Unfortunately yes, you with not be eligible for VW finance incentives.
Yup but doesn’t really mater. Just finance and payoff immediately.
The dealer may have told you that, but they don't. VW is currently offering $1,000 APR cash if you finance with them using their special APR program. They are not offering any consumer cash if you use a 3rd-party lender,
but the dealer collects $3500 from VW if the vehicle is financed at VW standard APR (currently 3.79 for tier 1) or cash sale/3rd-party finance. Some dealers will use the $3500 (partially or fully) to lower their advertised price, while others won't, but end up giving some of it away during the negotiation process (so you'll feel like you're "winning").
The same is true for every car company out there. They will either offer a low APR and a small amount of cash, or a much larger amount for cash or 3rd-party financed sales. The reason for this is that the captive finance company (ie VCI, NMAC, GMAC, Chrysler Capital, whoever) is wholly owned by the car maker, so even though it counts as a sale, the car is really off the books as far as the accountants are concerned. When weighing your options, it's worth it to run the numbers through an auto finance calculator to see the difference in payments between different scenarios; it's often a better deal to take the larger cash incentive and pay a little more interest, assuming you qualify for the tier-1 rate offered by the 3rd-party finance company (usually the local credit union will have the best rate). However, if your credit isn't the best, the captive finance company will often bump you up a tier to get you the lower rate, if that's what it takes to make the sale.