It's not all doom and gloom, though. I think they are just going through some teething issues with some things. Of the several regulars I have here with 2009+ TDIs, only a couple minor issues have come up, all of which have been corrected with software under warranty.
People forget about all the stupid early crap problems every generation of TDI had here...and until now those were all cars that had some sort of track record already established in Europe. We got the CR engine the same time they did.
I know they needn't meet the same passenger car emissions requirements, but all the CR Sprinters we service have not had much troubles either. Most all the 3.0L V6 CDIs got software updates for EGR issues, and I just had my very first one that I needed to do a manual DPF regen on... at 190k miles... and I was able to get it back into operation again. Good thing, too, because list price on the DPF is $3900.
But I gotta tell ya, these CDI Sprinters are quiet, clean (you can white-glove the tail pipe), and WAY more frugal than anything comparable with a gas engine, and they run surprisingly well. When you drive one, it is hard to believe there is only a 3-liter engine moving the big box down the road, through a slushbox no less!