Avis vs Turo
Turo generally offers a more modern and user-friendly app experience with a wider variety of car options, while Avis struggles with app reliability and hidden fees, despite some positive feedback on customer service.
Turo provides a peer-to-peer car rental service with an app that users find easy to navigate and offers a diverse selection of vehicles. Avis, a traditional rental company, faces consistent complaints about its app's functionality, forced updates, and unexpected charges, though some users praise its in-person customer service.
Head to head
you prioritize traditional car rental services and value in-person customer service at the counter, especially if you are an Avis Preferred member and can navigate potential app frustrations R2R8R11.
you prefer a peer-to-peer car rental experience with a wider variety of unique vehicles and a generally more modern, user-friendly app, and are comfortable with direct communication with hosts .
Evidence note: Both apps are free to download, so there isn't a free-vs-paid asymmetry to call out. Reviews for both apps show a mix of positive and negative experiences, with recent negative reviews for Avis often focusing on app functionality and hidden fees, while Turo's recent negative reviews frequently highlight host cancellations and customer service issues.
Frequently asked
Does Avis charge cancellation fees?
Are there hidden fees with Turo?
Do Avis and Turo have issues with car availability?
Does the Avis app require frequent updates and password resets?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R1] Avis Continuous forced updates and password reentry: Every time I open the app it is forcing an update, with no option to skip, this is just bad software development, bc never is the app getting better. All I want to do is check my rental!
- [R4] Avis Didn’t work: App didn’t work for express check in. Just kept requesting the same info.
- [R5] Avis New v22.22 is a huge improvement: Love it! The only thing I’d change is how you earn points. It takes longer than other brands. But their prices are typically the best!
- [R13] Avis Weekly forced app updates SUCKS: What more is there to say. Stupid.
- [R3] Avis Disappointed: I reserved my vehicle several days in advance or my pick up date. When I arrived this morning, I was told there were no vehicles available. I questioned why and was told “this happens all the time and the next vehicle wouldn’t be available until about 11a”. My pick up time was scheduled for 8:30a. How is it possible that NO VEHICLES are available?!?! Never again will I frequent this
- [R10] Avis App Will Modify Res: I had an existing reservation and wanted to make another reservation within the app. I thought I was booking something new, but after the confirmation screen the app told me it modified my existing reservation. I lost out on the rate I had booked previously and when I rebooked it was nearly twice the cost. Extremely frustrating the app would rebook my existing reservation with
- [R16] Avis Disappointed In Avis (No Cars): This first time renting with Avis for a personal trip. I made a reservation for a car, and no cars were available. What is the point of having a reservation? Will rent from Hertz from now on. They always guarantee a car when reserving with them
- [R17] Avis Effortless Booking Experience: The Avis app is super easy to use and makes managing reservations seamless. I love how simple it is to update bookings and make changes on the go without any hassle. Everything is clear, efficient, and user-friendly, which makes the entire rental experience feel smooth from start to finish. Definitely a go-to for convenience and flexibility.
- [R2] Avis Thanks: Great counter service at SDF! Thank you for helping us get the perfect car for our trip.
- [R8] Avis Helpful Team: Thank you Diana at the RDU airport for helping me get to my flight on time!! You were very helpful- appreciate you!!
- [R11] Avis Best customer service ever!: Khy did an outstanding job getting us our rental and making sure we were completely satisfied. Would rent here again!
- [R14] Avis Avis was cheaper then the others: Avis is a no hassle rental car agency that I really enjoy and the agents are always helpful
- [R7] Avis Extra fees: I’ve always liked Davis but now they are charging an extra fee. If you pick up more than 30 minutes or an hour late, I will never use again!
- [R19] Avis cleaning charge scam: Be aware before renting from Avis. My first experience with Avis turned into a very disappointing one. I rented a vehicle for $195, but was later charged an additional $125 for “cleaning” over what amounted to minor dust and dirt. Charging such a significant fee for normal post-rental condition feels excessive and unreasonable. After being a loyal Enterprise customer for ov
- [R9] Avis More car options when selecting my car: It would be nice if we got more options when selecting a car. Also going from a full-size to a crossover or small SUV is not an upgrade. An upgrade from a full-size car would be a premium luxury or an electric car. ( not putting somebody in a crossover or an SUV.)
- [R21] Avis Modesto Airport: No Avis First options available yet
- [R28] Avis President Club: Avis Presidents club is a joke. They claim you can select your own car but rarely have any available. I have had to go to the counter every time.
- [R31] Avis Variety of cars: Nice and easy pickup and return of cars
- [R25] Avis Cancel: I think you are the only rental car company that charge a cancellation fee Anyway I still love your services.
- [R36] Avis Will: Should not charge me if my plane was canceled due to weather going to talk to my work travel to see if my company of 1000 will use another car rental co
- [R48] Avis Cannot get pickup questions answered: I was renting a car at MSP and needed to talk to a local agent to confirm they would be open with our late arrival and to know if our car would be at terminal 1 or 2. I called five times and could never get someone to answer my question nor connect me with a local rep to understand. So, I canceled my reservation and it incurred a cancellation fee that I hope w
- [R52] Avis Cancel fees are ripoffs: Service is poor, cars have been dirty, multiple airports so not an isolated incident. Then today I have a change and they charge another fee. What happened to Avis?
- [R102] Turo Don’t change your booking: I changed my booking because I was getting the dates figured out and they charged me a late fee of $191 on a rental that was only supposed to cost me $300 and it end up costing me $500
- [R116] Turo Hidden Fees: Lots of hidden fees delivery fee for vehicle that was supposed to be there, services fees Late fee if you 10 mins late that are 1/2 the day are Was over 100$ if undisclosed fees customer support zero help the. Then they Just ignore you
- [R61] Turo Turo Rental for Vacation: I had purchased a car, was in communication with me all the way until pickup. There wasn’t a car and host had to cancel.
- [R64] Turo Host cancelled day before and Turo didn’t cover cost of new rental: Host cancelled rental 12 hours before pickup for no good reason. I had booked six weeks in advance. Was refunded but had to pay substantially more to get a similar vehicle on short-notice. Turo completely unhelpful in covering this difference
- [R12] Avis Decent App Experience Poor Password Recovery Process: If you forget your password, your account is locked on 3rd attempt. Then, the link to reset it is expired upon arrival, so you have to request a 2nd link. When the app is updated, it can lose the sync between your biometric and password. Hence, the frequent frustration with password management. Lastly, iPhone version of the app is significantly
- [R24] Avis Horrible: Constant re-login requirements
- [R90] Turo Good company but spammy app: This app spams you with marketing notifications, and you can’t turn it off unless you want to miss important messages from your rental host
- [R98] Turo Spam notifications: I’ve started getting spam via notifications “book your 4th of July car”. I don’t need ads coming from you. I’m not going to spontaneously rent a car what the hell Edit: another day another ad Edit: another ad. Who in the world is spontaneously buying rentals for Miami?? I’m disabling all notifications until I need your service again
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store