For Some TDI Owners, Conflicting Messages on Trade-in

As Volkswagen works to make amends with customers and the public, TDI owners ready to give up their illegally polluting cars are hearing conflicting messages from some Volkswagen dealers who are either unwilling to or begrudgingly taking in those cars on trade.

A TDI owner said when he took his car into Flow Motors Volkswagen in North Carolina last month the dealership told him it wouldn’t initially accept his vehicle for trade. The dealer originally had asked if the owner had found a willing dealership to take his car.

“ … Let me know as I have a couple of other diesel owners I will send if things worked out for you,” the dealer wrote in an email after they turned down the man’s diesel car.

“To say I’m irritated is an understatement,” the TDI owner wrote.

The owner said the dealer has since accepted his car after Volkswagen of America insisted that it would buy back those cars from dealers if they’ve sat on lots long enough. The owner asked not to be identified because he said he still services his cars at the dealer and fears retribution.

When contacted last week, a sales manager for Flow Motors said that the dealership would accept TDI models. However, he advises customers not to trade in those cars, “just like any other recall,” he told TTAC.

“We’ll take it, but it’s just not a good idea.”

The sales manager refused to be identified on the record. A general manager for Flow did not comment and Flow Motors’ Chief Financial Officer Tim Jefferies did not return repeated calls for comment.

Volkswagen said it’s only issued a stop-sale on its cars but trade-ins at Volkswagen dealers are still allowed. However, those stores are independently owned and can’t be forced into accepting cars, a Volkswagen spokesman said.

Volkswagen wouldn’t make public its correspondence with dealers.

Other owners on diesel forums say they’ve encountered similar dealerships that have refused taking diesel cars on trade.

Other dealerships, such as Emich Volkswagen in Denver, say they’re taking the TDI models and offering up to 15 percent over current values for drivers looking to get out of those cars.

General Manager Fred Emich said his dealership is using money Volkswagen sent its dealers last month to offset costs from the growing diesel scandal and to help pay more for affected diesel vehicle trades.

“Volkswagen gave dealers discretionary funds, we’re using them to essentially trade people out of TDIs — for people who don’t feel comfortable driving those cars,” he said.

Emich said he was aware of a plan by Volkswagen to buy back those cars at pre-crisis prices, but that Volkswagen didn’t detail those plans when it was announced. Just like drivers, Emich said he was waiting to hear from Volkswagen on what it would do for dealers.

“There were no details and what we’ve received thus far hasn’t told us what to expect,” Emich said.

Emich said he’s seen many TDI owners come in to trade in their illegally polluting cars and that those owners were using the loyalty discount to buy other Volkswagen cars.

According to Bloomberg, the company is asking dealers to take diesel cars at pre-scandal prices and offering cash and no-interest loans to offset costs for the cars taking up space on lots.

“They have to keep those dealers on board, afloat and as happy as they can, because the dealers are going to be on the front line whenever there’s a fix for this problem,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst with Autotrader.com, told Bloomberg. “Dealers are absolutely critical when these bad things happen.”