Do car dealers always put "regular" (87 octane) fuel in their cars? I plan to use premium, but not sure what's in it right now.
It's probably regular. My salesperson said I could run it on regular, and it will run just fine on it with no issues. However, per VW's sales literature and website, the engine only makes its advertised HP when using premium fuel. Of course, since everyone knows that the advertised HP is less than what it's actually producing, it shouldn't worry you, especially since you're in the engine break-in period for the first 1000 miles.
I've been using premium since the first time I refueled, but since I've been driving gently due to break-in and then winter tires since I bought it, I'm probably going to switch back to regular until the weather improves. It's more important to use
Top-Tier fuel , at the minimum 87 octane than it is to use premium if you're not driving it hard.