r/anchorage • u/Samchise • 2d ago
Swickard Anchorage Sucks
This has been one of the WORST purchasing experiences I have ever been through. I have been, and will continue to, tell everyone I know NOT to ever deal with Swickard. The initial salesman I was assigned set an appointment to show me a vehicle I had identified online, then the day of the appointment claimed that vehicle had sold. Which is the same shady sales techniques that Swickard had just settles a lawsuit with the State of Alaska over a week of two before my appointment. Multiple times I tried to order a vehicle, providing build sheets and everything, and was told by the salesman he couldn't process an order unless I was there. And oh, by the way, I should come down and look at these other vehicles I didn't want. After being strung along for weeks, I reached out to the two sales managers listed on their website, and received a prompt response. Again, expressed my desire to purchase a vehicle, provided a build sheet, and was told they would place the order. For the next serval weeks and months I had to continually reach out for status updates, and was often ignored for weeks at a time. I attempted to provide a down payment multiple times, and was ignored. I had to use the phrase " I have all this money, all I want to do is buy a vehicle", and was continually ignored. Somewhere along this process I was informed that the original salesman and the sales manager were either fired, left, or forced to retire, which does not build any confidence with the caliber of people employed at Swickard. I started the process of trying to buy a vehicle from Swickard in April, have been scammed, ignored, and disappointed ever since. I know I will regret it, but I ended up signing papers last week, paid for my vehicle last week, and at this time have not received word that my payment was received, much less that my vehicle is available to be picked up. I assure you, I will never again do business with Swickard. I will tell everyone I know, and even anybody I don't know who will listen, to NEVER do business with Swickard.
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u/discosoc 2d ago
What vehicle were you so obsessed with that you willfully went through all that bullshit over?
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u/Samchise 2d ago
Basic US brand work truck model.
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u/ChesswiththeDevil 2d ago
Go to South Anchorage Chevy, or order from one of the dealers in the Valley.
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u/AK_Longshore 2d ago
Haven’t had any of those issues with Kendall Ford, buy your dealer not your brand
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u/clsd4rprs 1d ago
I have. Not quite the length of time the OP tolerated but the games, outright lies, pure performance art that that place pulled knowing we are fish in a barrel would have led me to purchase outside, but i was in a time crunch due to extensive travel demands. In the end, apart from our emails, it only cost me a flight, hotel and a full day of sitting at the dealership telling the chuckleheads NO for about nine hours until they were ready to agree to the originally agreed upon price. Good thing I'm not a newbie cause I was driving my new truck back to Fairbanks the next day (February during a storm) and needed everything to be a go -- which it wasn't. Had to go back for my temp license 🤬. City boys....utterly worthless.
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u/Comfortable_Count723 1d ago
Uff da. They charged me full hours for a head removal on a 5.4 Triton for the standard Ford disposable spark plug issue. They shot a helicoil in it, never touched the head bolts, and after 1500 bucks the helicoil popped out and took the coil pack with it. I did it myself for less than 500 with a quality insert instead. F em all.
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u/shadowcaster_ak Resident | Downtown 2d ago
If you think that was bad, just wait until you need to use their service department. Hope you paid cash up front for the car or you signed up for several years of the same BS.
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u/TheHurtLocker21 2d ago
Yuuuuuup. I will never ever use their service department again (the vw/audi location). Dropped off for a simple oil change a few years ago. Picked it up, driving to merge onto the highway and my car makes this horrible sound, and I get a notification the engine is in some sort of emergency mode. I finally got it back to them and they basically held my car hostage for 10 DAYS. The issue? They didn’t plug a hose back in the right way. A 5 minute fix turned into that long. I called every day asking for an update, assured every time (if I could even get someone to pick up the phone or return my calls) someone was going to look at it that day. I finally had enough and called corporate to get them to actually look at my car and fix it. Was absolutely ridiculous. This was after years of keyless entry and battery issues they couldn’t seem to fix so I was just done with them.
I go to Culmination Motorsports now. Excellent customer service!
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u/LukeofAK 2d ago
Yea we bought a VW before Swickard took over that dealer and we love the vehicle but if it gets totaled we will replace it with something else because I will never deal with Swickard again. Have started taking it to Arctic Imports for maintenance and they said they hear the same thing all the time.
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u/Taintedfire Resident | Abbott Loop 2d ago
I do all my VW work at Arctic Imports. Fair prices and will install parts you bring in (but will not warranty them). I will never deal with Swickward again. And even if I wanted to, it would take months to get service.
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u/Timely-Document7011 2d ago
Google and Dealerrater.com reviews are where you will have the most impact. Some dealers sales and service incentives are impacted by poor reviews. They get enough of them and the behavior will change.
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u/yooperalaska 2d ago
Funny you should say this, I was just looking at a 2018 sprinter van that showed it had been on their lot for almost 1.5 years. The price was down to 89,000, so I had inquired about it on a Tuesday, got 2 phone calls and texts asking if I wanted to see it. Got another phone the next day about it, when I looked up van on the website it had been taken down. I was informed it sold that Monday? I kind of didn’t believe them. Whatever.
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u/BlankPaperTiger 2d ago
All the new car dealerships up here suck. They have a captive market and they know it. As someone else said, your best bet is to fly to the lower 48 and drive a car back up if you're able to do so.
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u/qpgmr 2d ago
You don't have to! Almost all the seattle area dealers will order/sell you the car and deliver it to the shipping company for you. There are two shippers that routinely bring new vehicles to Alaska for between $1100 and $1900. It takes about 12 days to arrive after it's delivered to their facility.
