Turo scheduled messages
A scheduled message is a note you wrote once that Turo sends around the trip: after the booking, before pickup, before return. It does not read the thread. That is useful for the lines that are true on every trip, and a bad fit for anything that depends on whether this guest is verified or whether the car is free tomorrow.
Setup and variables
Turo lets hosts attach a saved message to a point in the trip. The names of those triggers, and how far ahead you can set them, live in the host tools and they change. Check Turo’s help center for the current setup before you build a week around a menu you remember from last season.
One template has to fit every booking, so the parts that change should be variables Turo fills in: the guest’s name, the car, the dates, the times, the place. Use the variable list in the editor. Do not invent your own tags and hope they swap. Preview the message on a real upcoming trip. A preview that still shows an empty spot, or the raw variable, is not ready.
If the car’s spot depends on the previous return, do not put a location variable in a message that sends when you accept. Promise the spot later, then send it when you can stand behind it. The booking note and the night-before note are written that way in the Turo welcome message template.
A schedule sends on the clock. It does not check whether you already answered. If you also reply by hand, the guest gets two versions. Turn off a scheduled line for a trip you are handling live, or keep the scheduled text so short that a second copy does not contradict you.
Before pickup
These four can go on a schedule. None of them includes a lockbox code, a gate code, or a garage code.
Hi [Guest first name], thanks for booking the [Car]. Your trip is [Trip start] to [Trip end], pickup at [Pickup time] local time. I’ll send the pickup spot closer to the trip. Message me in this thread if your plans change.
Hi [Guest first name], your trip in the [Car] is coming up on [Trip start] at [Pickup time]. Please have your driver’s license ready and finish any check-in steps in the app. The spot and the unlock steps come after that, in this thread.
Hi [Guest first name], the [Car] will be at [Pickup spot] for your [Pickup time] pickup. [How to recognize it, for example gray, plate ending in 482]. Bring your license. I’ll send how to unlock it once your trip is verified.
Skip message 3 on a schedule if the stall changes with the previous guest. Send that one by hand the night before or the morning of.
Hi [Guest first name], hope the [Car] is what you expected. If a light is on, something is missing, or the spot was hard to find, message me here with a photo. Otherwise enjoy the trip. Return details come the day before [Trip end].
Around return
These four are the return half. A review ask is not one of them. Send that after you have seen the car, not on a clock that fires whether the trip was smooth or not. None of these repeats a lockbox code.
Hi [Guest first name], the [Car] is due back [Trip end] at [Return time], at [Return spot]. Please bring it back with [Fuel or charge rule]. Before you leave, send a photo of the dashboard and lock the car.
Hi [Guest first name], return is today at [Return time]. Same spot: [Return spot]. Put the key back where you found it and scramble the dials if there is a lockbox. Message me here if you are running late, with the time you expect to be there.
A few return notes for the [Car]: [One or two rules, for example no smoking, and the toll tag stays in the car]. The closest [gas station or charger] to the return spot is [Name and address]. Thanks for taking care of it.
Thanks for bringing the [Car] back, [Guest first name]. Hope the trip went well. You’re welcome back any time.
If you have not checked the car yet, a thanks on a schedule is fine. A review request can wait until you have walked around it.
What not to schedule
Leave these off the clock and send them when the facts are in.
- The lockbox code, gate code, or garage code. Per Turo’s current host guidance, access goes out after the guest is verified, close to pickup. A schedule does not check that. Wording and timing are in the Turo lockbox code message guide.
- A spot you do not know yet. If the previous guest has not returned, message 3 above will name a stall the car is not in.
- Extensions, late returns, refunds, and damage. The answer depends on the next booking or on photos you have not seen. Keep that conversation in the trip messages.
- Anything that contradicts a message you already sent by hand on that trip. Turn the scheduled copy off, or the guest gets both.
The rest of the message guides, including the lines worth writing yourself, are on the guides for Turo hosts.
Questions hosts ask
Do scheduled messages answer what the guest just asked? No. They send at the time you set, even if the thread has already moved on. If you also reply by hand with the same information, the guest can get both. Read the thread before you rely on the clock.
Which details should be variables? The guest’s name, the car, the dates, the times, and the location, using the variable list Turo shows in the editor. Preview a real trip before you turn the message on. If the spot is not known when the message sends, leave the spot out.
Should the lockbox code be scheduled? No. Send the code after the guest is verified, close to pickup, in the trip thread. A schedule cannot tell that this guest is approved. Check Turo’s help center for the current access guidance.
What if Turo’s schedule options do not match this list? Use the timings Turo offers today and skip a message you cannot place cleanly. The help center is where the current triggers and variables are documented. The wording here still applies when you send the note yourself.