A Miami couple started renting out their car as a side gig. They turned it into a full-time, 6-figure family business.

9 hours ago 13

Gerardo Aletti and his family pose for a selfie in front of a few cars.

Gerardo Aletti and Sofia Escarra, a married couple based in Miami, bought a Nissan Infiniti in 2020 with the plan to rent it out and see how it went.

If it worked out, great, the couple thought. If not, they figured they could sell the car.

Cut to six years later: the car-renting side gig has grown into a full-time, family-run business with 63 cars, earning the Venezuelan immigrants half a million dollars in 2025. They rent their cars exclusively on Turo, a car-sharing app, and have brought in several other family members to run the operation, including their son, daughter, and niece.

"We enjoy the job. We enjoy the interaction with the guests," Aletti told Business Insider.

Their son, Fabrizio Aletti, said he never expected to work with his family but that it's been a "really awesome surprise."

"I had no idea we would grow so much in so few years," he said. "It's been a journey for sure."

They're among the many workers who have turned a side hustle into a full-time career. The couple said their previous experience working in the transportation industry and their ability to serve Spanish-speaking travelers helped them grow the business from an experimental side gig into a full-fledged car rental company.

Before and after immigrating, Aletti worked in transportation and has always been interested in cars and mechanics. Operating in Miami, the couple also leaned on their Spanish to communicate with travelers from Latin America, who they say make up 30% of their business.

Their Spanish has helped them with everything from airport pickup instructions to restaurant recommendations, and it's helped them capitalize on the boost in tourism from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which has seven matches in Miami. Aletti said they've seen a surge in bookings in recent weeks related to the games, and that Turo making Spanish available in its app earlier this year has made it easier for travelers to find them.

Row of three Nissan cars parked in front of an office building.

Renting out a car was low-risk

The couple said they were drawn to the idea of trying Turo because it was relatively low risk. After the first car-rental experience worked out, they bought another, and then another. They had 15 cars by 2023, the same year they first rented a place to park and store the cars, as well as an office. Turo became their primary source of income by 2024.

Aletti said he relied on his industry background to continually evaluate which cars might be in demand in the markets they were targeting, including both the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports. After the luxury Infiniti, he tested smaller, fuel-efficient cars and then sedans and SUVs. When something worked, he'd get another and has consistently reinvested in their fleet.

Each member of the family handles a different aspect of the business, from tracking expenses and buying new cars to marketing and customer service. They leave the demanding logistics of managing their dozens of cars — from keeping track of which are at the airport, at the office, or need maintenance — to the "young people," Escarra said.

Fabrizio Aletti said that while they do some marketing on their own, the vast majority of their business comes from people finding their cars in the Turo app. "If we stopped marketing, we would still probably get a really good amount of business," he said.

Over thousands of trips, the family said they've largely had positive experiences with customers, but occasionally things go wrong. One time, Aletti said, they rented a Nissan Altima to two older men who he estimated were in their 70s or 80s, and when he opened the door afterward, the car reeked of marijuana.

Aletti said they have turned other people they know on to Turo and that he thinks it can be an "extremely profitable" business if done right. He says there are two things needed to succeed: knowing about cars and knowing about people.

"You have to know how to treat people," he said.

Kelsey is a senior reporter for Business Insider, where she covers business and tech news as well as stories about travel, luxury, and consulting.Her feature story "Disaster at 18,200 feet" received awards from the New York Press Club and the North American Travel Journalists Association, as well as honorable mention from the Society of American Travel Writers. It was also included on Longreads' and Pocket's best of 2022 lists. She has also received an American Journalism Online Award for her coverage on missing and murdered Indigenous people in Wyoming.She's appeared on CBS, NPR, NBC, and other outlets to discuss her work. She previously worked on the world news desk at the BBC in London and received a master's in journalism from Northwestern University.She can be reached by email at [email protected] or via the encrypted-messaging app Signal @kelseyv.21.Popular storiesDisaster on Denali: Inside a 1,000-foot fall on America's highest peakThrifting is more popular than ever. It's also never been worse.Rolex wouldn't service the vintage watch my mom inherited. Watchmakers say it happens all the time.A tiny, invasive bug and the climate crisis are changing how guitars are made, and shifting the course of music historyThe tourism free-for-all is overGovernment-run boarding schools were founded to 'civilize' Native Americans. Hundreds of dead children remain buried in the schoolyard graves.Meet the Texas minister who helps fly dozens of women to New Mexico every month to get abortionsPeople are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, it's forcing many to stay insideInside Kabul: An aid worker reveals the devastating chaos that erupted during the US exit from Afghanistan