Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel-Emissions Scandal

General Motors and Toyota had their massive scandals. Now it’s Volkswagen’s turn. The company, which possesses seventy percent of the U.S. passenger-car diesel market, is in major trouble for cheating on diesel-emissions tests. After years of promoting “Clean Diesel” as an alternative to hybrid and electrical vehicles—the company even marched on Washington with a squadron of Audi TDI models—Volkswagen is stewing in its own toxic vapors. Here’s our handy guide to what’s happening.

Volkswagen installed emissions software on more than a half-million diesel cars in the U.S.—and harshly Ten.Five million more worldwide—that permits them to sense the unique parameters of an emissions drive cycle set by the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the EPA and the California Air Resources Board, which were tipped off by researchers in 2014, these so-called “defeat devices” detect steering, throttle, and other inputs used in the test to switch inbetween two distinct operating modes.

In the test mode, the cars are fully compliant with all federal emissions levels. But when driving normally, the computer switches to a separate mode—significantly switching the fuel pressure, injection timing, exhaust-gas recirculation, and, in models with AdBlue, the amount of urea fluid sprayed into the harass. While this mode likely supplies higher mileage and power, it also permits stronger nitrogen-oxide emissions (NOx)—a smog-forming pollutant linked to lung cancer—up to forty times higher than the federal limit. That doesn`t mean every TDI is pumping forty times as much NOx as it should. Some cars may emit just a few times over the limit, depending on driving style and stream.

Which cars are affected? Will my car pass state inspection?

The following Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche diesel models have been cited by the EPA for emissions violations. There is no recall, and the cars pass all state inspections, at least for now. Recall, VW has admitted to violating federal emissions laws, and as such, it’s neither a state nor a safety issue. However, if Volkswagen does issue a recall, some states (particularly California and some that go after Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standards) may prevent owners from renewing their registration if they don`t finish the fix.

2009–2015 Volkswagen Jetta Two.0L TDI
2010–2015 Volkswagen Golf Two.0L TDI
2010–2015 Audi A3 Two.0L TDI
2012–2015 Volkswagen Beetle Two.0L TDI
2012–2015 Volkswagen Passat Two.0L TDI
2009–2015 Audi Q7 Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2009–2016 Volkswagen Touareg Three.0L V-6 TDI
2013–2016 Porsche Cayenne Diesel Three.0L V-6
2014–2016 Audi A6 Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi A7 Three.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi A8/A8L Three.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi Q5 Trio.0L V-6 TDI

Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche dealers can’t sell any fresh diesels, except for certain two thousand fifteen models sold as fresh. They also cannot sell most used and certified pre-owned diesels. Volkswagen has since committed to electrical cars, and it`s possible the company will not sell a TDI diesel in the U.S. ever again.

What’s Volkswagen doing for customers? And when can I get my car stationary?

Buybacks and compensation for Two.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI models:

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer approved the final $14.7 billion settlement on October 25, 2016, after which Volkswagen will begin mailing notifications to all current affected owners and lessees of Two.0-liter cars informing them of the $Ten billion buyback program. Judge Breyer had approved the preliminary settlement for the same amount on July 26, 2016. TDI owners who purchased their cars before September 17, 2015, can sell their cars back to Volkswagen for inbetween $12,500 and $44,000, depending on model, age, trim, and region. TDI lessees will receive a cash value inbetween $2600 and $4900. Owners and lessees who sold their cars or abandon their leases before June 28, 2016, are also eligible. The buyback process embarked in November 2016. Official details and a VIN lookup are here. Exact payouts for all affected models can be found here.

Through October Legitimate, 2016, 340,000 owners and lessees have sent in registration forms indicating they want the company to buy back their cars under the government-negotiated compensation agreement. That’s almost three-quarters of all 475,000 Volkswagen and Audi models with Two.0-liter diesel engines presently registered on U.S. roads.

Owners who do not sell their cars back to Volkswagen will receive inbetween $5100 and $Ten,000 to compensate for diminished resale value, plus a free emissions fix (see total details here). All owners and lessees of Two.0-liter TDI models will have up to May two thousand eighteen to determine their options. The approximately three thousand five hundred owners and lessees who previously opted out of the settlement have until May 12, 2017, to accept the terms and collect their payments.

