Crest Ford

Dishonest and takes advantage of their customers I have a 2010 Ford Escape, and have been visiting this dealership since I purchased my vehicle. I took my vehicle in several months ago for an oil cha I have a 2010 Ford Escape, and have been visiting this dealership since I purchased my vehicle. I took my vehicle in several months ago for an oil change and they told me that my exhaust was about to fall off. The service manager Mike B. told me that I needed to spend $300 to replace the springs surrounding the exhaust because it was hanging off. I was surprised because this isn't old enough were that should be a problem, plus I take excellent care of my car. I left and had it check out somewhere else and was told that my exhaust was perfectly fine and stilled looked brand new. I was furious because I felt that they were trying to take advantage of me since I am a girl. I went back to them for my next oil change, upon doing their normal inspection of the vehicle they said my vehicle checked out 100%...well what happened to the exhaust that they were so concerned about last time??? As I made no repairs to it (since none were needed. I went back two days ago for another oil change and a cabin air filter. After 15 minutes they told me my vehicle was finished, which I thought was rather quick since it normally takes them 45 minutes. They than told me that I have a trans leak and that it will cost $375 to fix. I have nothing leaking from my car and there is nothing collecting in my driveway. Needless to say I had it checked out by another mechanic and there is no trans leak. I am done going to Crest Ford and plan on finding another Ford Dealership. There loss too because I plan on purchasing a new SUV this summer. Stop trying to take advantage of your customers Crest Ford. I know you make your money off your service lane, but your customers will eventually catch on that you are taking advantage of them and word of mouth is everything. Then were does that leave you??? More

Absolutely Great!!!!!!!! When I walked in the door for Crest Ford, I did not think I would be leaving with keys in hand. I was extremely surprised. I will be recommending them When I walked in the door for Crest Ford, I did not think I would be leaving with keys in hand. I was extremely surprised. I will be recommending them to all of my friends and cant wait to drive away with my new car. Tom and Tony are the guys you want to talk to for sure. More

Long story short, Crest Ford denied there was anything wrong with my transmission despite clear indicators (jet black, burnt, and gritty trans fluid along with trans slipping while driving) and refused to wrong with my transmission despite clear indicators (jet black, burnt, and gritty trans fluid along with trans slipping while driving) and refused to acknowledge my trans needed repair while still under warranty. Furious I went to Fairlane Ford in Dearborn located around the corner from World Headquarters (I figured this dealership would be on its best behavior since big brother is next door) and they took one look at the trans fluid, said it was as bad as any they've ever seen, and twenty minutes later told me the trans was toast and UNSAFE to drive - doing so would put my life and the lives of others at risk should the trans fail on an expressway. Below is my 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. I don't want others to experience this sort of blatant disregard because a dealership may have reached Ford's 'warranty threshold' and can not perform a warrantable repair. If you read further online about Ford Escapes, you'll learn that the transmission problem is very common. So common I bet it has cost Ford thousands and they don't want to fix anymore. So, the dealers can fix X number and then ignore the problem thanks to a statement that the Escape's Transmission fluid appears darker than normal, almost a burnt color' That's horse crap. A new Escape has perfectly normal light pink trans color. I made them do an analysis as you'll see below... 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. I spoke with Sam Haynes, General Sales Manager at Crest and he suggested I share my experience with you. So below you will have a chance to read about my experience, and attached you will find documentation from Crest and Fairlane Ford to see the significant disparity between good service and awful service. Although this may get long, I'll share with you all the details. My check engine light came on about the second week of October, 2011. Being inexperienced, I thought it was a transmission light because I read on-line about trans problems in 2009 Escapes. My trans fluid was jet black, gritty, and presented a burnt smell. As I drove, my info panel said I had a fuel inlet problem. 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 the light was actually my engine light and if the trans had a problem, a blue wrench light would illuminate. She said Crest would run an inspection. I asked that they check out the transmission fluid and trans to see what the problem is. She said she would have the mechanic look at it. When I picked up my Escape after the Fuel Filler Inlet fix I asked what was found regarding the transmission. Tracy said the transmission was fine, the mechanic looked and everything checked out. I was surprised knowing the fluid should not be that dark. 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. She did and she said nothing was wrong, Escape fluid tends to run darker than normal fluid and if I wanted to pay for an inspection I could. I told her I paid for an inspection when the engine light came on. She said that inspection didn't include a thorough trans inspection. She also said no blue wrench light means no problem. She then said if I was concerned about the color of my transmission fluid, I could pay for a transmission fluid flush - however Ford doesn't recommend that until 150,000 miles on the 2009 Escape. I told her the problem isn't the transmission fluid, it's the mechanics that surround the fluid, that's why it changed from pink to black. She looked at the fluid and told me there's nothing to worry about. 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 - you can see it in a photo on the attached PDF docs. 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, but did allow a little bit of the analysis to be written up as you see on the attached Crest pdf. 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. Then she said Jim's trans fluid was more red in color. I said that also suggests mine was red as well. It was not. It was black in color. She took offense to this as well and I asked her 'What part of what I'm telling you did not take place in our discussion?' She did not have an answer. So, we ended up with the info as attached. 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 please, Samantha deserves to be recognized for standing up for what is clearly right. She risked her job doing the right thing supporting a customer who was being mistreated by her bosses. What was also insulting is that Tracy said if I were concerned with the trans and trans failure after 60,000 miles, I could buy an extended warranty. I argued Why would I buy an extended warranty when you refuse to honor the one I have? So, after I received my written document from Tracy detailing the trans analysis, I decided I needed to speak with the dealer I bought the Escape from. I went to Fairlane Ford and their service department immediately told me the trans fluid should not look like it did. Their little comparitive tool that shows where my fluid matches up to good to bad fluid had me at the very worse limits. I was told to sit in the waiting room so the trans guy could take a closer look and a test drive. Twenty minutes later, 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. The trans could have failed me, I could have crashed and killed myself and/or others. Sorry this is such a long email. But I am disgusted by the service of Crest Ford and outraged that your service leadership could look me in the eye, tell me that my warrantable issue is not an issue, that I'm out of my mind, and then send me off in a vehicle that could have killed me. Feel free to read through both the Crest communication and the Fairlane communication regarding my transmission experience. Unreal. My first instinct was to write the media, web review sites, facebook, and any other medium to share this disasterous experience. But then I stepped back and realized the owner of Crest Ford hurts in the end, and if your leadership does not approve of this type of service, then I want to give you a chance to remedy the situation. If I were a business owner, I would not want my reputation jeopardized by underperforming employees, and would like an opportunity to fix the situation with the customer. So that's where we are. Please let me know what your next steps are in handling this matter. Thanks, Randy More

This dealership is now Crest Ford. My wife had her 2005 Mercury Mariner towed into this dealership as a "no-start". The service advisor, Mike Brabow, promptly took care of her. The dealership even arranged Mercury Mariner towed into this dealership as a "no-start". The service advisor, Mike Brabow, promptly took care of her. The dealership even arranged a rental for the day so my wife would not be without transportation. Within an hour, Mike called me with the diagnosis and gave me prices on all the fixes. I had the service department perform all the 100k mile maintenance services and put new tires on the car while it was there. The prices for the fix and all the service work, including the tires, were very reasonable. The car was ready that afternoon!! I have dealt with this dealership and Mike in the past with previous vehicles. I can't say enough how pleased my wife and I are with Mike and the service department at Crest Ford. These folks treat the customer great and go the extra mile to make sure you are satisfied. We highly recommend Crest Ford and their service department. Our next vehicle will be coming from Crest Ford without a doubt. More