Carlson's Motor Sales Incorporated

Carlson's took our '92 Camry wagon as an emergency repair on the Saturday morning of a holiday weekend (we were visiting from New York). The problem turned out to be the left-hand front-drive axle. Because of trouble at their end with a parts supplier, the job took all day, BUT: - They stuck to their original, very reasonable estimate; - They called me regularly with updates; - They stayed late to finish the job; and - The work they did was sound (I've had it looked at). They also showed me where the right-hand axle had been badly reassembled by an earlier mechanic, and how they had fixed it with the bolts from the bad axle they were taking out. Just because they didn't want me to have a problem with it down the road. No extra charge; they just thought I should know about it. Finally, they gave me a tour of a few other problems under the hood, like a leaky power steering pump, that I should get looked at after I get home. (The car has 170k miles on it.) Throughout, Mark, who runs the shop, and his crew were as friendly and as cheerful as you could possibly hope for. All in all, that's pretty great service to give to an out-of-towner who took up most of your Saturday and whom you'll likely never see again.