My experience with Volkswagen sales departments is that they'll give the minimal service possible to make you happy. Note the last part: to make you happy. They will cut corners if they think the customer won't notice, but not otherwise. Volkswagen of America appears to be rather strict in how it deals with its dealers: when they call you to ask how the dealership did with various aspects of the sale, they'll ask you to rank the dealership between 1 and 5; anything but a 5 is a "failing" rank. Less-than-perfect scores means fewer perks from VWoA, such as car allocations. If there's something you're not happy with, let the salesperson know, because chances are your satisfaction with the sale could directly impact their profit from the sale. If they don't care, talk with the manager. Buying a new car isn't cheap, and when dropping five digits on something one should be treated with according respect. (Likewise, you won't get the same service as though you were buying a Mercedes..)
If you're really not happy, chances are there's another dealer nearby who'd be happy to have your business, even for the exact same car.
That said, I think the most important thing on delivery is to talk with the service folks, and see how much they know about caring for the TDI engine. The sales folks will never touch your car again, but if the service is out of touch... Possible things to ask about are the timing belt, oil, Relay 109, and if you really think they're out to lunch, spark plugs. Don't let them touch the car if they think it has spark plugs.
$0.02.
Oh, and BTW, welcome to the club. My TDI makes up for all the problems with the dealers I've ever dealt with; I think yours might do the same
[ June 10, 2001: Message edited by: Kyanoti ]