Owners are also eligible to receive up to $350 each as part of a separate $327.Five million settlement with Bosch, the supplier of the emissions software (lessees each receive $200). Details are available here. The eligibility dates for the VW settlement correspond to the day instantaneously before the EPA very first announced the violations and the day the EPA announced its preliminary settlement with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Repairs and fixes for Two.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI models:

There are three generations of the Two.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder, and all will require different fixes (from elementary software updates to finish, and potentially performance-crippling, hardware retrofits). As of January 6, 2017, Volkswagen announced a finish fix for two thousand fifteen TDI models with the third-generation engine. This will involve installing a 2nd NOx sensor and a fresh or replacement diesel-oxidation catalyst. In March 2017, VW received approval to sell these cars, of which there are approximately 12,000 fresh and 67,000 used.

On May Nineteen, 2017, VW received approval to repair 2012–2014 Passat TDI models. A total of 84,391 cars are included, except those with manual transmissions; CARB said VW had not shown sufficient evidence that they will be made compliant. VW is awaiting approval to resell these vehicles as used cars.

Buybacks and compensation for Trio.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI and Porsche diesel models:

As of December 21, 2016, Volkswagen reached a 2nd settlement with the toughly 78,000 owners and lessees of Three.0-liter diesel models. In late January 2017, Volkswagen announced a $1.Two billion program that differs substantially from the $Ten billion program for Two.0-liter diesel models. Judge Breyer approved the final settlement amount on May 11, 2017. Presently, only owners of 2009–2012 Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg models with the Generation one engine are eligible for buybacks inbetween $24,755 and $57,157. This is because Volkswagen cannot repair them to be emissions compliant. Generation one lessees of two thousand twelve vehicles can receive inbetween $5001 and $6615 for terminating their leases early. Generation one owners who do not sell their cars back to Volkswagen can receive $7755 to $13,880. For accomplish details, see the court`s handy executive summary.

For Generation two models inbetween 2013–2016, Volkswagen will suggest cash compensation ranging from $7039 to $16,114; if the recall isn`t made “timely available,” the automaker will buy them back for prices inbetween $43,153 to $99,862 and extend any warranties that might expire until the recall is ready. Generation two lessees can receive inbetween $5677 and $12,492 for terminating their leases early. If lessees determine to keep their cars and perform the fix, they each receive a vapid $2000. In all cases with Generation two cars, owners and lessees can opt to receive half of the cash payments up front and the other half once the vehicle is repaired. Generation two owners and lessees are also eligible to receive up to $1500 each as part of a separate $327.Five million settlement with Bosch, the supplier of the emissions software. Details are available here.

These prices have been set using NADA Used Car Guide Clean Retail values as of November two thousand fifteen and adjusted for options, mileage, and the region the vehicle was registered in as of that month. The two thousand sixteen diesel models will be repurchased at 12.9 percent above prices for equivalent two thousand fifteen models. Owners and lessees will also be reimbursed for state and local taxes. The registration deadline is December 31, 2019. Owners and lessees will get the same payment (adjusted for mileage) regardless of when they register.

Repairs and fixes for Three.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI and Porsche diesel models:

There are two versions of the Three.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6 that require different modifications. The Generation one engines in the 2009–2012 Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg cannot be made fully compliant with EPA regulations. Generation two engines in 2013–2016 models can be immobilized under a formal recall that must be approved by the EPA and CARB no later than December 20, 2017, or else Volkswagen must pay owners an extra penalty. On those 58,000 models, Audi said on November 23, 2015, that it would update the software and “resubmit” its emissions applications after the EPA found undocumented “auxiliary emission control devices” that were permitting excessive levels of NOx.

Expired incentive programs:

As part of its Customer Goodwill package, Volkswagen suggested $1000 cash to every holder of a Two.0-liter TDI named in the EPA’s very first disturbance notice: a $500 prepaid Visa card to spend on anything and another $500 cash card valid only at Volkswagen dealerships (to use toward another car, service, or lots of VW hats). They also could get free 24-hour roadside assistance for the next three years. The deadline to register for that program ended April 30. The same suggest was extended to owners of Trio.0-liter diesel models, who had until July 31. Audi, Porsche, and VW TDI owners who took delivery after November eight were not eligible (utter rules here). Current owners of any VW model were also able to get a $2000 cash rebate toward a fresh car, albeit this incentive may proceed to vary or expire as time progresses. Dealers also have “discretionary” cash they can use to sweeten deals (and they’re getting ensured kickbacks for some models). Basically, if Volkswagen is on your shopping list, now’s the time to haggle like a pro.

