[i74js]

I am questioning myself - would I be happy receiving such a goodwill package; however odd it may sound, I will not feel bad.

Having said that, will it help VAG - in long term yes, in short term no as this will not bring new customers into the showrooms which VAG desperately needs to maintain the momentum and generation of additional reserve cash for meeting their business requirements to fight and sustain in the US and may be in other regions where they come under legal fights.

This might not be a goodwill package in isolation, an acceptance by the customer might require
- Indemnification to VAG by customer from law suite / class action suite
- Making the car available to VAG dealerships on appropriate notice for fixing the emission issue and accepting the car after the fix

and this act may
- Create a sense ownership of responsibility by VAG and action taken by the group that would connect them with customer
- Confirm VAG stand on its diesel engine technology, which needs certain corrections but by and large can continue giving great performing machines to end customers
- Build confidence in customer as 3 years roadside assistance is part of package, i.e. the company is providing indicative warranty of similar reliability after emission fix

I would take it positively.

[karts]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

In an attempt to take corrective steps and heal its bruised reputation, Volkswagen is offering customers of their defaulting diesel vehicles with a $1,000 benefit.

I do not understand why the customer has to be compensated here? Whatever cheat device had been installed, its not doing any harm to the customer, Its the environment which is being harmed. Instead off compensating the customer, VW needs to compensate for the environment. How about installing Air purifying devices or something of that sort, That's real compensation.

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by karts

I do not understand why the customer has to be compensated here?.

If power is reduced to bring down emission, customers can take vw to court. This can be the reason.

I fully agree with I74js.

[coolvenk]

Originally Posted by i74js

Having said that, will it help VAG - in long term yes, in short term no as this will not bring new customers into the showrooms which VAG desperately needs to maintain the momentum and generation of additional reserve cash for meeting their business requirements to fight and sustain in the US and may be in other regions where they come under legal fights.

Well, for one, they are no longer selling cars with the affected TDI engines in the US until further notice.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by coolvenk

Well, for one, they are no longer selling cars with the affected TDI engines in the US until further notice.

Aggressively selling them (or trying to!) here in Bangalore at least. Discounts of upto a lakh on the Jetta Highline DSG.

[csnanjappa]

What read in autocar was that the 1.5 tdi were not affected and 1.6 tdi were part of the recall in India . My question is there was not a lot change between 1.6 tdi and 1.5 tdi and how is that 1.5 tdi's are not affected.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by karts

I do not understand why the customer has to be compensated here? Whatever cheat device had been installed, its not doing any harm to the customer, Its the environment which is being harmed. Instead off compensating the customer, VW needs to compensate for the environment. How about installing Air purifying devices or something of that sort, That's real compensation.

Not really!
What VW has cheated on is more than just the emission test.
Do you think VW cars will have the same resale value after the scandal broke?
Existing customers would be worried about what else VW has cheated on! Potential customers are already running away from VW, on such similar worries. (You can see many members just leaving out Polos & Ventos out of their list while hunting for new cars, for the same reason)
Giving compensation to the customer is one "goodwill measure" to keep the customers with them, while taking other measures to fix things.
About Air purifying devices - I guess its not that easy! If so, they would not need cheat devices in the first place! Cars are here to pollute air, and purifying air is not part of their job!

[itwasntme]

Highlights mine:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/...-mercedes-ford

Diesel car brands being investigated by KBA

BMW: 3 Series, 5 Series
Mini Daimler Mercedes: C-Class, CLS, Sprinter, V-Class, Daimler Smart Fortwo
Fiat Chrysler: Alfa Romeo Guilietta, Panda, Ducato, Jeep Cherokee
Ford: Focus, C-Max
Geely: Volvo V60
GM Opel: Astra, Insignia, Zafira
GM: Chevrolet Cruze
Honda: Honda HR-V
Hyundai: iX35, i20
Jaguar Land Rover: Land Rover Evoque
Mazda: Mazda 6
Mitsubishi: ASX
Nissan: Navara
Peugeot: Peugeot 308
Renault: Dacia, Kadjar
Toyota: Auris
VW: Golf, Beetle, Passat, Touran, Touareg, Golf Sportsvan, Polo, Crafter, Amarok; Audi A6, A3; Porsche Macan

[i74js]

Originally Posted by coolvenk

Well, for one, they are no longer selling cars with the affected TDI engines in the US until further notice.

