VW Dieselgate - No More VW Diesel Vehicles In the US?

This will be really interesting to see how it plays out.

The cars, all built in the last seven years, include a device programmed to detect when they are undergoing official emissions testing, the EPA said, adding that the cars only turn on full emissions control systems during that testing. The controls are turned off during normal driving situations, the EPA said.

And how much could this cost VW?

The EPA said VW faces fines of up to $37,500 per vehicle for the violations – a total of more than $18 billion. No final total was announced.

I’d be really concerned if I owned a TDI what the “fix” is going to do to the car’s reliability. Obviously VW only took a risk like this because they couldn’t find a way to make the car drive properly AND pass the emissions test.

that would explain why dpf deletes do not make a significant gain on TDI’s

edit: it would be nice if the article noted what the emission numbers are rather than saying things that can be taken wrong out of context

The EPA called the company’s use of the so-called “defeat device” illegal and a threat to public health.

a THREAT to public health!!!

The violations do not present a safety hazard and the cars remain legal to drive and sell, the EPA said.

NOT A THREAT to public health

“The charges here are truly appalling: that Volkswagen knowingly installed software that produced much higher smog-forming emissions from diesel vehicles in the real world than in pre-sale tests,”

VW got caught. I would bet that everybody is doing this to varying degrees

They’re gonna get fucked lol

I saw one really interesting theory on Vortex. TDI’s always get significantly better MPGs in the real world than their EPA test loop figures. I wonder if after the recall if a lot of TDI owners are going to see their MPG drop because the cars are forced to run in less efficient EPA mode all the time?

I don’t think most owners have much to worry about, but people who have custom tunes and such are going to have to dodge this recall, or figure out something else. It will likely be a solution of adding AdBlue to these cars, or tuning more fuel in. My car is affected, but I am not going to hold my breath until I hear the fix.

Can the epa require people to get their cars fixed??

$18 billion dollars. No one would miss that kind of cash.

The EPA needs a ton of cash to clean up their own fucking mess.

I believe their competitors use urea injection to meet the NOx emissions targets in the U.S. Europe has had a love affair with diesels for 20 years, but it appears the consequences of increased NOx and particulate emissions are ending the honeymoon. Good luck selling diesels in China in the next few years where the emissions targets will be extremely strict.

I hope this is a misunderstanding. Engineers can be an arrogant bunch but this would take it to a new level.

I should point out NOx emissions aren’t some ethereal phantom global warming thing like carbon dioxide, but a health hazard. In other words, for once the regulations are trying to protect you from a potential threat.

Seriously, river and watershed clean up is not cheap.

Pretty sure VAG already admitted there was a test in the ECU to detect when it was being tested an run in “clean mode”. If that’s the case this was a management decision not an engineering one.

VW stock down 20% today.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2015/09/21/volkswagen-shares-plunge-on-us-emission-issue/?intcmp=hplnws

Anyone want to take a guess what the fine will end up being? On one hand you have US company GM basically murdering people by knowing about an ignition switch defect and hiding it for at least 10 years, confirmed by multiple sources and documents with 74 fatalities, and they got away with just a 900 million dollar settlement. On the other hand you have Toyota and their unintended acceleration issue getting a 1.2 billion dollar fine even though when the dust settled the DOT said it was driver error not a design problem.

So clearly there is a different formula at work if you’ve got home field advantage. That and I’m guessing the government doesn’t want to hit GM with a fine so big they just have to turn around and bail GM out again. With VAG being German and the largest automaker in the world I have a feeling this one exceeds 5 billion, probably getting close to 10 billion.

3.2 Billion and 50% of TDI owners aren’t going to get the recall done. :rofl:

VW is the NE Patriots of the car industry.

this is such an interesting story all of a sudden… they lost like $30B in valuation today.
@Beck, what’s the impact at the dealer end of things?

Nothing. VW has taken steps to ensure that dealer profitability remains unchanged (bonuses that I obviously can’t get into publicly). Other than that, nothing. Customers don’t seem to concerned as it’s not a safety issue.

Man good time to buy, too bad you didn’t know about this a few days ago lol

but what about the news that you’re not allowed to sell the diesel cars anymore? not true?

It’s a ‘stop-sale’. Meaning until a fix comes out, they can’t sell one. The EPA told VW they didn’t have to do a stop-sale, as it’s not a safety issue…VW did one anyways.

Stop-Sales happen anytime there is a recall. It’s not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

Who knows who decided and at what level. You’re right, it doesn’t have to be an engineering decision.

There is no doubt VW will lose a ton customers due to this situation. Folks that live in states that require a sniffer test will have no choice but to have their ECUs reflashed. Nobody appreciates getting misled especially a liberal that bought a clean diesel. It’s good that VW is subsidizing the US dealerships as they did nothing wrong but they will certainly bear the brunt.