Thanks for the input guys. The lack of manual trans cars is going to hinder the car search. I do want the upgraded brakes and diff, so its a SE or Autobahn, very few cars in the country available. I just might have to wait for the 2018s to be discounted more heavily. Elgin VW was by far the most responsive and quickest to follow up. I am just really surprised how many dealers arent really that interested in selling a car and the lack of product knowledge is frightening.
As I said, Elgin is solid and they are the closest that direction from Rockford. I too was amazed at the difficulty I had getting responses and trying to do a deal as I was ready to buy a car.
The guys in Mount Prospect at Autobarn (salesman and sales manager) were so argumentative when I laid some logic on them. The sales guy was new and knew very little about the car. The sales manager was just a straight up dick. Shortest negotiation ever when we started talking price. They didn't budge off the asking price of a used 2016 S w/pp and lighting.
I bought a new Sport for about $1700 more than I offered for the used 2016 which by my market analysis was close to $3K too high. I checked weekly with them and they had that same 2016 for 6 months on the lot (reducing $200 every week or so) and finally sold it for $1800 less than I offered and they rejected.
IIRC, they were asking $26,500 and I offered $23K to start and they said they can't take less than $26,500. The sales manager told me, "don't be embarrassed if you have to call us back and take it at that price". The last listing I saw for it had it at $21,800.
In the end it was a blessing they totally ran me out of the dealership with their attitude.
Elgin gave me such a good price via email that I actually thought it was a mistake. I printed the email and took it with me just in case.