel B Martinez Jr, age 37, a local attorney, rented my 2016 Corvette 2LT from Jan 3 to Jan 5 on a website called Turo. Turo is a website where you can rent your personal car to other people, and Turo provides insurance. Kinda like AirBNB for cars. He had rented my Corvette for a weekend previously, and only put 10 miles on it. The other time he rented my car, I had to go through his dad in order to pick my car up, since he wouldn’t answer his phone or texts.

Timeline

Jan 3

12:30 PM - Daniel picks up my Corvette, shown below.

Jan 4

11:55 PM - At nearly midnight, a Palm Bay Police Officer, Matt, arrives at my house asking if I owned a blue Chevrolet. I do. He informs me that Daniel had left my car abandoned at the Cumberland Farms gas station on 192 and Dairy Rd in West Melbourne.

Matt passes my cell phone number on to a West Melbourne police officer on the scene at the gas station, who calls me. He informs me that my window was broken on my car, and I should come down there and get the car. He said that Daniel’s mother was at the gas station and she had my Corvette key. I get a ride there, and a West Melbourne Police officer is there, who leaves before I get to talk to him, and Daniel’s mother is there. I have just 1 key for the Corvette, and the officer said Daniel’s mother had it. She didn’t. She then drove to her house (where Daniel lives) to get my key.

Damage

The driver window was knocked out and busted on the ground. There was damage on the drivers door and mirror. A scratch on the hatchback. A piece of the front grill missing (this was pre-existing damage, as I later found out). The splitter under the front grill was damaged. A scratch in the leather on the passenger interior. Glass everywhere. The targa top was removed and placed in the hatch, and it was raining, and I had no way to put the top back on since Daniel had my key. Who knows how long it had been raining.

She arrived back about 20 minutes later with a key, and I pop the hatch to put the top back on. The top is in terrible condition, with scratches and deep scrapes all over it. It was like someone used the painted part of the top as an ice sled, or hockey puck. Just really bad shape. I put the top back on to keep the water out of the car, and a trash bag over the lack of drivers window. I waited for the officer to come back to get the police report.

I had talked to the employees at the Cumberland Farms gas station. They said they got the whole thing on video. My car was parked in the front corner spot, right under 2 cameras. Daniel’s girlfriend, Marina Rogers, age 21, found out that Daniel had cheated on her and was trying to attack Daniel while he was driving, and he didn’t like that. He pulled over and parked my Corvette at a gas station, then got an Uber home. She was mad she couldn’t attack him, so she vandalized my car. The Cumberland Farms employee said she punched the drivers window three times, then grabbed the top of the window and leaned back with all her weight to break the window.

Police Interaction

The Cumberland Farms employee said I couldn’t see or retrieve the video evidence without the police. A West Melbourne police officer, Casey, ID#745, finally showed back up to the scene, and gave me a case number, 2019-00000441. Casey told me I can go through Turo, mine or Daniel’s Insurance, or small claims court in order to get my car fixed. He also said what Daniel’s girlfriend did is not a crime, since it isn’t a crime to vandalize someone else’s car. The damage was considered civil, as opposed to criminal.

I found out through Casey that Daniel’s girlfriend, Marina Rogers, had been checked into a local mental health institution, Circles of Care. The cop said she was bi-polar. Daniel’s mom said she was really drunk. Daniel did not inform me of any damage to my car, he never messaged me or called me back, and did not seem remorseful about this event in the slightest. After viewing the police report, it appears Marina Rogers was drunk and suicidal. The officer recognized this, and enacted the Baker Act to bring her to the mental facility.

Jan 5

12:30 AM Picked up the Corvette at Cumberland Farms, drove it home and vacuumed up glass

1:26 AM - Opened up a damage claim with Turo with photo/video walkthrough after I got home

10AM - Cleaned up the car some more. Noted that Daniel left a $1,300 deposit slip and some blank checks from Wells Fargo in the car.

Jan 6

No response from Turo.

Jan 7

Got a damage quote from John Bias, owner of Ace’s Body Shop - 8k

Called Daniel at his office, left a message with his secretary. Told her the damage was 8k. She said not to worry and that Daniel would make it right.

Messaged Turo Damage Claims with the 8k damage estimate.

No response from Turo.

Jan 8

No response from Turo.

Called Daniel on his cell, left a voicemail to call me back.

No response from Daniel.

Jan 9

Got a quote from Gerber Collision, with their associate JP. Quote was 7.3k, + 1.5k to 5k more for new seat and dealer code resets. So even higher than Ace’s.

