245 replies to this topic

[R1minimagic]

The UK's Department for Transport has confirmed that it won't be issuing a mandatory recall for cars affected by Volkswagen's emissions scandal in this country.

[Spider]

The UK's Department for Transport has confirmed that it won't be issuing a mandatory recall for cars affected by Volkswagen's emissions scandal in this country.

 

Forgive my ignorance / daft question (and maybe one you can't answer?) but does that then mean if the fix isn't carried out to your VW, that you can't get a MOT failure for that?

[Carlos W]

 

The UK's Department for Transport has confirmed that it won't be issuing a mandatory recall for cars affected by Volkswagen's emissions scandal in this country.

 

Forgive my ignorance / daft question (and maybe one you can't answer?) but does that then mean if the fix isn't carried out to your VW, that you can't get a MOT failure for that?

 

The emissions issue is based around nitrogen dioxide levels. UK mot for a diesel only tests for carbon particulates. Although it's still a fiddle as modern turbo diesels don't boost in neutral.

[madaboutcherry]

I like this,

 

http://martincull.cr...mission-VW.html

[sledgehammer]

http://www.ft.com/cm...tors_picks=true

 

petrols as well

 

and it looks like other brands will be involved

 

vauxhall diesel's look bad as well 

 

http://www.telegraph...ssions-scandal/

 

the zafira is a heavy car when loaded with a small 1.6 engine

Edited by sledgehammer, 13 November 2015 - 09:50 PM.

[GraemeC]

Can't read the FT link without subscribing

(Odd, if I find it via Google I can read it)

Edited by GraemeC, 13 November 2015 - 10:23 PM.

[sledgehammer]

Can't read the FT link without subscribing

(Odd, if I find it via Google I can read it)

 

sorry about that - I never checked the link (I would not subscribe anyway)

 

Volkswagen, the scandal-hit German carmaker, is preparing to buy back some of the European vehicles affected by its discovery last week of “irregularities” in the testing process for carbon dioxide pollution.

The Wolfsburg-based company, which admitted in September to cheating on US tests for nitrogen oxides, said last week that its internal investigation had also turned up issues with CO2 testing in 800,000 cars in Europe, including almost 100,000 petrol models. It is now in the process of retesting those vehicles.

 

“We have to think that maybe people will give the car back,” said a spokesman for VW.

If the new laboratory tests being carried out for the affected cars revealed that CO2 emissions had been understated by more than 10 per cent, then European drivers would have the chance to sell their cars back to dealers at the current market value.

“When we have the [test] figures then there could be a chance for people to say, ‘I can hand back my car because you told me the wrong number’.”

VW has started to feel a commercial impact. It revealed on Friday that car sales in its core VW brand had fallen 5.3 per cent in October to 490,000 vehicles. Sales halved in Brazil and dropped by a quarter in Russia as local economic woes dominated. Sales in western Europe fell 1.3 per cent but rose 1.9 per cent in its home market of Germany.

“The Volkswagen . . . brand is experiencing challenging times. We not only face the diesel and CO2 issues but also tense situations on world markets,” said Jürgen Stackmann, head of sales for the VW brand.

The carmaker is not expecting to buy back all of the cars with CO2 irregularities — a prospect that would entail a cost of as much as €12bn, assuming 800,000 cars repurchased at €15,000 each.

Instead it has set aside €2bn. That is partly because it believes the final number of affected vehicles may drop once it has finished retesting the affected cars, and partly because it does not think all of the cars will exceed the 10 per cent threshold.

 

The German carmaker is engulfed in the worst scandal in its 78-year history after it admitted to manipulating emissions test data on its diesel vehicles in the US and Europe

Read more

VW has also set aside €6.7bn to deal with the fallout from its original admission that it used a so-called defeat device to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides in laboratory tests. That part of the scandal affects at least 11m vehicles.

For CO2, the estimated provision amounts to about €2,500 per vehicle versus about €610 for the vehicles carrying the engine implicated in the NOx case.

The difference is partly because European governments use CO2 emissions to calculate vehicle tax. VW has said that some of the €2bn would go towards compensating governments that had lost out on tax receipts.

CO2 also translates directly to the fuel economy of the vehicles sold, reinforcing the sense among some consumers that VW’s latest admission is tantamount to mis-selling.

Jim Holder, editor of UK consumer magazine WhatCar?, said VW owners were “pissed off beyond belief” over the lack of communication from the company, which has yet to say which cars are affected by the CO2 irregularities.

“What consumers want to know is, will they be compensated? And that ranges from, ‘I want to give my car back’ to ‘will I be compensated for [lost] fuel economy?’,” he said.

A “small but significant” number of owners have told the magazine that they no longer want their cars, Mr Holder said, as they viewed the vehicles as “damaged goods”.

Buying back the affected cars would go beyond a first step taken this week in the US, where VW’s local unit offered consumers affected by the NOx scandal two $500 gift cards and three years’ free roadside assistance.

Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut, said that offer was “insultingly inadequate”.

In the case of CO2 irregularities, Mr Holder added, VW had “no choice but to over-compensate”. “They need to get more personal — get on to owners sooner, say sorry and plead forgiveness. To my mind the response has been too corporate so far,” he said.

Edited by sledgehammer, 13 November 2015 - 10:40 PM.

[Ethel]

Worst scandal in this 78 year history?? That'll be besides building vehicles for uncle Adolf one assumes.

Pleased they aren't being let off with the tax. That's 100's of millions of tax revenue. Wonder how they'll do it, bill VW for the shortfall everytime one is taxed?

Can anyone make a case over fuel consumption if they've put more than a couple of tank-fulls in at the pumps and not felt the need to complain?

[CityEPete]

What will the "market value" of my affected VW be once it becomes common knowledge though? £1500? Looks like my best bet will be to keep it and run it into the ground, If I decide to do that then I might opt out of the recall certainly until I can find out what other peoples cars are like with the adaptations carried out.

 

I like VW and we would have looked at another nearly new Golf for the wife when changing the Bini in a couple of years and another Caddy for me, I really want an auto and the 140 bhp DSG would have done nicely but in reality that is a lot of cash to spend on a brand that could be in trouble regarding resale values, another Bini and a Citroen Berlingo with all the toys is looking more likely now :-(

[Cooperman]

My girlfriend said "I want you to talk dirty to me".

So I said "Volkswagen Diesel"!

[CityEPete]

New letter received yesterday.......

[Carlos W]

Got ours too, pity we've got a 1.6

[CityEPete]

Me too! Oh well.

Mesh? Sounds like bull poop already!

[robminibcy]

the mesh is actually important and often fitted to other vehicles to direct airflow over the sensor. I know of problems that have been caused on other manufacturers which has been as a result of damaged pre maf mesh/ gauze causing inaccurate air flow measurements.

[CityEPete]

I might have it remapped with an extra 30bhp after the recall if I decide to keep it, I'd quite like an auto van but the choices are very limited, a 140 dsg Caddy would fit the bill but do I want another Caddy? Been looking at nearly new Polo GTIs for the wife too!