Hi. First post, but reader since late summer as I was trying to gain all the information I could about auto diesels. The amount of information available here was invaluable to me in selecting what to buy.
I've got an order in on a US Executive trim TDI Touareg. My original wait time was 10 weeks which would have been very late December or early January. I checked in with my dealer to make sure VW "took" my order and they said the date had been moved to March and then moved up to February. I'm sure there will be other scheduling changes. I have wondered how this limited rollout would affect VW's desire to increase sales enough to meet BMW or MB. I think the car competes well and is competitively priced, but the dealer can't sell what he doesn't have. I searched on traderonline nationwide for a TDI in Executive trim and found....one. Granted not all dealers advertise inventory on traderonline, but many do. I also searched the inventory of most dealers in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Charleston, Jacksonville and Charlotte and found one more. My only option was to order one.
I entered into this knowing early adopters of anything don't get deals, but I called and e-mailed dealers, starting with my single dealer and working outward. With no product and with unknown demand for the car most would not move off MSRP. I placed an order with a dealer two hours away for $500 over invoice. I will pay a documentation fee, but nothing extra for dealer prep. Somewhere in this vast nation there is a better deal, but 500 over is a price I was willing to pay from the beginning and my time is worth more than continuing to play dialing for autos. Since I ordered, my insurance company's buying program (run through Zag) began offering invoice on in-stock vehicles and would probably do the same for orders. I'm fine with being 5 weeks further along into my wait for the less than 1% price difference to start over.
I look forward to posting here and helping with any information I can. The early buyer reports (mainly from Canada) are very positive about the auto. I'm excited.
