@hydralique: I am the dealership owner's physician. I am treated like a king there, they "like" diesels, but they hardly get any shipped to them. In terms of VW dealers being able to "nab" cars coming off the line for their customers, the company uses the results of the JD Powers surveys of customer service. Every time you bring you car for servicing, you get an e-mail survey (used to be conducted by phone, probably still is for those without e-mail) asking about your experience at the dealership. They give priority to the highest-scoring dealerships, so that even a small dealer can be first in line if they provide superb service. Capistrano VW typically ranks among the top five in the country in terms of customer satisfaction scores. I believe it's among the top ten dealers in the country in terms of sales as well, but it's the customer survey scores and not sales volume that gives them priority to "nab" cars.
Although the new Passat is built in Tennessee, my understanding is that the TDI engine is built in Europe and, per my patient, they simply cannot built them quickly enough to meet worldwide demand, so many of those TDI engines remain in Europe and never reach the USA. Likewise, the reason that the 2.0 gas turbo was discontinued in Passat (except the German-built CC) is that the engines reportedly cost more to build than a normally aspirated gas engine or a TDI. I wonder if perhaps they are more "expensive" when one considers the cost of replacing turbos under warranty, but I was a member of a club for 1998-2006 Passats and never heard of anyone blowing a turbo, even the ones with chipped turbos like mine. It's possible that the 2.0T turbos had a higher failure rate than the earlier 2.0T, but I don't know for sure.
If someone came to Capistrano VW looking for a Passat, I think the reason they'd be shown a 2.5 gas engine first is that they have a glut of them, and the few TDIs that come in are snapped up right away. In addition, the base trim model 2.5 carries a $20K sticker price, whereas the TDI starts at $25-26K (though it does not to my knowledge come in a base trim model, its "base" trim is equal to the SEL 2.5). Though the SEL trim 2.5 runs about $23-24K, which lowers the premium one must pay for a TDI, I think they broaden their market as a "family car" on the lower end of their customer base by offering entry level Passats at just $20K.
Capistrano VW was an early participant in "Auto By Tel", which was an early form of internet sales. You indicated the model you wanted and it was routed to a participating dealer near you. When I used it, I got a call back from Capo VW in an hour. Participating dealers offered to limit their charges on these semi-internet purchases to a set amount over invoice, but only on existing stock. At that time (April 1998), they had lots of 1.8Ts but only a few V6's. As a result, the 1.8T went for $650 over invoice. That secured the entry level segment of the market, as an entry level Passat went for $19K, so I paid roughly $18.5K plus tax plus license plus extras, but I was out the door for $22K. The V6, though the engine really was a dud vs. the 1.8T (this was NOT the VR6 engine offered in the Jetta), but the V6 had a higher trim level as standard, plus the upgraded GLX variant (leather/power seats, cold weather package, upgraded stereo, etc) was only available on the V6. Because Passat was actually stealing entry-level Audi, BMW and MB buyers with its GLX, the internet price for the V6 was about $2.5K over invoice and thus only slightly discounted below sticker---because people who wanted one were also considering Audi/BMW/MB and were at the upper range of Passat's customer base.
Capistrano VW still has an internet sales department and I think they still offer cars for a set, no-hassles, no-haggling amount above dealer invoice, but it's only for existing stock. It's possible that demand for TDI Passats is high enough that they don't even have to offer it via the internet sales program.
