Thanks everyone. I'm still trying to decide what to do, but in the meantime I purchased a used 2016 Passat from a different VW dealer (let's call them the "Selling Dealer"), who happens to be the dealer where I purchased the R. The dealer that currently has my R (let’s call them the "Repair Dealer") is 50 miles from the Selling Dealer.
Last Friday I inquired with the Repair Dealer about purchasing a used 2015 Passat they have listed, but the service rep handling my R said they were working another deal on that one at the very moment I was texting with them. I then asked the service rep to let me know if the deal fell through since I was absolutely interested in purchasing it. I also let the service rep know I was going to another VW dealer to look at another Passat, so they should have known I was serious. The service rep from the Repair Dealer never did call me and the car is still listed for sale on their website and Auto Trader. The Repair Dealer really didn't seem to want my business, so I took my business elsewhere.
While I was buying the 2016 Passat I spoke with the Selling Dealer’s service dept. I explained what I was told by the Repair Dealer (bearings on the #4 cyl.) and asked them for a itemized quote on what it would cost to replace the engine. The Selling Dealer quoted me just over $10K in an itemized estimate. The estimate includes a few thousand for new turbo, which they said should be changed when replacing the engine.
I asked the Repair Dealer for an itemized estimate this morning so I could understand what they are proposing to do. I didn’t hear anything all day until this evening when I received a five word email with a dollar figure ($11,075). The service rep had previously said that they were not including the turbo in the estimate since it apparently wasn’t damaged, so I assume that $11K figure is sans turbo. I've emailed them back again requesting an itemization, but I don’t think they are going to provide one.
At this juncture I'm really beginning to think the Repair Dealer just wants me to go away. I still want to provide my service records just on the off chance that VOA says they can help even a little bit. However, the Repair Dealer is saying that my non-VW service records are no good since they don’t have a VIN (they have my plate number as the identifier). I gave them the address and phone number for the third-party provider, but they said they can’t call them. The Repair Dealer also refused to call the Selling Dealer to get any records from there and the Repair Dealer said that the Selling Dealer wouldn’t give them the records anyway. The funny thing was that when I called the Selling Dealer, they didn’t ask for ID and left a printout of the record with their cashier for me to pick up without any question. The Selling Dealer said they would have been happy to provide the records to the Repair Dealer if asked. Now I am still prepared to pay the costs here, but the Repair Dealer really is making me wonder. I’m prepared to pay to have the R towed to the Selling Dealer 50 miles away.
So my question here is, do I really need to change the turbo when changing out the engine? That would knock off a few thousand from the Selling Dealer's estimate and make it a certainty that I would use them. Heck, I’m thinking that I should run far away from the Repair Dealer right now.