I am going to give place this a three star rating. Certain aspects of this place aren't bad, but…read morethey could do many things better as well.
I bought my used Escape, which I call "the beauty queen" here last fall. Overall, the sales person was nice enough. She did not explain the features of the car though. She hooked up my phone as if I wanted to actually talk to people, when what I needed was the music. She said I could come back and she would explain the features later, but it had to be sometime "when it's not busy". I went to look up how to disconnect the Bluetooth and noticed at least two of the supplemental manuals, are missing, and, of course, I noticed because those are the two I needed. I am just listening to my tunes on the bad i Phone speaker until I can order the manuals somewhere. :/
I got a hitch installed specifically to tow bikes, and I received some inaccurate advice on that. The guy told me to go with the 1 and 1/4 inch hitch, when the 2 inch hitch is needed for a four bike carrier. You would think if you didn't know yourself, you would ask someone, I mean, it's Squamish, someone probably bikes, right? When I found that I had the less desirable hitch, I called them and the man on the phone said there was no factory 2 inch hitch for an Escape (which was odd because when I was buying the hitch, they told me there was a 2 inch hitch, but unless I wanted to tow a boat or a camper I did not need it.)
The guys at the Whistler garage proved that was incorrect online. That was disappointing, although a two bike carrier will work for now, I always think it's better to have the bigger hitch in case you need it. Now, I will have to upgrade if I want to a hitch for four bikes. However, since I had already had the two bike carrier installed, that will be a possible project in the future.
In late fall, I bought snow tires here, since the horn needed to be repaired anyway, and that an easy transaction. They were nice enough to let me leave the car ten days. The guy that sold them cracked me up because he didn't give a wit about the fancy commercial they were filming at the time. They also fixed the horn which broke somehow when I got the hitch put on the car, and and they did not charge me. They were very nice about picking me up at the Adventure Centre where the bus stops in Squamish, and arranged for a really reasonable rental too.
However, the way they put the tires in the back somehow opened the back window enough to kill the battery. The beeper warning seemed to work intermittently (perhaps due to the really low battery). The car died in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire a couple miles down the road. The battery was so low, I thought it needed a new one. That could've gone better, although, eventually I got the latch to close properly. It seemed a bit warped, perhaps because the tires may have been pressing against it for a while before I picked it up. The car has started reliably since then though.
Generally, I would have to say that the sales experience is a higher three because I do like the car well enough. The service department, while nice enough, is a lower three except for the guy who sold me tires, who is definitely a five star employee.
I was telling the guys at the garage in Whistler about how the dealer said there was no 2 inch hitch (at least after I bought the 1 and 1/4 inch). The man said, "You mean the dealer in Squamish?", in sort of a tone that said, "Sounds about right."
I said, "Yes, at times, it doesn't seem like they know what they are doing over there."
"Apparently, not." He said in the same polite tone that made me think he had heard this before-somehow.
Luckily, I have found a garage in Whistler to use now and it is much more convenient for me to stay in Whistler anyway. I hope I can get the manuals I need so someday I can get the Bluetooth to work. :)
