[App Review] Booking a car on Trevo for a Penang Roadtrip

Did you know that 90% of a car's lifetime is spent parked? Go to work, park car. Go home, park car. Go to shopping mall, paktor and park car. Does getting stuck in traffic jam count as parked? 

Basically, despite all our ride-sharing and public transportation options, Malaysians still love owning their own car (or in some cases, cars) but with the price of convenience, comes the price of literally watching your cash burn away. Every car owner should know that cars do not appreciate in value. 

But what if there was a way for your car to pay itself off? That's where Trevo comes in. To put it simply, it's like Airbnb for cars. If you have a car just sitting in your house, you can put it up on Trevo to be booked by a guest in need of a car. Guests, like myself when I needed a sedan car for my road trip to Penang. 

SIGN UP AND BOOKING

Booking a car using the Trevo app was easy. Given that its parent company was SOCAR, registration worked the same way, using my IC and driving license for fast verification. For my trip up North, I was recommended a Honda City. Much like Airbnb, the host will confirm the booking with you which I found the response to be instantaneous. The confirmation text came in ten minutes after placing my booking. 

Trevo also offers an additional service for hosts, Trevo Delivery which save both the host and the guest the hassle of having to travel to collect the vehicle. The host will initiate this service with Trevo at the request of the guest and once the booking has been confirmed, Trevo will take over and make the necessary arrangements to have the car delivered to or collected from the guest. Depending on the booking time, the delivery rate range from RM10 - RM15 and is available from 8am to 10pm but for a limited time now, delivery is FREE!

CAR DELIVERY

I opted to have the car delivered to my house. This is particularly useful if the car you want is out of the way of your location. The representatives from Trevo were very communicative with their arrival time, even informing me two hours in advance if there was a delay. Even though they told me there was a delay, the car still arrived on time with the pickup car in tow for the driver. 

Of course, checking and getting used to the gears of an unfamiliar car took some time but the representatives were very patient in explaning the procedure. I was told the host also cleans and sanitises the car thoroughly before each booking. Then before then handover to me, the car was given a wipe down by Trevo's driver and on top of that, I was also given a safety pack consisting of a mask, gloves and love letter from Trevo. 

I inspected the car, photographing any scratches, dents and marks to be submitted into the app for record purposes. I also took record of the petrol tank gauge as I needed to return the car with the same petrol amount I got it in as well as the mileage on the odometer. Guests are allowed a maximum mileage usage of 200km per day. As I was booking the car for four days, I had 800km mileage to use. Excess mileage was charged at RM0.50 per km.

DRIVING THE DREAM

Using the car was pretty seamless. The petrol consumption of the Honda City was rather efficient as was the overall ride between KL and Penang. Of course, petrol, parking and toll fees are to be paid by the guests. And if you get a saman for speed or any illegal offence, naturally the bill will go to you. 

Interestingly, if you speed beyond the maximum highway speed limit of 110km/h, Trevo will get a notification from the speed alarm in the car. They will then send a reminder to the guest via Whatsapp to observe the speed limit. To ease the minds of the hosts on how the hosted car might be driven when on loan, Trevo has fitted mobile tracking devices into some of the cars for monitoring purposes. I found this out the hard way when my co-driver literally went need for speed crazy on the drive back from Penang while I was napping. 

Just a reminder to all drivers out there: Speeding is the fastest way to the afterlife (apart from praying in the emergency lane during a massive traffic jam...)

Most traditional rental car companies don't usually permit a second driver without an additional cost or paperwork. But, Trevo allows you a co-pilot as long as they are a registered guest under Trevo as well. This is particularly good for those long sleepy drives when you need to switch drivers for safety. 

BYE CAR :(

Overall I found no issues with the car I got and the pick up was just as a seamless as the drop off when my booking ended on Sunday night. Faster even because I had completed all the necessary car checks before ending the booking on the app 10 minutes ahead of the collection time. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

I like what Trevo is doing with their peer to peer car sharing idea as it not only lets people earn extra income with their car but also empower travellers like me. As someone who enjoys finding new places at my own pace while trying to minimise contact with people (hello, extreme introvert here. And oh, also pandemic happening out there), driving myself around has always been my preference. My trip to Penang was perfectly chill thanks to my Trevo ride. I could go and do anything I wanted as and when I felt like it. My group of friends and I even drove all the way to Balik Pulau (on the far end of Penang) to visit a horse stable. Our leisurely drive back to Georgetown through Batu Ferringhi gave us the chance to catch the sunset on the beach on a whim. 

Psst...did you know you can also book a Mercedes SLK200 in Penang with Trevo? Another aspect of Trevo that I like is the opportunity to drive the car of my dreams. As Trevo expands to different parts of Malaysia, more people will sign up as hosts and guests thus opening up a wide variety of cars to pick from. 

Fingers crossed I will one day see a Nissan Skyline R33 on Trevo. 

Yes, I will definitely 100% book on Trevo for my next trip to Penang or maybe even Kota Kinabalu once they have expanded to Sabah's capital city next. I know it will be soon. Imagine reaching the airport and picking up the car of your dreams with little hassle, all with just a few taps on the Trevo app. Ah, the freedom that comes with it. 

Oh, how I do hope Kuching is on their list next so that I won't have to rely on my auntie and cousin for transport.

But for now, maybe I shall book a convertible and head up to Genting for a day trip. If my review has sold you on booking with Trevo or even hosting your ride, all you need to do is download the app on either Google Play or the Apple App Store and register. 

You can even get RM50 credit for your next car booking when you use my referral code upon signing up: SUGOIDAYS

So see you behind the wheel and drive safely! 

Disclaimer: My Trevo experience was sponsored by Trevo Malaysia but all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own. I honestly can find no fault in this app. No reason not to use and all the reason to.