Field guide

The four numbers that decide a fleet buy

Carlyle's methodology, in the open: what a car costs per remaining mile, what it nets per month, whether it returns its capital, and when to let it go.

Number one

Acquisition cost per remaining mile

You're not buying a car, you're buying its remaining useful miles. Divide the out-the-door price by the miles left before retirement - about 95,000 miles for gas cars, 150,000 for EVs and hybrids - and every listing on the lot becomes comparable:

cost per remaining mile = OTD price / (retirement odometer - current odometer)

Under $0.20exceptional - move fast

Up to $0.23elite buy

Up to $0.26strong buy

Up to $0.30only with a negotiated discount

Past $0.30walk

Example: $15,520 out the door for a gas car at 32,000 miles leaves 63,000 miles of runway - $0.25/mile, a strong buy. The same money at 60,000 miles is $0.44/mile: walk, no matter how clean it looks.

Number two

Net per month, graded

Projected income is day rate x booked days (a well-run daily driver books ~22 a month, a sports car ~16), always taken on the protection net - the 70-90% of the trip price the host actually keeps - minus insurance, model-specific maintenance from the service catalog, and oil at fleet pace. The grades: $600/mo good, $800 great, $1,000+ excellent. The full worked chain, with live rates per market, is in How much do Turo hosts make.

The two numbers are independent on purpose. A cheap EV can be an exceptional buy per remaining mile and still underearn its slot; a great renter can be priced so high it never pays back. A fleet car has to clear both.

Numbers three and four

Lifetime return, and the clock it runs against

The Rule of Four: over its usable life, the car's net profit should exceed 1.25x what you paid for it. Clear that bar and the car returned its capital plus a real margin - not just rent that covered costs.

Break-even inside usable life: at ~1,800 fleet miles a month, a gas car bought at 32k has about 35 months before retirement. If cumulative net profit doesn't cross the capital consumed before that clock runs out, the car never actually pays off. Counting the exit value matters here: a car you sell for $9,000 at retirement only has to earn back the capital it consumed, which can move a marginal buy from "never pays off" to break-even at month 30.

Sell timing: the sell-by point is the earlier of the retirement odometer or the model's first known high-severity repair window from its service history. A documented CVT window starting at 70k miles pulls the sell-by forward 25k miles - the report says so before you buy, not after.

All four together

A real buy from the founder's fleet

The car	Hyundai Venue, $14,100 at 32k miles ($15,520 OTD)
Cost per remaining mile	$0.25 - strong buy
Income	$45/day x 22 days on the 70% plan = $693 protection net
Net per month	~$500 after insurance, catalog maintenance, oil
Break-even	~30 months, inside a ~32-month usable life
The call	BUY

Real purchase, real numbers, still renting. Estimates, not financial advice - listings and rates move by the hour.

Straight answers

Fleet math, in plain terms

Two bars, both must clear. Monthly: $600 net per car is good, $800 great, $1,000+ excellent, always measured after the protection-plan cut and running costs. Lifetime: the Rule of Four asks the car to return more than 1.25x its purchase price in net profit over its usable life - own it, run it, and come out meaningfully ahead of just keeping the cash.

A well-bought workhorse breaks even in roughly 20-30 months, and the hard rule is that break-even must land inside the car's usable life. A car that pays itself off at month 48 but retires at month 32 is a loss wearing a day rate. Counting the exit value (what you sell it for at retirement) shortens true break-even, because the car does not have to earn back capital you get back at the sale.

Out-the-door price divided by the miles left before retirement (about 95,000 miles for gas cars, 150,000 for EVs and hybrids). It prices the only thing you are actually buying - remaining useful miles. The Carlyle bands: under $0.20/mile is exceptional, up to $0.23 elite, up to $0.26 strong, up to $0.30 only with a negotiated discount, and past $0.30 you walk.

At the earlier of two points: the retirement odometer (~95k gas / ~150k electrified), or just before the model's first known high-severity repair window - the engine, transmission, or battery events documented in its service history. Selling a car with a known $4,000 transmission window 10k miles ahead beats discovering it in a renter's trip report.

It usually breaks it. A $350/mo loan payment against a car netting $700/mo hands half the business to the lender before insurance. The playbook is cash buys or close to it; if financing is the only path, the buy price has to be exceptional for the numbers to survive.

One full ROI report free: paste a listing URL or VIN, get the call. No card.

The method is public. The data does the work.

Live Turo scans in your market, an 804-model service catalog, and every number on this page computed for the exact car you're eyeing.

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