According to Toyota, since 1999, Internet users who logged onto www.buyatoyota.com have had the chance to win $10,000 annually. They could register online or at any buyatoyota.com kiosk at an auto show held throughout the Southeast in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and North and South Carolina. The winner for 2001 filled out her registration online and never gave it a second thought, she said. This week, according to Toyota, she has won $10,000 cash. It still didn't register for Sharon Kendrick, 27, even as Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET) eBusiness Consumer Manager Elton Pride tried to convince her that the money was hers, no strings attached. "I thought he was going to ask me to buy something," she recalled, "or that it was some kind of joke." Recently, Toyota says, Kendrick was flown from her home in South River, New Jersey to Deerfield Beach, Florida for the official check presentation. "The buyatoyota.com $10,000 giveaway is both exciting for Southeast Toyota dealers and for our 2001 winner, Sharon Kendrick," said Pride. "The sweepstakes creates excitement for everyone." Kendrick said she will use her newfound cash to travel with her sister, and she will invest the rest. She's going to hold off on buying a new Toyota for now, her 1984 Toyota Tercel, she says, is "holding up just fine." The $10,000 giveaway is sponsored by SET and Southeast Toyota Distributors Dealers to promote buyatoyota.com. Claiming to be ranked first among Toyota's American distributors in sales and customer satisfaction, Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC, (www.buyatoyota.com) is a franchised distributor of Toyotas. The company distributes vehicles to 163 Toyota dealers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida, SET is owned and operated by JM Family Enterprises, Inc., a diversified automotive corporation.
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