Your Volkswagen Diesel Will Still Be a Polluting Automotive Pariah After Being Fixed

Volkswagen diesel owners will be able to spend many happy, polluting miles on the road, even after they request a fix instead of a buyback.

Buried in the automaker’s $15.3 billion U.S. settlement is the expectation that most of the recalled vehicles will still spew twice the allowable rate of emissions after being repaired, according to Bloomberg. A fix for the 475,000 2.0-liter diesels hasn’t been approved, but regulators fully expect any repair plan to fail — and they’re grudgingly okay with it.

Under the buyback plan, owners can trade their defeat device-equipped cars for cash, or seek a repair. The problem is pre-2015 2.0-liter TDI models came with an older engine that’s proving hard to clean up.

The Natural Resources Defense Council told Bloomberg that a full mechanical fix — meaning the installation of a urea tank system used by later models — was taken off the table after Volkswagen deemed it too expensive. No regulator will say what the automaker’s proposed fix is, but the California Air Resources Board claims any repair will only reduce emissions by 80 to 90 percent. That means the older diesels will still be twice as dirty as they should be.

What makes CARB and the Environmental Protection Agency okay with this? Money — specifically the $4.7 billion set aside in the settlement for environmental mitigation measures. If Volkswagen’s diesels are going to continue to pollute, other sources of emissions need to go.

“The settlement protects both consumers and the public,” EPA spokesman Nick Conger told Bloomberg. “It offers owners the flexibility to choose what’s right for them, and requires VW to fully offset the excess NOx pollution it is responsible for.”

According to CARB, the upgraded emissions system on older fixed vehicles will be certified to last 120,000 miles, with the newer models being certified for 150,000.

A fix for the newest models is expected by July 29, with approval scheduled for October 14. Second-generation TDI models have a fix proposal deadline of December 16, and could be approved by March 3. The oldest diesels have a deadline of November 11, and an approval date of January 27. Volkswagen’s proposed fix for its 3.0-liter diesel models was recently rejected by U.S. regulators.

[Image: Volkswagen of America]