Don’t all automakers tailor their cars to ace the EPA test cycle? Why single out VW?

Automakers optimize powertrains for each 2nd of the EPA’s dynamometer tests (Federal Test Procedure 75, the one VW’s computers detect, runs for one thousand three hundred seventy seconds). They have to, because they’re required to self-certify every model on sale. The EPA verifies toughly fifteen percent of those tests each year. In infrequent cases, automakers grossly overstate fuel economy (as Ford and Kia did) and can take advantage of loopholes in the certification process.

Yet these standardized tests, as flawed as they may be in comparison to real-world driving, are critical. Performed correctly, they’re at least an accurate method to assess legal compliance and provide a fair comparison for consumers. Right now, there’s no indication that automakers program their cars to run in a frantically different style on the road, even as the EPA and the German government attempt to prove otherwise. Volkswagen explicitly did, and that’s why it’s getting hammered.

What are selective catalytic reduction and urea injection?

Diesel fuel is carbon rich and close in composition to home heating oil. As such, it’s inherently dirty and sooty when burned. While heavy-duty diesel pickups, vans, trucks, and other commercial vehicles go after looser environmental standards, light-duty vehicles have it tough—and nowhere is it tougher to certify a diesel car or truck than in the U.S. In order to trap particulates and curb nitrogen oxide in practically all fresh diesel engines, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and urea injection must be used.

A three-way catalytic converter in gasoline vehicles treats harass gas by both oxidizing (adding oxygen to convert carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water) and reducing (removing oxygen to convert nitrogen oxide to nitrogen and water). But diesel engines burn so lean that they require separate oxidation and reduction catalysts. After diesel harass passes through the oxidation catalyst and a particulate filter, diesel harass fluid (DEF, branded by VW as AdBlue) is injected into the stream before coming in the reduction catalyst. DEF is a precise combination of one-third urea and two-thirds deionized water and must be refilled (typically at manufacturer-recommended oil-change intervals) from a separate tank.

If this sounds elaborate and expensive, that’s because it is. And very likely, that’s why VW chose not to install SCR and urea injection on most of its TDI models.

What’s going to happen to Volkswagen?

On January 11, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced $Four.Three billion in criminal and civil penalties and arrested six VW executives for their alleged connection with the scandal. A total of eight current and former executives have been charged with various crimes. On August 21, 2017, VW engineer James Liang was sentenced to forty months in prison and a $200,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in September 2016. Oliver Schmidt, former general manager of the company’s environmental office in Michigan, will be sentenced on December 6. A “corporate compliance monitor” will be watching VW for three years under the terms of its probation. On April 21, 2017, VW was officially sentenced in a Michigan federal court for these violations.

On January Four, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice very first sued Volkswagen on behalf of the EPA. Volkswagen will now pay $14.7 billion to lodge with three federal agencies suing the automaker for its excessive diesel emissions, the highest ever paid by a company for violations under the Clean Air Act. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice announced the partial settlement on June 28, 2016. Aside from the $Ten billion buyback program, another $Two.7 billion will fund future state-level projects that reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions under the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, which are federal grants marked to substitute old diesel engines and for retrofit kits for alternative-fuel powertrains and other similar vehicle hardware.

Volkswagen must buy back eighty five percent of all cars by June 2019, or else it must pay even more to fund such projects. The automaker also must spend $Two billion over the next ten years to invest in green energy and electrical cars, including paying for fresh public charging stations and public-education programs.

Under the latest settlement with Three.0-liter diesels, Volkswagen will also be required to pay an extra $225 million toward projects that reduce NOx emissions. California will receive $41 million of that, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) wrote into the settlement some very specific requirements for the sale of electrified vehicles.

