#74: How Anyone Can Own a Tesla
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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
+ Read the transcript
Mike Stohler
What if you could be doing something smarter with your money that creates income. Now, if you're wanting to get ahead financially, and enjoy greater freedom of choice, if you want a comfortable retirement, and you know you'll have more choices, if you can do more with your money. Now. If you've wondered who else is creating ways to make their money work for them, and you want actionable ideas, honest pros and cons, and
welcome to the Richard geek podcast work here helping people find creative ways to build wealth and financial freedom. I'm Mike Stoller, and in this podcast, you'll hear from others already doing these things, and how you can too.
Welcome back to the Richard geek podcast. This is Mike. And on episode 71, we shared how I'll be transitioning to hosting the podcast. Many times episodes are recorded several months in advance. So during this transition, sometimes you'll hear hybrid episodes. This is one of those and we hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Nichole Stohler
Hey, everyone, welcome back to the richer geek podcast. Today's episode is about the concept of, hey, 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? And today's guest went out and did that with his Tesla. Now the little backstory is that I had to call an Uber to take me my car was in the shop and I needed to go and pick it up. So I called an Uber. And I just chose Uber x which is like supposed to be you know, like it would be a Toyota Prius or something not that fancy. And I saw that the car I was assigned was a Tesla.
So I had never been in a Tesla. So I was kind of excited. And when the driver came, I got into the car and I started asking questions about the car. And it became so clear that the driver was absolutely passionate about 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 country. He just went he went into all of this detail of all these things that he did with his Tesla. And so I just I 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 for Uber for being a driver. And he had a vacation rental property up in the Flagstaff area. And so I thought, you know, he would be so interesting to have on the show. So I had to track him down actually, because all he had was like a website, tracked him down through Twitter, and was able to get him on the show. So the other thing I think is super interesting is you know, we've since we recorded this, and that was back in late 2019. When we recorded it. We are now in the middle of a pandemic. And what is interesting is on his website where he gives a ton of advice about how you can afford a Tesla, how you can rent it out on the sharing site, Turo. He does all the calculations. He talks about all of the detail. In any case, he's updated that with his Tesla now is 300,000 miles. And I see he's got an updated article from July 28. So you should definitely check that out. So today's guest is Steve sasaman. He says in his bio, 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.
Steve, welcome to the show.
Steve Sasman
Welcome. Thanks so much, Nichole. Appreciate it. Let's jump in if you can share a little bit about your background. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I've always been into kind of high tech stuff I was, you know, in the cell phone industry back when those who are just rolling out so 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, some way. And, of course, at the time, they were very expensive. I mean, they were, you know, 80,000 Plus, for a new one, they didn't have the new, cheaper $35,000 ones that they do now. So I had to figure out something creative, I had to figure out a way to be able to own one, and to, 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 to make it happen.
I love something about what you said, which is you have to think of creatively, how could I have a Tesla? And the reason I want to bring that up is it's a very similar concept that 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, which is essentially what you did? Exactly. I mean, that's the thing. You know, a lot of people are scared to do anything out of the 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. I hear somebody feel like, Oh, I can't let anyone touch it or drive it. I'm like, Okay, fine. If you want to waste a lot of money, then that's fine. 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. And I mean, my God, 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. Tell us a little bit about then that analysis that you went through to figure out how your Tesla could become an asset. Sure, well, yeah. So I was looking at, you know, 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.
For others, and, and, you know, my real job is I do vacation rentals. And so I've been in that space for quite a while. So for me, you know, like handing the keys over to an expensive asset is nothing new or strange. And it was just, you know, it just made sense. So, yeah, that's how I kind of, you know, figured out and then, you know, I just did a bunch of net back of the napkin calculations and figured out, yeah, let's, uh, let's give this thing a shot. You know, let's do it.
Nichole Stohler
So basically, did you say, Okay, if I could rent this out on Toro, two days a week, and I assume you have a way to compare what were other people renting their Tesla out for? So you could see like market rents, so to speak.
Steve Sasman
Yeah, exactly. I mean, back then, there wasn't a whole lot of data just because there weren't that many people. You know, that had Tesla's that were doing it. And you know, Turo was very new at the time. But there was enough to see that, okay, we can make this work. And I knew, you know, 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's lots of people interested in the same type of car, then you can certainly make it happen.
Nichole Stohler
Got it. Now, what, when you use a platform like Toro, and it sounds like that was the only platform like that a bit like the Airbnb of cars. Was that was the only platform available at the time.
Steve Sasman
Yeah, pretty much. And really, it's still is in in this market. There are there's another platform called get around, but they're only in limited markets. They're not here. But you know, they are in I think, you know, San Francisco and you know, a few other markets around the world. But But Turo is the biggest one, and they have the most, you know, inventory and whatnot. So that's kind of the one most people are familiar with.
