Turo says that the high school teacher violated their prohibited uses by racing the rented Supra and “will follow up for further action”
by Stephen Rivers
April 11, 2023 at 19:40
by Stephen Rivers
A man who rented a 2021 Toyota Supra 3.0 on Turo allegedly used it for a land speed record competition. The owner says that this resulted in around $4,000 worth of damage to the brakes and tires.
Gregory Ditch is the teacher of an all-female student group at Naperville North High School in Naperville Indiana. The girls in the group built a racing truck specifically to break a land speed record but when it broke on the way to a competition, Ditch wanted to find another way for his students to compete.
“We were on the phone for hours all night trying to find some type of vehicle somewhere,” said Ditch to Fox 32 Chicago. From what he says, the Supra he ended up with came from a dealership. “We borrowed it, it’s legitimate, so I don’t know who he is or what the full story is with him, but that’s not at all what happened,” said Ditch.
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The person that Ditch is referring to is Geovanni Morales, the owner of a 2021 Toyota Supra 3.0. Ditch denies renting the car on Turo but Morales has a different story. “Usually I’m concerned when it’s a younger guy. He’s a lot older, he knows about cars, he’s a teacher, so I’m like ok my car’s in good hands.”
When Morales got the car back, something seemed off though. “I was like I don’t know why, I get a feeling that maybe this guy was racing this car,” he said. After a little digging online, Morales says that he found social media posts about the land speed record competition including photos of a Supra that matched his down to the aftermarket wheels.
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Turo says that Ditch did indeed rent Morales’ car for three days. “We definitely have enough to show they were violating our prohibited uses and racing the vehicle. We will follow up with them for further action,” the company said in a statement. Evidently, the Supra came back to Morales with some $4,000 worth of damage.
“He did wear down all the tires… The brakes are definitely worn down because they got the car up to 160 miles an hour,” says Morales. That’s quite a lot of damage from a straight-line top-speed competition. For now, the investigation continues and we’ll update this story if we hear more about if Ditch or the school will have to pony up the dough for new tires and brakes.