A Canadian settlement, which keeps to terms that are comparable to the U.S. settlement finalized in October, will cover about 105,000 vehicles there and potentially cost the automaker the equivalent of U.S. $1.6 billion. As in the United States, Canadian owners will be eligible to sell their vehicle back at an agreed-upon price or opt to fix their vehicle and receive a payment. And under a tentative consumer settlement in Canada, Volkswagen and Audi Canada will pay out the equivalent of U.S. $11.Two million.

Extra civil penalties and further state-level fines have not been determined but could add billions more. Volkswagen had originally set aside more than $7 billion to cover recall-related costs.

Since news of the very first disturbance broke on September Legitimate, 2015, more than a quarter of the company’s market cap has been wiped out with its nosediving stock price through June 28, 2016, and the company has abandoned its aim of becoming the world’s largest automaker by 2018. Volkswagen is not even worried with its U.S. sales numbers until this problem is resolved, according to chairman Herbert Diess. The company has posted consecutive U.S. monthly sales losses since November.

CEO Matthias Müller—who said the company didn`t lie but faces a “technical problem“—has now ordered a accomplish reorganization that will see thirty battery-electric vehicles introduced across its twelve divisions by 2025. It inevitably will lead to firings, model cuts across its three hundred forty variants, and other corporate switches. So far, however, even seemingly frivolous divisions like Bugatti aren’t getting axed. Former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in September, reportedly received a memo regarding the diesel problem in May 2014. He has not confirmed whether he actually read it.

All right, I’d like some more free money. How can I sue?

There are already a duo hundred lawsuits alleging economic harm against VW’s now infamous “Clean Diesel” marketing campaign and the half-million cars under EPA disturbance. None have yet been consolidated before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. For the time being, Hagens-Berman, a yam-sized rigid that squeezed $1.1 billion from Toyota and intends to sue General Motors for $Ten billion, has a class-action lawsuit ready and waiting.

What are TDI owners actually doing?

As Greenpeace and other environmental groups lambaste VW, the obligatory news articles profiling angry TDI drivers have popped up. Granted, there are some people genuinely upset with VW for misleading them about their car’s emissions levels. But as we see it, the majority of TDI buyers are knowledgeable enthusiasts in love with sky-high fuel economy, torque, durability, and low running costs. Some indeed frugal types convert their TDIs to run on refined vegetable oil or biodiesel. These people are die-hards.

If any fix Volkswagen proposes completes up hampering performance—be it enlargened fuel consumption or a loss of power—many TDI owners may very well overlook a recall. It’s a tricky legal situation, as neither the EPA nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can force individual owners to update their cars. Several bills in Congress have proposed banning registration renewals for car owners who don’t accomplish recalls, but they’re a long way from becoming law. For now, most TDI owners are continuing to putter about, despite a considerable drop in resale values. With more time, we’ll have a fuller picture.

This story was originally published on November 13, 2015; it is being permanently updated to reflect the latest developments in the VW diesel-emissions scandal.

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel Emissions Scandal, News, Car and Driver, Car and Driver Blog

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel-Emissions Scandal

General Motors and Toyota had their massive scandals. Now it’s Volkswagen’s turn. The company, which possesses seventy percent of the U.S. passenger-car diesel market, is in major trouble for cheating on diesel-emissions tests. After years of promoting “Clean Diesel” as an alternative to hybrid and electrified vehicles—the company even marched on Washington with a squadron of Audi TDI models—Volkswagen is stewing in its own toxic vapors. Here’s our handy guide to what’s happening.

Which cars are affected? Will my car pass state inspection?

The following Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche diesel models have been cited by the EPA for emissions violations. There is no recall, and the cars pass all state inspections, at least for now. Reminisce, VW has admitted to violating federal emissions laws, and as such, it’s neither a state nor a safety issue. However, if Volkswagen does issue a recall, some states (particularly California and some that go after Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standards) may prevent owners from renewing their registration if they don`t finish the fix.

