How Anyone Can Own a Tesla
Today's episode is about the concept of, if you want a vacation home, or you want a specific type of car or anything else that you are really looking to, to aspire to have, but you don't think that you can afford it. What is a way that you can actually have it? Today's guest, Steve Sasman, went out and did that with his Tesla.
He always loved tech. And the more he read about Tesla, he became obsessed with them, which is I can attest to that. And he had to get creative to find how he could afford one which led him down this path and adventure where he's used PR, marketing, and the sharing economy to own his Tesla.
And I found out it was an older Tesla. It had 200,000 miles on it at the time. He told me how he drove across the country. He just went into all of this detail of all these things that he did with his Tesla. And so, I just could hear the passion as I mentioned. And so, he ended up giving me a business card which I then found out that he basically had this Tesla which he also rented on Turo, and he also leveraged Uber for being a driver.
In this episode, we’re discussing…
[4:32] He has always been into kind of high-tech stuff, he has always liked the futuristic type of things
[7:17] His real job is vacation rentals; He’s been in that space for quite a while.
[8:03] How he knew about Turo, it was very new at that time
[9:28] The logistics he handles if someone want to rent his car
[11:40] How he deals with the insurance company and all kind of speeding or parking tickets
[14:00] He owns more Teslas and where this has been gone for Steve
[16:51] The customer service level he’s able to have due to his cars
[18:23] The little bad experience he had and what it takes into his business
[19:40] The vehicle is just an asset and not be attached to it
[20:17] Not to be too emotional, that helps him to make money
Steve’s Top Tips:
“I've always kind of like the futuristic type of things. And so, when I finally saw a Tesla come onto the scene, I was just blown away”
“Way, and the more I researched it, the more I realized, oh my God, I have got to get one of these things somehow, someway”
“I had to figure out something creative, I had to figure out a way to be able to own one, and to experience it. So that's kind of how I came up with, you know, using some of the new kind of sharing economy ideas to make it happen”
“A lot of people are scared to do anything out of the ordinary are different. But I don't know, I just look at it like, Look, it's a piece of metal. It's not, you know, it's not my baby, that I can't let you know something”
“But I look at it as an asset, something to maximize the utilization of, rather than trying to protect it. And it's just a much more profitable way to do it. I've had so much fun with this car, you know, the last five, six years, that, you know, I definitely would not do it any other way”
“I was looking at the things that were available at the time, which were, you know, Uber, and Lyft. Were just kind of coming on the scene. And I figured, obviously, that was one way to do it. Another one was called relay rides, which then turned into Turo, which is kind of known as the Airbnb of cars. Just a way for people to rent their car out”.
“I'm in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona. So, I knew that there was a big enough place where it would work. You know, if you're in a small town of 50,000, probably wouldn't work, right. But if you're in a big major metropolitan area, where there are lots of people interested in the same type of car, then you can certainly make it happen”
“The renters’ own insurance can cover part of it, too. So, as I said, it's kind of complex. But you know, if someone's really interested, I highly recommend, you know, looking at the Turo Terms of Service to really understand all the implications regarding those details.”
“And there are ways to automate it as well. Like, for example, for me and my cars, you know, they're expensive cars, I like to actually meet with each person, go over the car, and whatnot, you know, beforehand. So, it's a little bit more time-intensive, on my end, to do that. But, you know, I think that's a better customer service”
“It's just being like, hey it's an asset, that helps me make money. And, you know, when things happen, things happen. But, you know, trying just keep a good positive attitude about it”
Nichole’s Top Tips
“I want to bring that up is it's a very similar concept that is talked about in, for example, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, how can I own this house or this vacation property? Or if you figure out a way to turn it into an asset”
Resources about Steve
FlagstaffRentalCabin.com
ABOUT STEVE SASMAN
Always loved tech, so upon reading more and more about Tesla, I became obsessed with the cars and had to get creative to be able to afford one which led me down a fun path of adventure using PR, marketing and the sharing economy.