Sent Turo follow up email with second quote.

Called Turo support - got Sylvia. She said to wait for the claims specialist to contact me later today. The Claims Specialist’s name is Donovan Durr, 415-941-0706, [email protected]

Submitted a request to West Melbourne PD for the case report.

Donovan Durr from Turo support contacted me. He mentioned that the grill already had a piece missing when I had rented it before, according to the pictures. I looked, and he’s right. The grill even had that piece missing when I bought it!

Daniel finally messaged me that night, saying he’s been busy with a jury and asking what he needed to do to take care of this. I messaged him back saying 8k was the damage cost.

Jan 10

No response from Turo.

No response from Daniel.

I cleaned the interior with soap and water and was able to get the scuffing off of the drivers seat.

Jan 11

Received email from Donovan at Turo, requesting photos of scratches and damage with a ruler next to it. Photos sent.

Received police report from West Melbourne Police Dept, forwarded to Donovan.

Call with Donovan Durr at 3:30PM EST. Said he is reviewing with his supervisor. Follow-up in 1 business day. Nothing else to talk about.

No response from Daniel.

Jan 12

No response from Daniel.

From Donovan at Turo:

I reviewed this claim with my supervisor. We’re going to cover the damage to the driver’s side door, the mirror, and the top in that area. We’re going to be denying the damage to the rear passenger quarter panel as we cannot determine if that scratch may have been there based on the pre-trip photos provided for that area and the difficulty of seeing the scratch due to its nature. For the splitter, we would not be able to cover that as we would need pre-trip photos of the undercarriage unfortunately. Although we don’t have pre-trip photos of the interior, we will reimburse you $200 for the interior as well as cover any water damage that may have occurred to due to the top being left off. Your shop of choice will need to file a supplement request for that portion of the claim. Finally, I want to do a final review on the scratches on the targa top that go down towards the passenger’s side door. I was advised to move forward with a denial for it as my supervisor wasn’t able to see the damage in the post trip photo we looked at, but as we have a few others on file(and the video from the scene), I want to make sure that we are making the right decision. As I do not work Tuesday through Saturday, I do typically do not work on Mondays, but I will see if I can get her to take a second look at that area. If we decide to move forward with coverage, I will go ahead and get that added to our estimate and we should have this fully resolved by early next week. Thank you for your patience as I know this is frustrating.

Jan 13

Daniel messaged me on the Turo app, saying he has elected to go through Turo to settle this.

No response from Turo.

Joined Turo Owners group on FB for advice on how to deal with Turo. General advice is to use FairClaims and to not take the first number Turo offers you. Just escalate it when they low ball you.

Jan 14

No response from Turo.

Noticed that Turo has delisted my Corvette from their website.

Jan 15

Created account on ResolveAClaim app, as instructed by Turo.

Snapsheet estimator was Marvin Acosta. Snapsheet is a third party that Turo goes through to get damage estimates.

From Donovan:

My supervisor took a second look at the claim and we will be able to go ahead and cover the scratches on the top as well. So that would be everything covered except for this scratch attached to this message, that portion of the front grill that was already missing and the damage to the splitter. I will go ahead and have an estimate written up at this time. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

Jan 16

No response from Turo.

Received email from SnapSheet, offering me $1,169.51 to cover the damages. The denied a large part of the damage to my car. They said:

We have no pre-trip photos of the undercarriage, the damage to the front grill is pre-existing, and we cannot determine if the scratch on the rear hatch on the passenger’s side is pre-existing based on the pre-trip photos.

Based on the circumstances, I regret to inform you this claim is ineligible for coverage because pre-existing damage and areas claimed without pre-trip photos are not covered under our policy.

Jan 17

Accepted $1,169.51 payment from Turo.

Donovan said $200 interior damage refund will go directly to my earnings.

Left a message for Ace’s on dropping off Vette and working on supplements.

Jan 18

No response from Turo.

Brought Vette to Ace’s, John took pictures and said that he’d work on supplements with Turo/Snapsheet

Jan 19

No response from Turo.

Jan 20

No response from Turo.

Jan 21

No response from Turo.

Jan 22

No response from Turo.

Jan 23

Sent estimate to Gerber Collision from Snapsheet, I never heard back from Gerber

John Bias from Ace’s called back - said Snapsheet (Laura was the rep) will approve all supplements. Can bring in Monday, Jan 28.

No response from Turo.

Jan 24

No response from Turo.

Jan 25

No response from Turo.

Jan 26

No response from Turo.