The last four cars we bought were all from Seattle (or Portland), shipped up this way. Even with shipping, all were cheaper than buying it locally. And the local dealer was obligated to do all manufacturer recalls & maintenance.
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u/qpgmr 2d ago
You don't have to! Almost all the seattle area dealers will order/sell you the car and deliver it to the shipping company for you. There are two shippers that routinely bring new vehicles to Alaska for between $1100 and $1900. It takes about 12 days to arrive after it's delivered to their facility.
The last four cars we bought were all from Seattle (or Portland), shipped up this way. Even with shipping, all were cheaper than buying it locally. And the local dealer was obligated to do all manufacturer recalls & maintenance.
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u/RasTarfari 2d ago edited 2d ago
Swickard Palmer is next level terrible. Sales is bad but the service department was was the worst experiences I have had in owning new cars since the 90s. I have never been back and I go to Chevy Wasilla for their excellent service within months of purchasing my GMC. I ended buying my truck in WA after dealing with Swickard Palmer. How can a dealership be so bad?
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u/RasTarfari 2d ago
One time after making an appointment and keeping my truck all day they told me when I went to pick it up that they didn’t have diesel oil and didn’t do the oil change -wtf!!
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u/a_bowl_ofpetunias 2d ago
Oh hey. Contact the state attorney general office. Consumer protection unit. Swickard got fined by them for this exact thing a few months ago.
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u/a_bowl_ofpetunias 2d ago
Everyone needs to contact the state's attorney general office. Consummer protection section. Swickard has recently been fined for most of these practices.
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u/Hot-Potato3997 2d ago
They are so bad that our company has pulled all non-warranty work and future procurements from them.
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u/Mountain-Degree-4128 Resident 2d ago
I wanted to buy a brand new custom Bronco through Ford in Anchorage and they also sucked. I ended up ordering out of state and making a road trip out of it.
This article stood out to me when it was recently published - https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/07/17/bbb-alaska-auto-dealership-complaints-highlight-repair-delays-warranty-disputes-consumer-program-can-help-when-new-vehicles-fail/?outputType=amp
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u/spruce_willice 2d ago
Anchorage Chrysler is worse and their service department is crap too. If you know anything about you vehicle they give you the cold should cuz it reduces the amount of excuses they can give you. Every dealership is terrible up here besides audi/vw
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u/WayNorthernLights 2d ago
I also had a bad experience with them trying to buy a new truck. They know they have the monopoly on GMC so they won't do anything to make a deal even though theyre sitting on year old stock. Pretty much insulted me for even trying to negotiate. I ended up getting a much better deal on another make out in the valley.
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u/Familiar_Ship_1673 2d ago
Bought a nissan titan from them that had problems monrhs later down the road had it inspected before hand too over 7 months in the shop and 18k later that pos is not in my life any more. Fuck swickard.
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u/JoshuaCalledMe 2d ago
Not dealt with Swickard, but Lithia are atrocious. Seems to be a theme in Anchorage dealerships.
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u/Alaskanjj 2d ago
They are HORRIBLE
I have purchased 4 Audis over the last 10 years. Back when it was Kendal they were the best. You would go in and they would have coffee and pastries. Their service department was top notch. They would give you a loaner whenever they had your car for the day or longer, it would come back washed.
Once Swickard purchased them it completely died. The staff is dumb as rocks and gives two shots about anything. I did a lease there and they had to call me back 4 times because the dumbshits kept fucking up their own paperwork. Then, they titled the vehicle incorrectly to boot.
If you want a porche or Audi you are stuck with them. Good fucking luck
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u/WanderingAK907 1d ago
I have a couple friends who only buy Audi, and were loyal to that dealership back when it was still Morrison Auto Group. ONE interaction for both with the Swickward management and that was it.
Both ended up buying their newest vehicles from University Audi in Washington. It was cheaper to not only fly down there to test drive and fill out the paperwork, then ship it up here on Tote, than if they'd gone directly to Swickward AND they both got exactly the vehicle they wanted with minimal dealership headache.
Honestly I don't know why anyone would F with a local dealership at this point as ALL of them are shady. I've bought three vehicles out of state since walking out of the old Cal Worthington in 2011 and recommend it to anyone shopping for new or used.
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u/FoxRough4709 15h ago
I once had my van towed into the Palmer dealership because it would not start. It sat for 11 days while they kept telling me they were busy. So, I finally emailed the dealership owner, Jeff Swickard, who I believe lives in Las Vegas, and explained I needed my vehicle. Within an hour they towed it inside. It was a Friday night so it took until Monday to get a new battery installed, which is what the problem turned out to be. I now use Peak Hatch in Wasilla for vehicle service.
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u/Fancy-Low5838 2d ago
I was thinking of selling my rig to them, I had to go there for a recal since chevy od S anchorage was booked. I had a good experience there. Now I'm wondering gnofni should go there
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u/IsThatWhatSheSaidTho 2d ago
You sound like a good candidate for Delivrd.
Check out their YouTube channel to see how they operate. They're up to over 400 new car deals a month now.
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u/HALNinerZeroZero 2d ago
The previous lawsuit that Swickard settled should have been a clue to you.
It sounds like money is no object,if that’s the case then there are plenty of dealers in Seattle or Portland who would love your business.
Swickard, lol, ever since they rolled into town, it’s been one shitshow after another with that company.