I tried that first.
I even made a new character.
I traveled probably 2 months time in game.
Nothing.
Doesn't that only work the first time you talk to him?
That actually reminds me, OP! As a last resort, create a new character and introduce yourself to everybody. Then, TT day by day and continue to talk to the villagers you want to stay, but ignore the one you want to leave (Rod in this case). He will eventually either just move away without saying anything, or ping you to move within a week (I did this method to get Jambette out of my town *shivers* her lips were taking up too much space).
It worked with my Fang. He won't move for some reason and I was expecting my friend's Beau. Apparently I ignored him long enough that he missed me. So I talked to him once and he was like "wow I haven't seen you in 2 weeks!" I saved and exited the game. The next time I logged in, he pinged me and said he wanted to move.