Volkswagen Can Save 70,000 TDI Vehicles, If Their Owners Want It

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Assuming owners of 2.0-liter diesel Volkswagens aren’t so pissed at the company that thoughts of cash extraction and corporate punishment fill their every waking hour, up to 70,000 of the little polluters could be spared.

After failing multiple times to whip up a fix for the emissions-rigged engines, VW has made a breakthrough with the U.S. government. That means owners of certain VW and Audi vehicles have a choice to make.

The automaker’s $16.5 billion settlement clearly spelled out owners of affected vehicles could sell their cars back to the company (and be handed an extra pile of cash for their troubles), or opt for a yet-undefined fix. Well, the Environmental Protection Agency has now approved a fix, Reuters reports.

Due to a change in engine design, only the newest models equipped with 2.0-liter diesels have a chance at a longer life. These include 2015 Volkswagen Beetle, Golf, Golf SportWagen, Jetta, and Passat models, as well as the 2015 Audi A3.

The approved fix is twofold. Owners opting to keep their diesels can go in for a minor software tweak right away, which should reduce emissions slightly. However, in about a year, a much larger fix should become available. Those modifications include both software and hardware updates, including the installation of a diesel particulate filter, diesel oxidation catalyst and NOx catalyst.

EPA claims the full fix won’t affect the vehicles’ “fuel economy, reliability, or durability.”

Under the settlement, 85 percent of the 475,000 affected vehicles must be off the road by June 2019, which makes the 70,000 figure a rosy theoretical ceiling. So far, the buyout option has proven popular, and with good reason. When else will an automaker pay pre-scandal value for a car, and hand you up to $10,000 as a gift?

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • FreedMike FreedMike on Jan 06, 2017

    "EPA claims the full fix won’t affect the vehicles’ “fuel economy, reliability, or durability.” Thanks, I needed a late-afternoon laugh. Know what? My Jetta with the 1.4T and a manual averages about 32 mpg in plodding-around-the-'burbs driving. If I mix in about 40-50% of that driving on the freeway, that goes to about 34-35 mpg. If the overwhelming majority of my driving was on the freeway, I'd be getting close to 40. So what, precisely, is the point of the diesel? Take the buyout and get a gas Jetta or Golf. You'll get a helluva deal on either one (Jetta in particular). What's the percentage in keeping the TDI on the "we'll fix it" promise given higher diesel prices? I don't see it.

    • See 3 previous
    • Ram3 Ram3 on Jul 10, 2017

      @JimZ please look at the specs on both vw engines gas and diesel the 2 liter gas produces 207 ft pounds of torque 3600-5000 rpm 114 HP the 2 liter diesel produces 280 ft pounds of torque 1700 -2500 rpm 148 HP Diesel engines will always produce more torque at normal rpm liter to liter a gas engine will never produce the same or even close the torque of a diesel take a look a heavy equipment or large yachts they all have Diesel engines because of the heavy loads . there is no gas engines that can compete under those conditions.

  • APaGttH APaGttH on Jan 07, 2017

    I would follow this advice from Steve Miller. Whoa..oooo take the money and run.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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