May I request you to please read the distribution of USD 1000 given out. USD 500 can be used at VW dealerships only - service, accessories, fresh purchases.

This has no linkage to cars with cheat devices.

Cheers !

[ddis_dude]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

Not really!
What VW has cheated on is more than just the emission test.
Do you think VW cars will have the same resale value after the scandal broke?
Existing customers would be worried about what else VW has cheated on! Potential customers are already running away from VW, on such similar worries. (You can see many members just leaving out Polos & Ventos out of their list while hunting for new cars, for the same reason)

I am inclined to disagree on this some of these (with due regards pls) - being an existing Jetta owner, my comments could be interpreted as prejudiced - please be assured thats not the case:

1. I am an existing owner and I am not worried in the least bit about "what else VW may have cheated on"... why?

1a. The way the car stops in an emergency - there's no kidding there!

1b. Trip to Chennai and back (from Bangalore - roughly 400km one way) on a single tank full - enough said!

1c. Need a quick burst of power to overtake a bus or something - any gear, practically any speed... floor it and there's no kidding what you feel there either.

1d. Problematic car? No kidding there either? Havent had any issues as such in my 18-20 months of ownership! Touch-wood though!

1e. Only thing I am not sure of and hope sincerely that I never have to find out is the safety issue - airbags etc. but then, reports from other owners who have had the misfortune of having lived through that (on this very forum) tell me that there is not much more I can get for what I paid. I am not worried on that aspect as well - even more so when compared to other cars in the same segment/class.

1f. Am I environment friendly? Sure - but then I would not have bought a 2L diesel monster to show-off my love for the environment. I would certainly not be waiting for my extended warranty to end so I can remap my car. Pls dont get me wrong here - I would certainly like for my car to conform to the law of the land and I must say I am pretty disappointed on that front and do feel cheated by VW when it comes to that one sore point.

Given how many of these cars end up being remapped for even more power and even changed in other ways with new filters, suspension changes, wheels etc and the uncertainty wrt emissions that comes with these changes (probably?) - I am not sure if we are getting too hung-up on "what else VW could have cheated on".

2. What next? Lets say for the sake of argument that VW takes the car back from me and refunds the entire amount - what would I do?

2a. Every car in this segment - I have already tried and eliminated. The only remaining choices are also all "affected" cars only - the Skoda Octy and the Skoda Yeti.

2b. Step up to Merc/BMW... with the additional money involved - maybe, maybe not. Move to the ones I kinda liked but did not buy - Linea TJET, S-Cross maybe? After having driven this one for as much - probably not.

2c. Bottomline: I'm coming back to my existing family of cars only. Certainly hope from the bottom of my heart that they dont take this one away from me!

2d. I, personally, have another 3-4-5 years of ownership left in the car and in my heart hope that by that time this will all be a distant forgotten memory - but yeah - if someone wants to sell his car today - BIG PROBLEM, no doubt!

2e. Agreed also - if I was looking for a new car to buy in this segment today - I might probably avoid the VW family - understandable due to the uncertainty!

The car is not technically "road-worthy" in its current state of tune due to the emission issues, but I have no doubt in my mind as to the road-worthiness of the car from a driving perspective. I'm hoping that VW fixes this one without losing out on power/mileage too much (even though we already knows thats not to be the case) - but when the warranty ends, I'm pretty sure owners will be queuing up to squeeze out every last ounce of power from this beast and it'd be interesting to see how the emission-related road-worthiness of the car gets in the way of doing that for not just the owners, but also the general public perception on this issue.

