Crest Ford Inc.

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Do not buy from this dealership. They put an incorrect tax rate on the original buyers order. When I purchased the vehicle they then put a tax rate on the bill of sale that was different. Once all my paperwork was turned back into my credit union they title lady caught this. We called them, they were very rude and admitted to making the mistake, but would not fix the problem.



So in a nut shell this dealership would rather have an ethical dilemma over $140 then fix the mistake that they admitted to. Even my credit union agrees that this $140 went towards their sale so that the negotiated price looked better in my favor before I left the lot.



Stay away from this place.

Below is my paraphrased (shortened due to space on this review site) email that made it's way to Bill Choppe, President Crest Ford Dealerships. Bill called me and basically said "So your Escape is fixed? If it's fixed and you're happy that it's fixed, what's the problem?' Well, it's fixed, but no thanks to Crest Ford and this is why I'm sharing my story.



Hi Chan (Chan forwarded this email to Bill Choppe),



This email is in regards to a disasterous Service experience I had with Crest Ford service of Centerline, MI.



My check engine light came on and my trans fluid was jet black, gritty, and presented a burnt smell. So I went to Crest Ford for service.



Tracey Smith, Assistant Service Manager worked with me. I expressed my concern about the transmission as the vehicle seemed to slip and the fluid was black and gritty. She said Crest would run an inspection.



When I picked up my Escape after getting one of the two problems fixed (a non warranty fix by the way) I asked what was found regarding the transmission (which was still under warranty). Tracy said the transmission checked out fine. I told her I didn't believe her mechanic and asked if she looked at the fluid herself. She didn't, and so I invited her to look at my trans fluid with me. I was baffled and surprised someone with car service experience, she is an assistant service manager afterall, would not be alarmed by the trans color. So I asked that we do a comparative analysis and if other trans fluid were black like mine, then she must be right. We checked a 2011 Ford Escape and the color was pink as you would expect. So to get a better sample we actually opened the hood of Service Manager, Jim Clark's 2009 Ford Escape that had just over 32,000 miles on it, about 4,000 miles less than mine, and checked his fluid color. It was a rose color pink/red clearly his trans color was not black like mine. Still, I was told mine was normal. I told Tracy I wanted to speak with Jim.



Inside I asked Jim if his trans fluid looked like mine, black, would he be concerned. He said 'I would keep an eye on it, check it each week.' So I said 'That means you would be concerned. You don't check on something you're not concerned about.' He agreed. I asked he put it in writing, I wanted documentation of our debate. He declined to put his statement on paper.



Tracy began writing up the document and I looked over her shoulder correcting her write up. For example she wanted to say my fluid was darker in color. I told her no, mine is black in color. Darker suggests mine was also red. It was not. When I corrected her, she shouted that I was bullying her. I told her I was not bullying her, I was doing the opposite, I was standing up for myself. While Tracy and I were arguing back and forth about my vehicle and how I knew there was a problem and how she said there was not a problem, Samantha - courtesy driver - was the first and only person to stand up for me. She drove my Escape and said 'Are you talking about the white Escape? I drove it and I felt the trans slip too.' Tracy lashed out 'You did not drive his Escape!' Samantha said 'Yes I did.' Tracy said 'There are a dozen white escapes out there, no you didn't.' Samantha said 'Yes I did, I drove the one with the hood up.' My escape still had the hood up from our trans fluid comparison analysis.



So, I went to Fairlane Ford and their service department immediately told me the trans fluid should not look like it did. The Fairlane Ford service team told me my transmission was in such bad condition that they would not allow me to drive my Escape home, that I needed to get a ride home, and they could not get to fixing my trans until the following week.



Crest Ford sent me home in a vehicle deemed unsafe for driving.