Turo lockbox code message
The lockbox code is the message guests actually need at the car, and the one you least want sitting in a thread from the hour you accepted the trip. Send it late, send it once, and say where the box is in the same note. A code with no location is how someone stands in the wrong row trying four digits.
When to send it
Per Turo’s current host guidance, send access after the guest is verified, close to pickup. A code that goes out with the welcome, or in a scheduled note the night you accept, stays in the thread if the trip is cancelled or the guest is not approved. Check Turo’s help center for the current timing before you send one. The welcome and the night-before note cover the car, the time, and the spot. They do not carry the code. That split is written out in the Turo welcome message template.
Send the code only to the booked guest, in the trip messages. Not in a text to a number they offered, and not in a note you also copied to a friend who is picking up the car unless that person is on the trip. If pickup is hours away and they are verified, send it when they are on the way, not at breakfast “so they have it.” Early codes get screenshotted into group chats.
Change the code on a rhythm you will actually keep: after a trip where the guest had trouble, when a code may have been shared, and often enough that last month’s guest cannot open this month’s car. If two cars sit in the same lot, the message has to say which box. “The lockbox” is not enough when a guest can see three of them.
What the message should say
Four facts, in this order. Where the box is on the car. The code. What to do with the key and the box. Where the key goes at return. Add the stall or the cross street if you have not already sent the spot. Skip the life story of the lockbox.
Say how the dials work if yours is fussy. Some boxes need a clear (turn past zero) before the code. Some read left-right-left. Guests who have only used a keypad will spin a dial box until the shackle laughs at them. If the key is a fob, say so, and say whether the car unlocks with the fob buttons or a touch on the handle. A guest who finds a metal key and a push-button car will message you from the driver’s seat.
On a remote handoff, this note is the whole greeting at the curb. Pair it with the contactless pickup wording when you are not meeting them: spot first, code only after check-in. That sequence is in the Turo contactless pickup message guide.
Hi [Guest first name], you’re set. The lockbox is [where it is, for example on the driver-side window] on the [Car] at [Pickup spot]. The code is [Code]. Take the key, close the box, and scramble the dials. At return, the key goes back in the same box. Have a good trip.
You’re at the right car. The box is [exact spot, for example behind the driver mirror, black case]. Enter [Code], [how the dials work, for example clear it first by turning past 0]. Pull the key, shut the box, and scramble the dials before you walk away. Send a dashboard photo when you’re in, fuel and miles.
Send the code only to the booked guest, close to pickup, and change it when it may have been shared.
When the box will not open
Most “code doesn’t work” messages are the wrong car, a box that was not cleared, or digits read out of order. Ask for a photo of the box on the car before you give a second code. A photo tells you they are on your vehicle and not on the sedan one stall over.
If your backup is a second box, a hidden key, or you driving over, say that in the thread and give one next step. Do not publish a spare code “just in case” in the first message. Two codes in the opening note is how the spare becomes the code everyone knows.
If they are at an airport and a shuttle is involved, tell them whether to wait with the bags or to send you the photo first. A guest who leaves the stall to find signal will come back to a car they are no longer sure is theirs.
Sorry about that. Please send a photo of the lockbox on the car so I can see which one you have. Then clear the dials and enter [Code] as [digit, digit, digit, digit]. [Direction, for example turn right to each number]. If it still will not open, stay with the car and I’ll send the next step here.
Getting the key back
The return note should say where the key goes, not re-teach the whole pickup. If they already have the code, you can repeat it so they are not scrolling to the first message in a parking garage. If you are writing a scheduled return reminder that also goes to guests who never got a code, do not put the code in that reminder. Say “the same box you took the key from” and scramble the dials.
Ask for the photo that settles the trip: dashboard, fuel or charge, miles. Ask them to confirm the box is locked. A “key’s back” with the shackle up is a key on the sidewalk.
Other pickup and return lines, including the ones that should go out before this code, are on the guides for Turo hosts.
Hi [Guest first name], please return the [Car] to [Return spot] by [Return time]. Lock the car, put the key in the lockbox [where it is], and scramble the dials. Reply here once it’s locked, with a photo of the dashboard showing fuel and miles. Thanks.
Questions hosts ask
When should I send the lockbox code? After the guest is verified, and close to pickup. Per Turo’s current host guidance, access details wait until then. Check Turo’s help center for the timing before you send a code.
Can I put the code in a scheduled message? Do not schedule the code to go out with the booking or the night-before note. A scheduled send does not wait to see that this guest was verified. Send the code yourself, in the trip thread, once they are.
What if the code does not open the box? Ask which direction they turned the dials, whether they cleared the box first, and for a photo of the box on the car. Give the code once more, digit by digit. If it still fails, get them a backup that does not involve posting a new code where the old one already sits.
Should the return message repeat the code? Only if they already received it on this trip. Say where the key goes and to scramble the dials. Do not introduce a code in a message that also goes to guests who have not been verified.