Carlson Toyota

Reviews 3

KE

Kee Moua

Dealership is Meh. (Skip to last paragraph for summary.) This review is 15 days after my delivery of my brand new 2017 Toyota Tundra Pro in Cement Gray. I had previously looked at the Super White Pro at Inver Grove Toyota. Had I love the white color, I wouldve have purchased Inver Grove Toyotas truck. My wife, my 9-month old, and myself visited Carlson Toyota on a less than busy Thursday night around 8 pm. We were casually dressed on a brisk but not chilly evening and proceeded to the truck. There were two salesman on the floor literally within 5 feet of us who were deep in conversation. My wife and I didnt mind, but we made note. We inspected our future truck and I informed my wife of the various features that the truck did and did not have in comparison to her Toyota Sequoia. It was not until I lowered the tail gate and opened the doors to access the interior of the truck did the older male salesman take notice of my little family. I knew more than the salesman about this truck - period. I just inquired about discounts, rebates, and incentives - if there were any. In the case on the Tundra pro, there were not. I obviously researched a lot about the truck and median prices within the surrounding areas and I found Carlsons price to be a little above the average, but I wanted this truck so be it. The only break we got was from film protection that the dealership had applied which consisted of a clear film on the front of the hood and the edges of the 4 doors. The salesman said hed throw in some free hats ( which im still waiting for) as well. My wife and I filled out the credit application and we could not take the truck home that night, because there were some issues and I did not have my down payment on person. fast forward 3 days to Monday and the salesman follows up with me for a plan. Salesman is off Tuesday which would give me time to get my down payment and credit application situation figured out and on Wednesday meet at Carlson and take delivery of the truck. My wife and I figured everything out and got our down payment. We arrived first thing Wednesday morning to Carlson and salesman was not there. Though he need not be there, it would have been decent to at least be present for his sale. We signed the necessary paperwork, take my truck and go home. This process was painless and the finance representative did not try to push or sell us anything. I later received a call from the salesman thanking me for my business. I thanked him for acknowledging us when we initially visited the dealership as well as his courtesy once he knew we were serious about buying the truck. Later in the day, I couldnt find the wheel lock key for the lug nuts. I looked everywhere and so I gave the salesman a call. He said hed find out and will give me a call back. To this day he never called back. Luckily the key was zipped tied to the wheel jack kit hidden behind the rear passenger seats. So in summary: Two stars because of the truck and speediness of the finance process. Carlson was lucky they had this truck in this color but, I bought my truck, I did the salesmans job for him, he was lucky he acknowledged us initially. The salesman sucked at following up with me unless he got something out of it. Ive since removed the dealerships vinyl sticker on my tailgate as well as tossed their plastic license plate frames with the dealership name on them. I shall take my future business, my ToyotaCare, my future parts order, and my future service elsewhere.

TR

Trupti Storlie

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 didnt 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 dont 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 wont 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!

CH

Christine Voss

I was disappointed with my experience. When I asked to look under the hood before I purchased my vehicle the salesmen looked at me like I had a third head, and seemed offended. Who doesnt look under the hood when purchasing a vehicle? I purchased the minivan of my dreams, put gas in it and when I got it home noticed smoke coming out of the engine and it smelled like anti freeze. When my boyfriend brought it in they found a place where anti freeze had pooled they cleaned what they called a spillage up and sent him on his way. It was still smoking. When my boyfriend got it home he found where it was leaking from and took a picture. I sent the picture to my mechanic and he said the place they cleaned up you could tell the antifreeze had been sitting there a long time and wasnt just spilled. Besides that was at the back of the engine and where you poor the antifreeze is located in the front. In my book that is a leak not a spill, as the pouring of said fluid was know where near the leak. I brought it back the next day and was treated like I was dumb. They said they didnt know what I expected them to do as they did what they could already. I said I wasnt paying for and couldnt drive something that was steaming from the engine. Asked if they were interested in seeing the picture my boyfriend took of where it was leaking. Told them the antifreeze was low. I understand some people dont know the difference of looking at the full line that is provided for hot and cold engines, but I do know the difference and so when they asked me it only added to the you are dumb factor. They did look at the picture of the part we said was leaking, and did say it was wet and that the antifreeze had gone down somewhat.... Too their credit they did say they would fix that spot and they gave me a car so I could get to work and back. They did fix it and none of the visits or the car rental was charged to me. I understand they didnt have to do that as I had bought the vehicle as is so they did make things right by me, but I didnt appreciate being made to feel dumb. And I didnt like that the mechanics couldnt find the leak, my boyfriend is Not mechanically inclined and had no problem finding it. And had I not had the picture it wouldnt have gotten fixed..... I also had to take time off of work in the morning because they didnt fix it the first time when my boyfriend had brought it in, and that cut into time off that I had planned for the holidays as it is Christmas in a couple weeks. I also am always disappointed that when others go into dealerships they never seem to pay sticker price, when I go in I always end up paying sticker price, and when I mention to any sales person that I want a deal am always told the sticker price is the best they can offer. And they look at me like I have 3 heads. Guess I am a bit dumb for just giving in and not wanting to push. But no matter where I go I always feel I have been gipped because I dont have those bartering skills. This last complaint is universal and has nothing to do with Carlson Toyota.