I have two sections, one for SALES and one for SER...

I have two sections, one for SALES and one for SERVICE. Both were positive experiences that earned our customer loyalty.

SALES
We purchased our new Toyota Sienna in 2013. We are members of USAA a military bank that had pre-negotiated rates with Carlson that were the lowest we could find online. We appreciated a no-haggle experience with pricing and their partnership for military personnel. The salesperson was friendly and personable and led us through the process effectively. We got pitched the extended warranty but in a low pressure way, ultimately given how long we own our vehicles and the concern about electronics giving out in that time frame, we felt it was worth it to purchase the warranty to cover that aspect. However we felt we were given good information and were free to say no. We had planned to finance through our bank, but they offered 0% for 60 months through Toyota financing and the financing process was easy and fast.

SERVICE
We live about 30 minutes from the dealership, but we have chosen to go there for all our service. The service people are polite, professional and always have given us good information to make decisions. All of our service work has been covered under the ToyotaCare plan and so we have not paid any out of pocket expenses. Recently the plan expired and we were offered another two year extension for regular service that we purchased.

Most recently, I went in for a routine tire rotation and learned that all my tires were bad. I was confused how they could go bad so quickly, given no issues had been presented at my previous routine maintenance 5000 miles earlier. I spoke to the service manager, Jeff, who looked into my history and agreed that something didn't look right and asked me to bring the car back in for inspection. In the process, they learned that I had two bad front shocks, which led to uneven wear and on all wheel drive vehicle quickly wore out all four tires. Potentially this should have been caught in an earlier visit, but the wear was within spec though it was uneven.

The shocks were under warranty and the service manager also put in a claim with Toyota to cover the tires, however he indicated that Toyota often covers 2 tires and not 4, but he would do his best to advocate for me. The shocks were replaced immediately, but there was some difficulty getting the Toyota specialist scheduled to review the case and so I would need to come back. The vehicle had to be there overnight and Carlson arranged for a rental vehicle at the dealership under my extended warranty at no cost or hassle to me.

After a further delay with scheduling with Toyota, when I expressed concerns about driving around on bald tires during a MN winter, Carlson and Jeff went above and beyond. He drove another Sienna with AWD ( a must for our driveway) to me, picked up my vehicle, got my vehicle reviewed and tires changed, and returned my vehicle to me at my home. All this for the low low cost of $0. I don't know if Toyota or Carlson ultimately took responsibility for the damage to the tires as a result of the bad shocks, but they both have earned a loyal customer. Things won't go perfect in life, but how both companies handled an unfortunate situation is a testament to why we will continue to do business with them.

Thank you, Carlson and Jeff!