Nichole Stohler
Okay. Now, how do you handle the logistics? If someone says they want to rent your car? Do they come to your house? Or what do you do?
Steve Sasman
Sure. Yeah, it can go either way. Right? Most people come and pick it up, which is easier for me or I charge a delivery fee if someone wants me to deliver the car to them. Or you know, this probably the second most popular one though, besides the delivery to a someone's house would be an airport pickup. So we can do that. Even though we can't do the exchange at the airport. I can still pick them up and then we can do the exchange off airport property. And there's a delivery fee for that as well. Yeah, you You can do it either way when it that's one of the things that makes it kind of more unique and easier for the client is just that flexibility of however they want to do it.
Nichole Stohler
Does Toro have a rating system like Airbnb so you can see, is this a crazy driver?
Steve Sasman
Yes, yes, they do. And it helps. I mean it you know, for example, actually, just about a week ago, I turned down a potential booking because I looked at this guy's ratings and he had a one star review for you know, smoking in the car, returning it late so on and so forth. So I just said you know what, I'm not gonna deal with that. So I turned it down. Okay. Even said in the I even said, Sorry, prior batter view. So no can do.
Nichole Stohler
Now, how does how did things like insurance work when you're renting your car out on Turo?
Steve Sasman
Well, you know, that's part of what turbo their fee takes care of part of that. And there's it's kind of complicated. I mean, there's, there's, there's additional insurance they can, they'll try to get you to buy. But then also it's, you know, the renters own insurance can cover part of it, too. So, like 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.
Nichole Stohler
Okay. I was wondering if your insurance went up, but it sounds like you just have this option. It's kind of built into the platform itself.
Steve Sasman
Well, I do actually have a I do have a specific insurance company that is okay with Turo because a lot of them, if they do find out that you are doing Tarot, they will drop you. So it's not new. The other option is full commercial. But that's a lot more expensive, of course. But if you're, you know, if it's something you're going to do seriously, with a lot of cars, like I have friends here in Phoenix who have 3040 cars, you know, you may want to consider your basically a car rental agency at that point for me, you know, I just have two or three Tesla's and it's just a little side thing for me. And I try to keep it simple. But you still want to make sure you're doing everything correctly so that you don't end up getting screwed. So
Nichole Stohler
what happens if the person that is driving your car gets a ticket? Like they have a speeding ticket, a parking ticket, you know, we have a lot of the camera, the cameras around here, and they're going to catch the license plate, they're gonna think of you How does that work?
Steve Sasman
Yeah, you get reimbursed for all that you just have to submit it. And then that's part of you know, what Toro does for their fee that they're taking?
Nichole Stohler
Do you have to but it's not you. So the state are driving like you have to take the driving licence and basically very, like, if you got a speeding ticket, which I'm not saying that I know anyone who has, but let's just say you had a camera speeding ticket, and you had to take the online driving course right to avoid? Yeah, do you have How does that work?
Steve Sasman
Well, you can basically submit the information that a this renter had the car for the time period when the ticket happened, as well as you know, show the photo and hey, this isn't clearly isn't me, so on and so forth. So it would be a little bit of a pain timewise. But yeah, at the end of the day, the owner is not going to have to pay for it.
Nichole Stohler
Okay. Now, what's been the overall great thing for you, obviously, you got you were able to get a Tesla, and you were able to have it paid for a while and you have more Tesla's now. So tell us a little bit about where this has gone for you.
Steve Sasman
Sure. Well, yeah, I ended up getting a couple more Tesla's in on top of the original one that I had. So that one I ended up selling though, when I got to 214,000 miles. And actually, all of the details all the numbers on that are on my 200,000 mile article, which I can give you the link to that if you'd like. So people can read read up on those numbers. But um, yeah, so that, uh, that what was the question?
Nichole Stohler
I was asking what it led to, okay. You basically grew business out of it.
Steve Sasman
Yeah. More of a side business. I mean, you know, really, at the end of the day, it's kind of just paying for the cars. Now, like I said, some of those guys that I know that have, you know, 3040 cars, they're, they're making a legitimate, you know, real income producing business out of it. Which is I just, for me, it's a way to afford some nice expensive cars. You know, it kind of pays for the cars, and whatnot, it's not like I'm gonna, you know, just do tomorrow with two cars and have no other job, it's just not gonna happen, right? There's just no, there's just not enough income in it for that. But if it can pay for your cars, and their nice cars and cars that you enjoy, then that's the way to go.
Nichole Stohler
I think it's like anything else, you know, you're not going to have two rental houses. And that's gonna be it. Or even when you talked about short term rentals, you when you get when you have several of those, obviously, now you have a business, but one or two might be a little bit tough.
