I initiated my claim two days after the formal process was opened, filed my claim forms December 3rd, finally got my formal offer package December 27th and the earliest appointment available within 200 miles was February 23rd. I left messages for the buyback specialist about 10 times, not a single call was returned. actually stopped in to the dealer 4times, she was never there, then the day of my appointment she calls and says I can come in any time that day, it only takes about 15 minutes. She was correct, I was in and out of the dealer 20 minutes. She said VW sets the appointment calendar and she had little choice in taking earlier settlements, even when the packages were completed and only needed to be closed out. She said she had multiple days where she ended up only having 1 appointment so she would drive in, close the apt and leave. No wonder I never got a call back and could never catch her in the dealer. She said she actually could have taken mine as early as January but "couldn't"
I suspect it's more to do with VW disbursing the funds slowly and dealing with the logistics of collecting, storing and ultimately disposing of the buyback vehicles.
I was pissed because VW said it would take 14-21 days total the first time I spoke with them. Of course I had to purchase a new vehicle and did so based on that time frame. I ended up having to make three extra car payments on my VW( the last three actually) and the first two on my new 328D which sucked. VW of course based the payout on everything I submitted the first week of December, which resulted in an over payment on my loan that took me another 5 weeks to receive back from my bank.
I can't lie, I miss my Passat. I like the BMW, but it's significantly smaller than the Passat and doesn't get the same fuel mileage as my TDi. I averaged 46mpg over the 5 years(almost to the day) that I owned the Passat and could EASILY get 51-52 mpg on highway trips and most of my commuting. So far in the BMW, I'm seeing 40.8 on Fuelly and my best has ben 43.2, although admittedly my driving has changed to much more local driving as I mainly telework now and only make my 50 mile commute twice a week.
Seeing all of the complaints from European drivers with the "fix", I'm glad I decided to take the buyback after 168,429 very happy miles with my TDI. I told the dealer I would have been trading it in on a brand new one that day If they could have sold me one. and I probably would have kept it if I had less miles on it.