2009–2015 Volkswagen Jetta Two.0L TDI
2010–2015 Volkswagen Golf Two.0L TDI
2010–2015 Audi A3 Two.0L TDI
2012–2015 Volkswagen Beetle Two.0L TDI
2012–2015 Volkswagen Passat Two.0L TDI
2009–2015 Audi Q7 Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2009–2016 Volkswagen Touareg Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2013–2016 Porsche Cayenne Diesel Trio.0L V-6
2014–2016 Audi A6 Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi A7 Trio.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi A8/A8L Three.0L V-6 TDI
2014–2016 Audi Q5 Trio.0L V-6 TDI

Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche dealers can’t sell any fresh diesels, except for certain two thousand fifteen models sold as fresh. They also cannot sell most used and certified pre-owned diesels. Volkswagen has since committed to electrified cars, and it`s possible the company will not sell a TDI diesel in the U.S. ever again.

What’s Volkswagen doing for customers? And when can I get my car immovable?

Buybacks and compensation for Two.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI models:

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer approved the final $14.7 billion settlement on October 25, 2016, after which Volkswagen will commence mailing notifications to all current affected owners and lessees of Two.0-liter cars informing them of the $Ten billion buyback program. Judge Breyer had approved the preliminary settlement for the same amount on July 26, 2016. TDI owners who purchased their cars before September 17, 2015, can sell their cars back to Volkswagen for inbetween $12,500 and $44,000, depending on model, age, trim, and region. TDI lessees will receive a cash value inbetween $2600 and $4900. Owners and lessees who sold their cars or abandon their leases before June 28, 2016, are also eligible. The buyback process commenced in November 2016. Official details and a VIN lookup are here. Exact payouts for all affected models can be found here.

Owners who do not sell their cars back to Volkswagen will receive inbetween $5100 and $Ten,000 to compensate for diminished resale value, plus a free emissions fix (see utter details here). All owners and lessees of Two.0-liter TDI models will have up to May two thousand eighteen to determine their options. The approximately three thousand five hundred owners and lessees who previously opted out of the settlement have until May 12, 2017, to accept the terms and collect their payments.

Repairs and fixes for Two.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI models:

There are three generations of the Two.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder, and all will require different fixes (from plain software updates to accomplish, and potentially performance-crippling, hardware retrofits). As of January 6, 2017, Volkswagen announced a accomplish fix for two thousand fifteen TDI models with the third-generation engine. This will involve installing a 2nd NOx sensor and a fresh or replacement diesel-oxidation catalyst. In March 2017, VW received approval to sell these cars, of which there are approximately 12,000 fresh and 67,000 used.

Buybacks and compensation for Trio.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI and Porsche diesel models:

As of December 21, 2016, Volkswagen reached a 2nd settlement with the toughly 78,000 owners and lessees of Trio.0-liter diesel models. In late January 2017, Volkswagen announced a $1.Two billion program that differs substantially from the $Ten billion program for Two.0-liter diesel models. Judge Breyer approved the final settlement amount on May 11, 2017. Presently, only owners of 2009–2012 Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg models with the Generation one engine are eligible for buybacks inbetween $24,755 and $57,157. This is because Volkswagen cannot repair them to be emissions compliant. Generation one lessees of two thousand twelve vehicles can receive inbetween $5001 and $6615 for terminating their leases early. Generation one owners who do not sell their cars back to Volkswagen can receive $7755 to $13,880. For accomplish details, see the court`s handy executive summary.

Repairs and fixes for Trio.0-liter Volkswagen and Audi TDI and Porsche diesel models:

There are two versions of the Three.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6 that require different modifications. The Generation one engines in the 2009–2012 Audi Q7 and Volkswagen Touareg cannot be made fully compliant with EPA regulations. Generation two engines in 2013–2016 models can be motionless under a formal recall that must be approved by the EPA and CARB no later than December 20, 2017, or else Volkswagen must pay owners an extra penalty. On those 58,000 models, Audi said on November 23, 2015, that it would update the software and “resubmit” its emissions applications after the EPA found undocumented “auxiliary emission control devices” that were permitting excessive levels of NOx.

Expired incentive programs:

As part of its Customer Goodwill package, Volkswagen suggested $1000 cash to every holder of a Two.0-liter TDI named in the EPA’s very first disturbance notice: a $500 prepaid Visa card to spend on anything and another $500 cash card valid only at Volkswagen dealerships (to use toward another car, service, or lots of VW hats). They also could get free 24-hour roadside assistance for the next three years. The deadline to register for that program ended April 30. The same suggest was extended to owners of Trio.0-liter diesel models, who had until July 31. Audi, Porsche, and VW TDI owners who took delivery after November eight were not eligible (total rules here). Current owners of any VW model were also able to get a $2000 cash rebate toward a fresh car, albeit this incentive may proceed to vary or expire as time progresses. Dealers also have “discretionary” cash they can use to sweeten deals (and they’re getting assured kickbacks for some models). Basically, if Volkswagen is on your shopping list, now’s the time to haggle like a pro.

