We received a call from the dealer, and apparently the reason for the multiple indentations on the car we bought was hailstorms. The dealer is taking the car in to assess the paintwork and is going to contribute to any re-spray costs. Throughout all of this, Volkswagen UK has been fantastically helpful. They have called my wife regularly (at least once a week) to keep her informed about what they were doing and when we should expect to receive information.

They leant heavily on the manager of the Volkswagen Dealer who, for a while, was ignoring VW UK's calls and emails, to the point where Volkswagen UK told us they are going to correspond with whoever is in charge of dealerships and get them to try and get a straight answer from the dealer. I was fully expecting Volkswagen UK to simply say this was a matter between us and the dealer but to my surprise they have gone above and beyond anything we were expecting. Thanks for your advice.