My 2c.

[sukarsan]

Originally Posted by itwasntme;

Diesel car brands being investigated by KBA[/B

BMW: 3 Series, 5 Series
Mini Daimler Mercedes:
Fiat Chrysler:
Ford:
Geely:
GM Opel:
[b]GM: Chevrolet
Honda: Honda
[b]Hyundai:
[b]Jaguar Land Rover:
Mazda: Mazda 6
Mitsubishi: ASX
Nissan: Navara
Peugeot: Peugeot 308
[b]Renault:
Toyota:
VW: Polo, Crafter, Amarok; Audi A6, A3; Porsche

So basically the German govt, which is a minority stake holder in VW, has ordered a hit job via its regulatory agency.

Just to be on the safer side a couple of German automakers are also included in the investigation.

Most likely one or two automakers would have missed out on a few technical details. Hopefully those at fault are Americans. The Germans will come up with a long technical paper blaming the system in place.

Merkel can then defend VW on some technicalities and dilute the crisis.

PS: I have edited the original quote for brevity.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by ddis_dude

I am inclined to disagree on this some of these (with due regards pls) - being an existing Jetta owner, my comments could be interpreted as prejudiced - please be assured thats not the case:

I was actually pleased to read about your report on your current Jetta, and wish you many thousands of happy miles!
Sure there are many more happy owners of Jettas, Ventos and Polos, who will take nothing as an exchange of their cars, and are completely satisfied with the car's performance, and they just have a mild discomfort about the current mess that VW is in. They may not be worried about VW's integrity, as long as they can trust the car with their own senses. After all, we can see for ourselves nowadays that the structure of many cars that are sold now is not truly confidence inspiring, whatever may be the science behind them.
But, when it comes to resale value, it is indeed influenced by what the public opinion is. When the potential owners would prefer other cars than VW, then the asking price would automatically come down, whatever is the actual quality of the car.
You are right about the fact that we may be making a mountain out of the mole, with this emission issue. But, once such news is out, it is hard to turn towards a manufacturer with a bad reputation.
With 20L budget, you have very limited choices out of the VW group. But with 8L budget, there is plenty of options for one to choose instead of a Polo, or with a 12L budget, instead of a Vento.

[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

But, when it comes to resale value, it is indeed influenced by what the public opinion is. When the potential owners would prefer other cars than VW, then the asking price would automatically come down, whatever is the actual quality of the car.
You are right about the fact that we may be making a mountain out of the mole, with this emission issue. But, once such news is out, it is hard to turn towards a manufacturer with a bad reputation.
With 20L budget, you have very limited choices out of the VW group. But with 8L budget, there is plenty of options for one to choose instead of a Polo, or with a 12L budget, instead of a Vento.

The point is, none of the above "facts" matter for a die hard fan of a Jetta. For that matter, any other German car. And yes, it is difficult for any body else to even understand sometimes.

I am not saying this just because I own one - Neither do I support the present issue. What I mean is that the matter is more complex than we think, since both the head and the heart are involved.

[amalji]

Even while, VW,Skoda and Audi are being thrashed left and right for their emissions cheating, It would be very interesting to see real world emission test results for TATA vehicles.

Everytime I see a passenger CAR/SUV/MUV spitting out thick black smoke, if I make a wild guess that the vehicle is made by TATA, I'll be true 8 out of 10 times. This is inspite of the fact that TATA sells only 1 out of 20 passenger car/muv/suv on Indian roads. And these are not even old vehicles. Even brand new TATA SUMOs does this.

[Tushar]

The emissions scandal that made Martin Winterkorn quit as VW group CEO has now seen him resign as Audi's chairman of the board as well, with no word on who his successor will be. While Winterkorn resigned from his post as VW CEO in September, he held on to other posts in company, which he is now relinquishing.

Link to Team-BHP news article