Honestly? Probably another Touareg.

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-Andrew

2017's look sweet. (Dad :) Just leased a 16, and no complaints. Drives so different from our 14 crosstrek, in a good way. I will probably go to the dealer when they get 17's in stock just to drive one.

Looks like you can start filing your claims. I have entered all my info, now I just need to decide what I prefer to do.

Surprise, looks like you may have the option to keep your 2.0 TDI

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

It's official: http://www.usatoday.com/...t-approved/92719174/

I plan to sell mine back very soon. Not sure what to buy just yet.

Serious question about the car. What is wrong with it? Other than you've been mislead into buying something and VW was deceitful and yada, yada, yada. Is there something wrong with these cars?

I hope my question makes sense.

It is producing emission pollutants at about 40x the acceptable level. And for my model, there is no immediate fix. It runs fine, no issues on that end. But if they do fix the emissions, then it will cause a huge hit to the mpg, which was one of the primary reasons I purchased the vehicle.

1) What if a fix is never found?
2) If a fix is found is it mandatory?

I bought mine as an environmentally friendly car. I questioned the sales person and sales manager repeatedly if it would be okay with a 3 mile commute - a year later after an in warrantee diesel particulate filter replacement and other problems the service department suggested that I increase my commute to at least 30 minutes to make the car happy... that is not in line with the green car I was hoping for. It constantly fails regens to the point I don't park in my attached garage anymore as I don't want it blowing burnt off soot into my house. (I actually asked the EPA contact about this and they suggested parking it outside). Not to mention my young child's bedroom is above the garage and it sat there a lot before this came out.

I'm not sure this is directly related to the cheat- but the whole emissions system is terrible IMO.

I am looking forward to moving on. That said I think the deal is fair.

I'm still not certain what I'm going to replace it with. I'm curious what people think of the 2017 CRV announcement that it's going to a 1.5l turbo engine. I drive an 11k ft pass twice a week and live at altitude so turbos are really nice since they have significantly less power loss at altitude.

Don't the cars still need to pass an emissions test? So in those areas that require an emissions test as a condition of registering your car, you're SOL.

(shrugs shoulders). My understanding is that they will have to destroy most of the cars. For some more recent models, they have a fix. But for the older ones, they don't.

And no, the fix isn't mandatory. You can either do the buyback program or get about $5000 plus a free fix. You could totally keep the $5k and not get it fixed but eventually emissions tests will catch up with you. IIRC, VW gives you a 2 year window to get the fix once you make a decision.

In some areas, yes an emissions test is required. That is what all the scandal is about. The software detects when an emissions test is being performed and basically shuts off the bad emissions part. So the vehicles passes. It is a matter of time before emissions tests catch up but that could be a while.

I took mine in on Thursday for emissions and passed without a problem.

Thanks for the answer. So is the emissions of this 4-cylinder diesel greater than other approved diesels (larger engines) on the road today? Or is it a matter of % to the size of the engine.

What I'm trying to get my head around is this: how bad are these cars polluting compared to other diesel cars and trucks (passenger vehicles) on the road today? Thanks.

There are a couple of issues. The US emissions standards were changed and are tougher than even EU.

In order to meet those standards most diesel engines need a sophisticated (aka expensive) urea system to lower NOx emissions.

Basically, all manufacturers found that it was impossible to build a small, affordable, diesel, that gets good mileage and has low emissions.

VW claimed it found a way, and actually touted it pretty loudly. Unfortunately, they really couldn't do it, and had to rig the elections, I mean tests.

So, do emit more pollution than larger diesels. Yes, at least NOx (which is bad).

How bad are they? Up to you to decide. Probably better the Bro Trucks, and older diesels.

I'm not sure how emissions are measured (parts per million, etc), so it might be that their exhaust has higher levels of pollutants, but since it's a small engine, it has pretty low amounts of exhaust, so overall, in tons of CO2, etc, they might not be that bad.

Thanks.

Bro Truck... funny.

That's exactly why my dad bought his '09 TDI (that I bought from him 3 years ago); it was the green car of the year. His commute was city driving and under 20 minutes into downtown where he lives, but he never really stomped on it to "force" a regen. The issue I think is that frequently oil change locations don't use an appropriate oil (there are actually only a few types of approved oil for use in TDIs with DPFs) so the DPF can get clogged easier than it would otherwise. Given that I used to live in a state that doesn't require emissions testing for diesels (NC) I removed the DPF entirely and got a car that is way more powerful and gets better mpg (but, of course, isn't as environmentally friendly). I plan on doing the buyback as soon as I can (have uploaded all documents and am just waiting on final judge approval and getting my place in line).

I think I'm going to drive mine for a bit as it's more or less a fixed value asset where buying something is a depreciating asset as soon as you start to drive it.

The other reason is I'm not really sure what I want to get. Might as well wait as long as possible to trade it in for a depreciating asset.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I would DEFinitely be doing this if my TDI would pass emissions in Arizona. If I still lived in NC I'd keep driving it (although I'd be worried about wreck, theft, damage, etc) as well.

Also, the judge approved the settlement and so everything should continue rolling forward.

Do you know if you get the $5100+ compensation if you choose the modification route but there isn't a fix? Or will you get the cash once you bring the car in for the modification.

The settlement literature seems relatively unclear on that, although I only skimmed it just now.