Most people pass through Trinidad, Colorado on their way to somewhere else. They stop for gas, maybe grab a meal, and continue on Interstate 25 toward their real destination. But for some, Trinidad becomes the destination itself. Ryan's story is one of those rare journeys where a place that was meant to be temporary became permanent, and a business relationship evolved into genuine friendship.
A Serendipitous Discovery
In August 2020, during the height of COVID, Ryan and his wife Martha were living in San Antonio, Texas. Every summer they would escape the oppressive Texas heat and spend time in Telluride, Colorado. As they kept making the drive back to Texas, they started asking themselves a simple question: why are we going home?
They decided to make the move permanent. Over the course of a few weeks in October 2020, they booked viewings for 12 different properties all over Colorado, from Trinidad in the south all the way to Loveland in the north, and west to Montrose. Trinidad was the first property they looked at, and it ended up being their favorite. They compared every other property to that first one in Trinidad, and in the end, serendipity brought them back to where they started.
Five years later, Ryan has no regrets. He doesn't miss Texas at all. Trinidad offers everything he was looking for: proximity to outdoor recreation, a genuine sense of community, and a slower pace of life that prioritizes experiences over the relentless heat and sprawl of San Antonio.
An Unexpected Friendship
When you move to a new town, the first things you typically need to establish are connections. For Ryan, that meant finding reliable local businesses and service providers. Living on a property that required hauling feed and alfalfa, they needed a truck. They also needed a passenger vehicle with four wheel drive for Colorado winters and travel.
That's how Ryan first walked into Phil Long Toyota of Trinidad. What he found there was something he hadn't experienced in over 30 years of buying vehicles. After decades of adversarial dealership experiences, late night negotiations, and transactions that left him angry even when he bought the vehicle, Phil Long Toyota was completely different.
The relationship that developed between Ryan and Lisa Camarillo, the General Manager, went beyond typical dealer and customer interactions. They discovered a shared passion for watches, with Ryan regularly calling Lisa from lines at watch releases to let her know what's coming. They've become friends, with Ryan bringing birthday cake and pizza to celebrate at the dealership, and the team at Phil Long Toyota becoming like extended family.
Over the past five years, Ryan estimates he's purchased seven or eight vehicles from Phil Long Toyota. Two Tundras, a Tacoma, multiple Four Runners, and his beloved Land Cruisers. But it's not just about the volume. It's about trust.
A Different Kind of Dealership Experience
Ryan is brutally honest about his previous experiences buying cars. He bought his first brand new vehicle, a Geo Prism which was essentially a Corolla, when he was 18 years old. For over 30 years, buying vehicles was the one thing he hated more than anything. Every transaction felt like a battle. Hours of back and forth negotiations. The feeling that the dealership was trying to get one over on him. The adversarial nature of the entire process.
It got so bad that Ryan stopped buying new vehicles altogether for about a decade before moving to Trinidad. He would buy old vehicles privately for pennies on the dollar and spend thousands restoring them. The purchase price was just the tip of the iceberg, with restoration costs far exceeding what he paid initially.
When he came to Phil Long Toyota out of necessity, needing a vehicle quickly after the move, everything was different. Ryan describes it simply: it shouldn't be adversarial. One party wants to sell a vehicle, the other wants to buy a vehicle. Why should there be a fight about it? It should be the easiest transaction in the world.
What made Phil Long Toyota different was transparency and fairness, especially during the market adjustment era when dealerships across the country were adding $10,000 to $15,000 over sticker price because they could. People were paying it. Dealerships were making record profits. When Ryan asked Lisa about adding market adjustments, her answer changed everything for him. She told him she could do that, but then she wouldn't be able to sell him another vehicle. She was thinking long term, about relationships rather than short term profits.
Because of that philosophy, Ryan has purchased at least seven vehicles from the dealership in five years, not even counting the friends and family he's referred. As he reflects on the difference:
"I've been buying vehicles now for 30 plus years, and it was the one thing I hated more than anything was buying a vehicle. Every dealership experience that I've ever had up until here was like that. If you are in the market for a new vehicle, it really is a great purchasing experience when it comes to buying vehicles."
