My wife and I drove to this location from the Chic...

My wife and I drove to this location from the Chicago area to test drive a 2011 Ford Escape that we'd found online listed for a few dollars under 10K. I will say that all the staff were very nice, and no one was pushy or rude.

It took about ten minutes for them to bring the car to the front, and my wife and I drove the car about two miles around a nearby neighborhood. The first we noticed upon getting into the car was that it was dirty. The carpet had debris in it, there was dust in the car, and there were white marks on the console and other hard surfaces, as though there had been paint transfer or something. However, the car did drive well, so we figured they would detail if we bought it.

When we got back to the dealership, we walked around the outside of the car. We noticed right away that there was heavy rust on the metal cylinders behind the hubcaps, and when my wife touched it, it flaked. There also appeared to be significant rust on the tailpipe and other areas around the tires. My wife pointed out to the salesman that she has a 2005 Escape (parked next to this SUV) and does not have rust behind the tires, and the salesman did not have an explanation for that.

Then my wife asked to pop the hood. The car was still radiating heat even though it was about 70F out and it had been sitting, off, for 15 minutes. The engine looked good, but when my wife put her hand on the bumper to peer into the engine area...the left side of the bumper fell off. I pointed this out to the salesman and asked if it was supposed to just come loose like that, and he said that it seemed that the clips were worn.

I know that they're a Toyota dealership and this is a Ford. However, I have purchased used cars from different-brand dealerships, and the cars have always appeared clean, with body condition proportionate to price. That was not a 10K car. It was wildly overpriced for what it was.

So, if you're going to buy a used car here, check it over very thoroughly. Make sure the body is in good condition. Make sure the bumper is attached (which you'd think the dealership would do prior to listing the car, but I guess not) and it's not rusted out in hard-to-see places. If we had bought based on how well it drove, we would have made a huge mistake.

When we told them we would not be taking the car, they tried to get us to check out another similar Escape, but at that point we felt like if they felt the car we drove was worth 10K, we weren't about to look at other cars. This was not a hard sell, though, and as I said, all the employees were very courteous. However, since we visited a month ago, I have gotten about a dozen calls from them regarding the car, which I do not appreciate.