Smitty's Used Cars

I got into a car accident in December 2010 that totaled my vehicle, so I researched cars online at local auto dealerships to find one I liked. Smitty's came up on the search and they had two Impalas I was really interested in. My mother and I drove to Green Bay to test drive it. Unfortunately, neither vehicle was at the location the website said they were, so we had to drive to another location that wasn't too far down the road to test drive the red one. It smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, and I decided I didn't want it based on that. It turned out the blue one was at another location (both vehicles were supposed to have been at the first location we drove to). So we went there and I drove it. I loved it, so I purchased it.
Within a month, I found out it had a problem with the ABS unit and it had to be replaced. The repair costs were going to exceed $1,000 because it was an expensive part. I was lucky and the mechanic was able to find one at a junk yard for a few hundred dollars. Over the three years I had the vehicle, there were all sorts of things that had to be done with it, including replacing the water pump, thermostat, wheel bearings, tie rods, etc.
In the third year, I decided it was nickel and diming me too much, so I returned to Smitty's and wanted to test drive some of their vehicles. This time I went to their Menasha location. The first vehicle I test drove was a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It drove very rough for that make and model, and it's cruise control didn't work at all. The dealer told me that was disclosed on the paper taped to the window, which I hadn't looked at closely enough. I wasn't about to purchase a vehicle with a broken cruise control. What else would be busted on it?
Then I test drove a Chevrolet Trailblazer. It's check engine light was on. I asked the dealer, "What's the story with the check engine light?" He seemed unsurprised when he asked, "Oh, did that turn on? I'll have the mechanics take a look at it and turn that off." Huge red flags went up. Combine those two vehicles with known issues before purchasing with the issues I had with the Impala, and I knew immediately I would never purchase another vehicle from Smitty's.
Then I was talking to a co-worker, and she said when she was car shopping, her boyfriend told her she was not to go to Smitty's. They've acquired a bad reputation in this area from selling vehicles with problems, and apparently, they've been busted a few times for turning the odometers back on their vehicles. Even if this last part is a rumor, it does not reflect well on the business to have a bad reputation. Are you willing to risk thousands of dollars to find out for yourself?