Steve Sasman
Exactly, exactly, yeah, you just have to scale it, you know, in a, in a pretty big way for that to work. Really, I think, too, you know, for the people that are doing it, you know, purely for income, you're probably going to look more at the lower end of cars, cars that you can buy for 4000, and rent them out for, you know, 30 or $40 a day, and have, you know, 20 4050 of them or more. That's how you're really because you with the more expensive cars, you're, you're dealing with, you know, massive depreciation, and things like that. So it just makes the numbers a lot harder to, to work in terms of money making operation.
Nichole Stohler
So interesting. I'd never thought about scaling and having a bunch of, you know, having a bunch, I just thought a turbo is like a, like you said, kind of like a side type of thing. And a way to turn, you know, something that normally wouldn't be an asset into an income producing asset.
Steve Sasman
Absolutely. 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, better customer service. Plus, you know, I know who's getting in the car, and I know what's going on a little bit more, you know, the people that have, you know, 50 cars, most of their interactions, they're setting it up everything, so it's automatic, so they're not even meeting the customer, the customer is picking up the car from a lot, entering it remotely, and taking the car and then returning it remotely, and they never even see or meet the customer. So that allows people to, to do it and have a much more hands off approach and being able to handle a lot more volume that way as well.
Nichole Stohler
Yeah, it's, it's a good point, too, because of the value of the car that that you have, I could see too, you know, you just don't want to turn it over to anyone and you do want to look them in the eye. Make sense?
Steve Sasman
Exactly. I think that makes them a little bit more where they want to, you know, they've met you they know you it's you're not just some, some guy that on the air guy or gal on the internet that they've never met, so they're gonna feel a little bit more inclined to take care of the vehicle.
Nichole Stohler
So tell us Have there been any bad experiences? Obviously, you turn down that one gentleman that had smoking in a bad review? Have you personally had any bad experience or any cons that you would want to caution people?
Steve Sasman
Well, I have had several fender benders over the over the years. And those are never fun, just because, you know, even though it doesn't cost me anything financially, it costs me a lot of time. Well, actually, I take that back, the cost of the repair doesn't cost me anything. But there is downtime, because you know it at the end of the day, of course, it takes time to get it fixed. And while it's getting fixed, you can't rent it out. So if it's off the shelf for, you know, three weeks or a month or whatever, that's, you know, a month of income I can't get and you know, there's no, I don't get any reimbursement for that. So, you know, not to mention just the headache side of it. So, so yeah, there is that downside, but you just have to kind of look at that, as you know, hey, the longer you do it with, the more cards that you do, that's going to happen at some point. And you just have to kind of roll that into your business plan and realize that that's part of the deal.
Nichole Stohler
So it's interesting, and I was going to ask about that. So to your point, you shared a few tips and I was going to ask for recommendations for other people looking to do this. What are some tips? One, you talked about insurance, I didn't realize that you would want to make sure that you have an insurance company that isn't going to drop you if they find out you're doing tours. Because in that situation you just described the fender benders, it's all going to come out. So you might as well be figuring that out from the beginning. You meet the folks in person, if you're talking about a high value car automobile, what other tips would you have for people?
Steve Sasman
Um, well, kind of going back to what I said before, I mean, you just you have to treat the vehicle as just an asset and not be attached to it. Otherwise, you're just gonna be, you're gonna be too emotional. It's gonna, it's just gonna cause you too much heartache, you know? So, yeah, it's just being like, hey, it's a, it's a, it's an asset, that helps me make money. And, you know, when things happen, things happen. But, um, you know, trying just always, you know, keep a good positive attitude about it. And, you know, I think people have been surprised when they brought back a car that was wrecked, and I didn't like, freak out on them. You know, and I was very professional and, and whatnot. And I think, you know, I think they appreciate that. And I, you know, the funny thing too, is I've given people that I had one guy that, you know, that got in a wreck. It wasn't his fault. But he, you know, he treated it, he did everything right. And, you know, I still gave him five stars. And I had, I think I even had, I've given other people, five stars as well, as long as they were up front. They, you know, they did everything like they were supposed to, even though they're not an accident, but knowing that accidents happen, it's how you handle that accident versus, you know, trying to pretend it didn't happen or trying to, you know, Snake your way out of it or something. weaselly that, you know. So, yeah. So to me, it's just it's you know, being accountable and being professional in how you run it is always good.
Nichole Stohler
Excellent. how can listeners get in touch with you or learn more?
Steve Sasman
I'm sure. A, probably the easiest would be at Steve salsman on Twitter or on my website, Tesla. renner.com.
Nichole Stohler
Perfect. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Steve Sasman
Yeah, no problem. Thanks.
Mike Stohler
Thanks for tuning in to the Richard geek Podcast, where we're helping others find creative ways to build wealth, and financial freedom. For today's show notes, including all the links and resources from our show, and more information about our guests, visit us at www.richergeek.com slash podcast. And don't forget to jump over to Apple podcasts, Google Play Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts and hit the subscribe button. share it with others who could benefit from listening and leave a rating and review to get the podcast in front of your eyes. I appreciate you. Thanks for listening.
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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.