Are you planning to spend 50 or 100,000 dollars on a new or used vehicle? Please read this first! My husband and I purchased a one-year old Escalade from Crest Cadillac and couldn’t be less happy. It is my nature to want to provide feedback that will prevent another individual from experiencing what we have. Since I too was on the purchase agreement, here is my opinion of the events that occurred. About our vehicle… We’ve had it just over a year and it’s been in the shop over 70 days for things like driveshaft replacement, rear differential repair, front differential repair, 4 coil springs, 4 shocks, all tires, a steering column, many seat components, a multitude of electrical problems including park assist that doesn’t work in freezing temperatures and an engine that ticks so loudly that I sometimes need to turn it off to have a conversation in a drive through. It’s as if the vehicle has 200,000 miles on it. Here are some things to think about when you start your search for a vehicle. First, pay less attention to a 5-star rating and focus on 1-star ratings. While it’s admirable for someone to give 5 stars because a salesman set up blue tooth on a new car or a lube technician topped off the washer fluid during an oil change, these ratings do little to show the integrity of the business. The salesman or lube technician will not be there if things “go South” with your vehicle. The dealer’s response to negative feedback will indicate whether or not they will be there to support you when you need it. A dealer’s response of “we’ve submitted your concerns to the manufacturer on your behalf” is their way of shutting you down. The first thing that the manufacturer will tell you when you call is that they have no control over the dealership. If you decide that you still want a particular car, please do your homework! First, many smart phones have audio recording capability. Wisconsin is a “one-party consent” state so feel free to press record if you’re part of the conversation. This might help you to remember details if things go wrong later. Second, people are too comfortable with a CarFax report, thinking that it is a be-all and end-all of informational documents. In reality, a savvy entity can easily manipulate how information is displayed on the report (i.e. “vehicle serviced” instead of “engine replaced”). Major repairs can be made to your vehicle and not reported (as was the case with the engine replacement on our vehicle). Major damage from an accident can be repaired by a facility and not reported, especially if the police or an insurance company were not involved. Don’t assume that your vehicle is too new to have had this happen. (we did and it cost us!). Politely ask the dealer to see the warranty repair history as this may indicate problems with the vehicle. As always, ask to take the car to an independent repair facility for a second opinion before you sign any purchase agreement. A trained, independent technician should easily be able to recognize potential problems or even see repairs that have been made. He may even have knowledge of your model’s common problems and since he’s independent, he stands to lose nothing by telling you the truth. If the salesman asks you to put a deposit on a vehicle before he'll accept an offer, or let you test drive the vehicle... RUN! (We didn't and it cost us) With this said, please visit Crest’s Facebook review page and look for my husband’s review. You’ll find pictures and video of problems that have plagued us on our almost $65,000 pre-owned vehicle. Crest has told us to not bring the vehicle back as they will not service it regardless of its warranty status.