Volkswagen in trouble with epa for emission cutout, would you take your car in for a recall?

General Discussion
1

The Environmental Protection Agency issued the German automaker a notice of violation and accused the company of using software known as a “defeat device” in 4-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi vehicles from model years 2009-15. The device is programmed to detect when the car is undergoing official emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars’ full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as the legal standard required under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said.

The rumor is the defeat device improves mileage and performance.

Edited for spelling of the brand name! Thanks to vdcdriver, my bad was originally posted as Volkswagon

2

I would only take it in for a recall if the word Volkswagen was spelled correctly on the recall notice.

3

I think that indicates how hard diesel cars are to conform to clean air standards and still be profitable for manufacturers. Oh, it can be done. But it adds up to $4000 to the price of some trucks and cars and literally puts if out of reach. So VW discovered a better way. Cheaper technology that maybe affects the drivability but turns controls off when not being tested ? That will fit right in with many who don’t care and want diesels at any cost while others will remain unaffected and will just avoid VWs like they have for years. I wonder if this is just the tip of the ice berg.

@VDCdriver
I wonder if this software is now detectable when your car is checked…and if it hasn’t been updated by a certain date, the owner could be in for a stiff fine or forfeit his car till it is towed to a dealer. It should cost the owner NOTHING regardless in either cost or performance.

4

wow!! VW will be hit with some pretty high fines.

here is the story:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/21b8983ffa5d0e4685257dd4006b85e2/dfc8e33b5ab162b985257ec40057813b!OpenDocument

5

If it’s true, VW has some 'splaining to do.

6

It would be a tough choice, go green or keep mileage and performance. I would go gteen.

7

Reuters is also reporting this: news.yahoo.com/epa-california-probing-volkswagen-clean-air-violations-162634732–finance.html;_ylt=AwrXnCAmrvxVLxEArWDQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByYnR1Zmd1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg–

8

@Barkydog
I would be interested to hear some background on this story when more comes out. This could be a deal where the vaunted VW diesel gets no better mileage then a gas engine ( or not much more) with the pollution controls are activated.or, there are other drivability problems…or, they are just using the European model with a little Texas sidestep .

Marketed as the “clean diesel” …they have been getting away with it for 7 years !,!!! Wooooo.

9
...would you take your car in for a recall?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH…oh, was that a serious question?

10

$37,000 fine per car seems a little steep.

11

It sure does seem steep, Though other countries execute cheaters, we prefer to fine them.

12

It was reported that VW admitted that they did it. Possibly makes this the rare case where bad intent is clear. Will ant actual decision makers at VW bear consequences? Or will that just be passed onto future buyers?

13

I doubt VW will pay anything like full market om those fines…I’m sure a deal will be worked for pennies (if that) on the dollar, the exact amount depending on many things–not least, the outcome of the 2016 elections.

14

@meanjoe75fan my interpolation of your post, with a republican president and congress we have no more worries about corporate culpability and environmental concerns?

15

Not quite that partisan. More that backroom deals gets made all the time when VIPs step directly into Merde of this magnitude.


Of course, there’s no point in denying there is a political aspect to this, too.

16

In addition to the obvious desire to “cheat” on mandated emissions testing, there is also a strong possibility that the Krauts did this to reduce warranty claims on emissions-related components.

That particular warranty tends to run longer than the other warranties, and they may have been taking a bit of a hit with claims on their emissions component warranties.

Either way, this is not a very impressive display of ethics on the part of VW/Audi.

17

Well…the genie is now out of the bottle. Some crook will probably make a lot of money selling the “device” to a lot of gullible people.

18

It’s clear that auto companies negotiate fines. Toyota did so to avoid criminal prosecution and it cost them more than $2 billion. It was reported last week that GM negotiated a settlement to avoid criminal prosecution for the Cobalt ignition problems and will pay over $900 million. Given that VW seems to have known what they were doing, thy likely will negotiate a fine to avoid a criminal trial too.

19

Speaking of fines, one wonders where the money is deposited? Does it go back into the EPA confers to hire more regulators or to pay on the national debt. I guess it’s open season on the manufacturers but it’s the customers that will end up paying the extra.

20

This is a very “smart” way to bypass the emissions rules. Now they are caught. This whole thing with car companies from ignition switches to unintended acceleration to fake gas mileage claims to now faking emissions is pathetic. I wish we could ban these companies for good and be done with them. Problem is pretty much every one of them as been caught doing it. This one by VW is the most sneaky IMO. Even though you guys think the owners don’t care, I would care if I had one of these cars. The driver and passengers are the ones that take in the pollutants more than any body else.