Don’t all automakers tailor their cars to ace the EPA test cycle? Why single out VW?

Automakers optimize powertrains for each 2nd of the EPA’s dynamometer tests (Federal Test Procedure 75, the one VW’s computers detect, runs for one thousand three hundred seventy seconds). They have to, because they’re required to self-certify every model on sale. The EPA verifies harshly fifteen percent of those tests each year. In uncommon cases, automakers grossly overstate fuel economy (as Ford and Kia did) and can take advantage of loopholes in the certification process.

What are selective catalytic reduction and urea injection?

If this sounds sophisticated and expensive, that’s because it is. And very likely, that’s why VW chose not to install SCR and urea injection on most of its TDI models.

What’s going to happen to Volkswagen?

On January 11, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced $Four.Trio billion in criminal and civil penalties and arrested six VW executives for their alleged connection with the scandal. A total of eight current and former executives have been charged with various crimes. On August 21, 2017, VW engineer James Liang was sentenced to forty months in prison and a $200,000 fine. He pleaded guilty in September 2016. Oliver Schmidt, former general manager of the company’s environmental office in Michigan, will be sentenced on December 6. A “corporate compliance monitor” will be watching VW for three years under the terms of its probation. On April 21, 2017, VW was officially sentenced in a Michigan federal court for these violations.

Under the latest settlement with Trio.0-liter diesels, Volkswagen will also be required to pay an extra $225 million toward projects that reduce NOx emissions. California will receive $41 million of that, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) wrote into the settlement some very specific requirements for the sale of electrified vehicles.

Extra civil penalties and further state-level fines have not been determined but could add billions more. Volkswagen had originally set aside more than $7 billion to cover recall-related costs.

Since news of the very first disturbance broke on September Legitimate, 2015, more than a quarter of the company’s market cap has been wiped out with its nosediving stock price through June 28, 2016, and the company has abandoned its purpose of becoming the world’s largest automaker by 2018. Volkswagen is not even worried with its U.S. sales numbers until this problem is resolved, according to chairman Herbert Diess. The company has posted consecutive U.S. monthly sales losses since November.

CEO Matthias Müller—who said the company didn`t lie but faces a “technical problem“—has now ordered a accomplish reorganization that will see thirty battery-electric vehicles introduced across its twelve divisions by 2025. It inevitably will lead to firings, model cuts across its three hundred forty variants, and other corporate switches. So far, tho’, even seemingly frivolous divisions like Bugatti aren’t getting axed. Former CEO Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in September, reportedly received a memo regarding the diesel problem in May 2014. He has not confirmed whether he actually read it.

All right, I’d like some more free money. How can I sue?

There are already a duo hundred lawsuits alleging economic harm against VW’s now infamous “Clean Diesel” marketing campaign and the half-million cars under EPA disturbance. None have yet been consolidated before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. For the time being, Hagens-Berman, a giant rock-hard that squeezed $1.1 billion from Toyota and intends to sue General Motors for $Ten billion, has a class-action lawsuit ready and waiting.

What are TDI owners actually doing?

If any fix Volkswagen proposes completes up hampering performance—be it enhanced fuel consumption or a loss of power—many TDI owners may very well overlook a recall. It’s a tricky legal situation, as neither the EPA nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can force individual owners to update their cars. Several bills in Congress have proposed banning registration renewals for car owners who don’t finish recalls, but they’re a long way from becoming law. For now, most TDI owners are continuing to putter about, despite a considerable drop in resale values. With more time, we’ll have a fuller picture.

This story was originally published on November 13, 2015; it is being permanently updated to reflect the latest developments in the VW diesel-emissions scandal.

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel Emissions Scandal, News, Car and Driver, Car and Driver Blog

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel-Emissions Scandal

Everything You Need to Know about the VW Diesel-Emissions Scandal

Related movie:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply