Germain Volkswagen of Westerville

Service Department: Recently we brought one of our vehicles in for a (we assumed) warranty service issue with a 2023 Volkswagen Taos. This car was purchased new and the low coolant light kicked on around 7k miles. I checked the coolant level and it was nearly empty. Initially to address the concern we went to MAG in Dublin who performed pressure test. We were told there was nothing to be concerned about as this is typical and coolant can "burn off", which makes no sense as it's a closed system. Where would it burn off to? Another 7-10k miles went by and we experienced the same issue. Took the car again to MAG in Dublin and they did no diagnostic and instead told my significant other just to top it off. After this, I did some research and found some pretty common, somewhat alarming, related issues with this year and model, but we gave it another chance and the coolant was low again in another 7-10k miles. My significant other had to wake me up at 5am to top off the coolant in the snow before she left for work. It was at this point we chose to go to another dealer, which is where VW Westerville comes in. Oliva the service advisor listened to our concern and ensured us that it's a known issue and they would do a proper inspection. We dropped the car off a couple days later and within a couple of hours they sent confirmation of a head gasket issue, which will be covered under warranty. The car is currently there being fixed and they issued a loaner vehicle without hesitation. Remarkable service and a stark contrast to our experience with MAG, which in hindsight is incredibly frustrating. I can only assume they shook us off because they did not want to handle warranty work, and if you're reading this i don't recommend you go there for anything. Sales: Around the same time frame I went in as I was interested in trading in my Subaru for a VW SUV. I've typically had good experience with VW in terms of reliability, which is why I prefer the brand. In comes Octavio Mendez. Great experience working with this guy. Very social/personable as you would typically expect from a sales guy, but didn't seem artificial (even if it might have been). Lots of casual conversation and pretty low pressure despite what you might typically expect. Very willing to work within my budget and check with management for various avenues to get me to a comfortable number. A day or so later I came back to purchase the Atlas we previously discussed and I'm very happy with it. The only downside is that I came in a week prior to appraise my Subaru for trade in and I met with a different individual for ~20 minutes. Unfortunately, the sale of the car goes to this gentleman despite the fact that Octavio facilitated the test drive, questioning, budgeting, and final sale. When I came back for the sale the individual who did assisted in my appraisal jumped in to greet me and nothing else, which felt a little slimy/uncomfortable. Very unfortunate and poor policy in my opinion. Nothing against the other salesman. I'm sure he's great, and I don't work in that industry so I assume this might be commonplace. Another notable individual was James on the finance side, we had some great conversation. He was extremely helpful and worked with with me to find an extended warranty and by extension some better sleep at night. Overall, great experience on both sides of the fence. Appreciate everything these guys did.