[Fat Charlie]

Sorry about any confusion- there's no agenda here and he didn't want VW to work on his car. He didn't need any repairs. He was just coming up on a service and talked, one tech to another, about how they do the service over there and what parts he should get (Just a flush? Filter?). They talked about things the car would need in the future. The only one he mentioned to me was the DPF replacement at 120k, but I really don't think that alone would steer him away from the car (we also know that it probably won't need replacing then...). A non serviceable automatic would scare the hell out of a transmission tech.

I'm not disparaging Volkswagen here. I was just so shocked that someone would move from a TDI to a 200 (and get the the 6 instead of the 4) that I had to share- and this isn't a "I want more ____ in my car" situation. This is a guy who believes in preventative maintenance and it's his wife's car. Looking at the DPF alone, he'd rather replace it when the book recommends than wait for her to mention that her car's been running badly for a while and then have to diagnose the VW in his spare time. He doesn't like DPFs, or explaining to his own customers that they need to be replaced. Having an expense like that looming is never fun, and neither is trying to sell a car with over 100k that has expensive stuff in its immediate future- and trying to trade one in when it has the "replace DPF" light on is a great way to take a bath.

If I already owned a TDI I'd keep it and milk the fuel savings. To him, cashing in on the VW's resale value while it's still young and getting a replacement that the dealership is happy to get rid of ahead of the 2014s is probably a good move.

But for this one guy:
-The VW gets much better mileage than the 200, but...
-A standard, known service on the VW costs a lot no matter who you are.
-A dealership tech can keep a car from his brand in top shape without even trying for just the price of parts, and we take care of him.
-It's all the same to his wife what she drives.
His math said to get out from under the VW while the getting was good, into a platform he knows to be reliable. He probably got a service contract for less than a DPF would cost him- so not only will just about everything be covered, but he'll get paid to do the work instead of the other way around.

So while it just looks wrong, it made sense for him.