VW shares plummet after being caught out.

FZR400RRSP

I have to disagree there.
I'm not a diesel lover to the point I'd have one if a petrol was as efficient.
But they're still nowhere near.
If you look at the real-life MPG websites there are going around, the petrol engined models of a particular car are still way off the diesel versions.
If you take our Captur as just one example, the diesel version can do 50mpg without even resorting to driving like a nun.
The 0.9 petrol turbo version only gets close to that with some very economical driving.
Normal driving and it's a lot less than 50mpg.

FZR400RRSP

Yes, but what sort of test is it?
As part of the MOT here, a diesel will get tested for emissions....kind of....
But it's a general/vague sort of test that doesn't compare it with the claimed emissions.
Clearly if they started expecting your car to match the brochure Co2, we'd be knackered.

KelvinS1965

I tend to use the claimed emissions figure as a rough indicator as to whether a car will be more or less economical than my current one (I claim mileage rather than a fuel card, so mpg is important to me). So far it's been fairly useful as my current car has been 3-4 mpg better than the last and the emissions claim was quite a few groups lower. However, I do wonder if this will be repeated with my new car (finally due on Thursday having been ordered in Feb ) as I find it hard to believe that a heavier car with an automatic box and bigger engine will get more mpg than my current 320d. However that lower Co2 helps with the tax (BIK) so I hope there isn't a back lash and any retrospective tax changes as a result for other makes who may well have been doing the same thing as VW...

Ragnarok

This system has been open wide open to abuse too as it's usually the car manufacturers who have the equipment to measure this. you can't realistically measure g/km at the MOT.

FZR400RRSP

A BIK backlash occurred to me as well.
I sincerely hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, thank god I opted out two years ago!!

delanoster

Isn't the issue over NOX emissions? The US requires diesels to produce the same amount of NOX as petrol engines. Diesels produce more NOX per mile when at their most efficient, i.e. when the CO2 per mile is at the lowest levels.
European emission standards (up to EURO V) allow diesels a higher NOX value than the petrol equivalent as we focus more on CO2 emissions.

The software fix to meet the US figures would mean they burn more fuel to lower NOX therefore decreasing MPG and upping CO2.

Sloppy Bob

Most if not all of the German car manufacturers selling diesels in the US use the AdBlue system where urea is injected into the catalyst to turn the harmful NOX emissions into water, the user has to top up this system periodically.

However VW don't seem to need this system, they managed without it, or not as the case seems to be. So it seems it was only a matter of time before they were caught as BMW, Merc etc must have been looking at them to see how they managed it never mind the EPA.

This might not effect Europe at all though as the US has much more stringent regulations on NOX car emissions than we do, or at least it did, regs are always changing.
It's not uncommon for the US versions of cars sold here to have a bit less power due to the tuning of the ECU to meet the emissions regs, this applies to petrol as well as diesel.

KelvinS1965

I hope it doesn't too, especially as I'm just starting on another 3 years (possibly 4) with this new lease. I have no option to opt out, not that I'd want to as I prefer the no hassle of them providing everything, my OH's car and my weekend car are enough to make me appreciate this...

DPinBucks

It makes you wonder what the consumer protection situation would be if the same thing happened here.  I'm not sure about the States, but I think their laws are less protective than ours.

If you bought a VW here and it was shown that the emission tests have been rigged, you would surely have a case under SoGA.  The vehicle was misrepresented in advertisements, and the buyer would have redress.  He could return a new car, and/or ask for compensation in reduced resale value and increased operating costs. He might even have to pay backdated VED.

Amorris

I have an Audi A4 Black Edition 2.0 177.

It's a personal lease for 3 years.

Like many diesel owners, i'm watching this with interest to see eventually what is the full list of cars affected. From speaking to my more knowledgeable car friends (I just about know how to change a tyre) they reckon it'll be most diesel models in the UK with a 2.0 diesel (At the very least)

For me there are two issues on the consumer side:

1) Being miss sold the car by VW purposefully misrepresenting the emissions.

2) The potential impact to performance / economy / running costs for whatever fix they come up with. As far as i've read, this isn't going to be a simple software update.

It does have the whiff of a new PPI, people handing back the keys and getting a full refund for all payments made. I certainly won't be accepting a fix if it degrades the car.

This really does have the potential to completely knacker VW.