Jan 27

No response from Turo.

Jan 28

Brought in Vette to Ace’s Body Shop at 9:15AM

No response from Turo.

Jan 29

Received an email from Snapsheet at 4:30PM about receiving the supplement from Ace’s.

No response from Turo.

Jan 30

No response from Turo.

Jan 31

No response from Turo.

Feb 1

No response from Turo.

Feb 2

No response from Turo.

Feb 3

No response from Turo.

Feb 4

No response from Turo.

Feb 5

No response from Turo.

Feb 6

No response from Turo.

Feb 7

No response from Turo.

Feb 8

Got a call from John at Ace’s Body Shop. Said Corvette is painted, total is about $4700. Still waiting on Snapsheet to send over the supplement approval. John said that Snapsheet is not wanting to put in an OEM window glass, however, there seem to be no aftermarket window glass parts available anyways.

John said he has been working with Michael Ecker, who is an adjuster for Snapsheet.

I called Snapsheet support. They said my supplement is approved for the full amount that Ace’s will charge. They said they sent that approval to Turo on February 7, and Turo is the middle man and has to send it to Ace’s Body shop.

Called Turo to follow up - waited 27 minutes before requesting a call back.

Got a call back from Richard at Turo. He said he is approving it today, sending me and the body shop an email with information today, and that then I can claim the remaining ~$3600 from Turo.

Called Ace’s to let them know the full supplement was approved and will be sent over today.

Feb 9

No response from Turo.

Feb 10

No response from Turo.

Feb 11

Heard back from Donovan at Turo Support, the supplement went from Snapsheet to him. He said that Snapsheet incorrectly listed the damage as on the windshield instead of the drivers window, so he is getting them to redo it.

Feb 12

John from Ace’s called, the car is finished except putting a few trim pieces on. Windows on and tinted, paint looks good. Planned to pick up car on Friday, Feb 15.

Heard back from Donovan with a supplement payment of $3,066.96.

That would put the total paid at $3,066.96 + $1,169.51 + $200 = $4,436.47

Asked Donovan about getting the additional amount owed, and mentioned using FairClaims.

Total Charges from Ace’s = $4,538.47

Feb 13

No response from Turo.

Feb 14

No response from Turo.

Feb 15

Corvette detailed at Ace’s.

Picked up car from Ace’s, total charge was $4,538.47, which I paid out of pocket. These clear protector on the drivers door over the paint was not installed, so he said for me to come back up next week to get it installed, it is already paid for.

John found a full container of hair gel in the car that Daniel had left in it from the rental.

No response from Turo.

Feb 16

Donovan from Turo said that he has submitted the second supplement payment for authorization to a supervisor.

Feb 17

No response from Turo.

Feb 18

No response from Turo.

Feb 19

Received $316.23 from Turo on second supplement.

Total paid from Turo = $1,169.51 + $200 + $3,066.96 + $316.23 = $4,752.70.

Total paid to Ace’s = $4,538.47

So after all was finished, I got to keep $214.13, but I have a large scratch on my hatch that Turo would not cover.

Feb 20

Corvette relisted, required multiple day rentals and higher rate per day, along with a cleaning fee if not returned clean.

Feb 21

Changed my mind, took the Corvette off Turo because this was a nightmare.

Conclusion

First, I want to thank Ace’s Body Shop. They did a great job on my car, and John went above and beyond filling out multiple supplements for Turo and Snapsheet. Seriously, thanks, you guys were great.

It took 46 days for Turo to fix damages on my car, and hours of my time dealing with Turo Support, getting quotes from body shops, requesting police reports, and sending in pictures. I was very unsatisfied with both the quality and punctuality of Turo Support.

I have learned that, if you rent your car on Turo, it should be a car you don’t care about, and to take 50+ pictures before and after every rental. Part of my claim was denied because I only took the 5 required before and after pictures.

Turo is not on your side, and will do everything possibly to pay you as little as possible. It took me almost 7 weeks to get my damages paid for. I was lucky that I have another car, or else I would have been without a car for a majority of those 7 weeks.

Appendix

Pictures/Videos of the Corvette, timestamps in the details.

Daniel B Martinez Jr - Rented my Corvette

Age: 37

Address: 554 Sedgewood Circle, Melbourne, FL. This is a rental house owned by American Homes 4 Rent.

He lives with his parents, Daniel and Grace Martinez

Personal email = [email protected]

Cell listed on Turo 321-361-6793

Law Office Number 321-419-8666

Marina Rogers - Daniel Martinez’ girlfriend.