That's a good point; my VW GTI got one at a local shop under insurance a few years back. The turbocharger wasn't hooked up quite right the first time. It wasn't a severe issue - the engine was just noticeably less powerful. Luckily it was a quick fix and they were very good about rectifying the issue, but yeah, what you're saying checks out, even in the outlier cases where a fix is covered.

(Humorously, in a chain of weird luck, I also had a full rebuild of a regular Golf engine in the same five year span, but that one was done at the dealer.)