So it seems that Volkswagen has about 482,000 owners of their TDI models here in the U.S. who are due some compensation for their supposed ‘clean diesel’ cars having been in fact dirty diesels. VW has cut a deal that will result in a cash payout to these owners of anywhere from $1,000 to $7,000, depending on the age of the car and certain other criteria. That’s on top of either retrofitting or buying back the offending Vee-Dubs.
What we’re kind of curious about is whether any of you fall into this nearly 500K pool and if so, what do you think about the deal?
Image: HeadlightMag
Hooniverse Asks: Are You Getting in on That VW Dieselgate Payout?
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Can I be compensated for having to deal with Audi A4 TDIdiddlyI drivers?
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Only if it means I can pick up a relatively-new, “fixed” VW TDI on the cheap.
Otherwise, I got my own diesel problems to suss out. -
A friend bought a lightly used diesel wagon just before the story broke. His reaction will probably come down to the proposed modifications’ impact on performance and whether the mod will be mandatory. He drives ’em forever, so effect on residual value is a secondary consideration. I’d feel the same in his shoes.
Here’s another perspective. If you do your own maintenance, an affected diesel VW may be a great investment. There’s a good chance many of the cars VW buys back will go to the recyclers. Replacement parts bonanza.-
Residual value should still be a consideration. At some point, he may have to file an insurance claim. Value will impact how much he receives and whether or not it gets repaired.
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I would imagine VW will find a way to keep all the engine parts and maybe most of the rest of the parts out of the used parts market.
Best case would be to take the $$$, let VW fix the car, then you bring it back to original spec for power and mileage. -
“There’s a good chance many of the cars VW buys back will go to the
recyclersnearest country with lower emission standards to be sold as ‘factory reconditioned’.”-
I thought they couldn’t be exported unless they were brought into compliance first?
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Could be. You don’t think I actually did research before making that dig a VW, do you?
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Fix one car, pass the test, export it, take the parts off, put them on the next car, rinse & repeat!
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Early this year a co-worker of mine bought a gently used dieselgate Jetta. She was completely unaware of the scandal, which meant she overpaid for the thing (I think it came from a dealer, but not a VW dealer). Now she has to split the payout with the previous owner because she purchased it after September 2015. The real irony is that she is an ecologically conscious person.
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Nein. Though, a coworker is hoping he can keep his cheaterwagen unmodified.
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I’ll be selling my Jetta back to VW. Would’ve sold it earlier if not for the sharp drop in value from dieselgate. It’s been a great car overall. My car needs have changed due mainly to a job change.
If I didn’t need a bigger car for work… I’d totally take the cash, let them fix it, and spend the dough making it faster. It’s been a pretty great little car. -
The following is a repost from a comment I made a few days ago in the Dieselgate Bullet Dodged post; the statements still apply.
On dieselgate: we have a 2012 Jetta TDi that is now officially subject to a buyback offer. However, the only way that we’re interested in a buyback is if we can immediately replace it with an equivalent 2016 Jetta TDi. The 2016 models weren’t part of the EPA action due to having a completely different drivetrain with no emissions defeat mode in the software, but VW put them on stop-sale the same as the (earlier) affected models.
The problem is that VW hasn’t released the unaffected cars from the stop-sale order, so VW is effectively missing out on the opportunity to retain us as customers – and I imagine that we’re not the only ones in this boat. The gas-engined models, while nice, don’t really fit with how we use the car or what we’re looking for in terms of capabilities.
What we do with it remains to be seen, but I’ve been bothering the local dealer every week to call me the minute the stop-sale is lifted – knowing what they have in inventory as well as at the port tells me they’d like to clear out that particular backlog as soon as they can and while customers have cash to burn from TDi buybacks.
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