Found on the web or a mobile app, Relay Rides is a kind of Air BnB for automobiles now operating in many corners of Michigan, as the so-called shared economy continues to gain momentum.
DETROIT, MI - Eric Teschke is adamant about letting renters of his 2010 Chevy Camaro RS know that it has a manual transmission.
His concern for the well-being of the lone vehicle he owns as he lends it out to strangers is all part of the Relay Rides experience, in which almost anyone with a decent set of wheels can rent them out.
Found on the web or a mobile app, Relay Rides is a kind of Air BnB for automobiles now operating in many corners of Michigan, as the so-called shared economy continues to gain momentum.
With that momentum, the vehicle-sharing company is now in thousands of U.S. cities and expanding in Europe. In Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids, several cars and trucks are for rent. A lone Ford Freestyle can be had in Traverse City.
In Detroit, for example, there are Dodge Caravans that can be borrowed for as low as $30 per 24 hours, all the way up to a 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that can be temporarily yours for $249 a day.
Teschke, of Sterling Heights, rents out his Camaro for $79 a day when he's not using it, and thus makes a little money on the side.
"I'll have the car rented about six days a month," Teschke said. "It hasn't been too bad," he said, adding that in the summer he makes an extra $200-300 a month.
A $57 billion industry to be shared
Shelby Clark launched Relay Rides in Boston in 2010, and expanded it to San Francisco later that year, opting to relocate its headquarters to Bay Area, too.
The company launched nationwide in 2012, and has received $52.5 million in venture capital from the likes of Canaan Partners and Google Ventures. It gobbled up what appeared to be its only competitor, Wheelz, in 2013.
A spokesman for the company points to these numbers as a sign of the company's astronomical growth: In 2012, Relay Rides was in just two cities and zero airports. The company now has cars and trucks in service in about 2,500 cities. It has cars at more than 300 airports in the U.S.
"We're operating in a $57 billion industry, the car rental industry," said Steve Webb, the company's community and communications director. "And right now we're only a small part of that."
Car owners can be anywhere in Michigan to participate in this shared economy.
"In terms of roll-out we have opened up our marketplace for basically anyone with a vehicle," Webb said.
A 2014 Chevy Corvette Stingray is listed on Relay Rides for $249 a day. Make a few hundred a month
The appeal for car owners is that they're making on average about $400 a month, Webb said. For renters, it's that they have access to more than 800 makes and models, and they're on average about 30 percent cheaper than mainstream car rental services, according to Webb.
In Michigan that appears to be the case at airports. However, at non-airport car rental locations the price difference is not always so great. Enterprise says a Kia Rio or similar econo-car can be had for about $39.99 a day in Detroit, and Hertz had a Ford Focus available for $43 a day.
Those cars are newer, too. The vehicles on Relay Rides have a range of makes, models and years - as well as little ownership quirks. Finding spare change and other items in a well-settled car may lend to the novelty of the Relay Rides experience, however.
Not just any ride can be a Relay Ride
To rent your car out on the Relay Rides service, there are some typical parameters (though we found some of these were fudged in Detroit). The vehicle has to have fewer than 100,000 miles on it.
Your ride also has to have a fair market value of less than $75,000. After all, Relay Rides has to insure the car while it's being used as part of their service.
They provide a $1 million liability policy, and up to the cash value of the car.
Renters can select their own coverage for a fee when they rent a vehicle, with a premium package for 40 percent of the rental price that has a $500 deductible, and a basic level with a $2,500 deductible. Renters can also opt out of coverage.
Banned from New York
Its insurance coverage has ran afoul of New York regulators, and in 2014, the New York Department of Finance said the company had been misrepresenting its coverage to renters. It was fined $200,000 and has not been able to operate in the state.
But the company insists it is a problem specific to the state of New York.
"The situation in New York is very unique," Webb said. "New York has very unique insurance laws that they felt we weren't complaint with."
Webb said the company has not faced regulatory hurdles in other states.
Relay Rides' "Trip Checklist" It takes a teen to burn out a clutch in 4 hours
Teschke knows Relay Rides' liability system first hand. It's why he now insists drivers understand what "manual" means when listing the car's six-speed transmission.
Fresh out of the shop with a new clutch, he said he rented the Camaro to a teenager who was headed to prom. The teen's skills with driving a stick shift were exceptionally poor.
"They burned out the clutch in four hours," Teschke said. "They must have been riding the clutch pedal at 4,000 RPM's."
Luckily, there was so much damage to the clutch that the Camaro was rendered immobile while the teen renter was still using it.
Teschke was able to present Relay Rides with a receipt from when the clutch was recently repaired, thus proving it was brand new. Relay Rides sent an inspector out and performed a "tear down" of the car.
"This was the scary part for me, I had to approve a $500 tear down," Tecshke said.
Aside from having his car disassembled, Tecshke ran the risk of being out $500, plus whatever it would cost to fix the clutch, if the inspector did not agree that the renter caused the damage.
But the inspector did indeed point fault at the renter, and Relay Rides covered all of the damages.
Relay Rides recommended
There was one other incident of damage to Techske's Camaro when a renter backed the car into a pylon. Relay Rides promptly paid for the $800 repair to his bumper, he said.
When renting a car, both the owner and renter fill out a little sheet and then sign off on what they agree is the condition of the car.
The clutch can't be monitored though, so Teschke has since installed a Bluetooth on-board diagnostics monitor to see what is happening to his Camaro when it becomes a Relay Ride.
All said, Teschke has had a positive experience with Relay Rides, and is even considering expending by leasing and then renting out an additional car.
He offered this advice to anyone thinking of renting out their rides to strangers:
"I'd probably say to make sure it's not a manual transmission, to start with," he said.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.