OT: VW cheating emissions on TDI vehicles

[shovelhd]

My check is in the bank. Buyback was in late December.

[thwart]

My funds arrived yesterday.

The gift that keeps on giving...

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by thwart

My funds arrived yesterday.

The gift that keeps on giving...

Got my Bosche check yesterday..iphone7+...

[fiataccompli]

Now I am jealous of y'all....


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[thwart]

Originally Posted by fiataccompli

Now I am jealous of y'all....

Yeah, I don't know 'bout that.

Factor in the uncertainty of the process, all of the hassle involved in the buyback, the queasy feeling of driving around in a car that pollutes like an 18 wheeler... your envy is probably mis-directed.

Money is only money.

But it helps.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by thwart

Yeah, I don't know 'bout that.

Factor in the uncertainty of the process, all of the hassle involved in the buyback, the queasy feeling of driving around in a car that pollutes like an 18 wheeler... your envy is probably mis-directed.

Money is only money.

But it helps.

Well put.

dave

[fiataccompli]

No...I had a TDI, sold back ,the whole deal, but haven't received my check from Bosch yet.


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[carpediemracing]

We got our two checks today.

I realized that between our two TDIs we got about $41k in spendable funds, including $1k in VW dealership credit. $1k in gift cards, $38+k for the buyback, and now $0.7k.

The Missus said that the Bosch money is taxable, which I don't get, but she should know.

[William]

Thread related - I happened by another very large lot of VW recall/buyback vehicles earlier today. I had not seen this one yet but they are quite busy in there doing something to the vehicles judging from all the raised hoods with peoples heads under them. Many have "salvage" written on the windows, many do not.

Sorry for the crappy images but we were driving buy so I was just holding my camera above the roofline from the passenger side.





William

[cachagua]

They're installing self-driving in them.

[parallelfish]

Are they the buy backs, or 2015s being prepped for sale, or both?

According to our dealer the 2015 prep included a new bosch box for the emissions, new battery, new brakes, oil and fluids changed, and new tires. None of the old stuff could be resold or reused. Old tires had to be cut up and the piece containing the tire serial number sent in to the feds. In addition the cars had to be driven periodically while stored.

[smontanaro]

I know plenty of people participating in this thread stuck with VW even after turning in their diesels. Ellen and I did. Wagons definitely fill a niche. VW thinks theirs are popular with us bikies and our sibling kayakers:

Volkswagen’s new SportWagen and Alltrack are proving particularly popular with cyclists and kayakers, according to Hendrik Muth, head of product planning at Volkswagen of America. Their roof racks are easier to access than those on an SUV, with plenty of space in back for gear.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic..._medium=social

[93KgBike]

true of us. except for the seating, the station wagon is awesome.

[fbhidy]

Turned in my TDI Sportwagen in February/March and just received my Bosch check last week.

I bought a used Mazda CX-5, plan to look at trading it in on the 2017 1/2 CX-5 diesel.


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[pbarry]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/2...t&vS=undefined

Volkswagen Engineer Gets Prison in Diesel Cheating Case

James Liang, a Volkswagen engineer, is the first employee sent to prison in the scandal that has tainted the company’s reputation and cost it billions in fines and settlements with consumers.
VIRGINIA LOZANO / DETROIT NEWS, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
By BILL VLASIC
AUGUST 25, 2017
DETROIT — A Volkswagen engineer was sentenced on Friday to 40 months in prison for his role in the German automaker’s decade-long scheme to cheat on federal emissions tests for diesel-powered cars sold in the United States.

The engineer, James Liang, is the first company employee sent to prison in the vast scandal that has tainted Volkswagen’s reputation and cost it more than $20 billion in fines and settlements with consumers.

Mr. Liang, who helped develop the software that concealed high levels of pollutants generated by Volkswagen’s diesel engines, reached a plea deal with prosecutors last year after agreeing to assist in the government’s investigation of the company.

But even after that pledge, Mr. Liang received a harsher sentence than the government recommended for pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating the Clean Air Act.


Federal prosecutors recommended a three-year sentence and a $20,000 fine, but Judge Sean F. Cox of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan gave Mr. Liang a longer sentence, as well as two years of supervised release and a $200,000 fine.


Interactive Feature | Engineering a Deception: What Led to Volkswagen’s Diesel Scandal In September 2015, Volkswagen was accused of evading emissions standards in the U.S. The scandal has hit the company hard.
The judge said Mr. Liang and other Volkswagen executives and employees were responsible for a “massive and stunning fraud” that violated the trust that consumers need to have in goods and services purchased from corporations.

“This is a very serious and troubling crime against our economic system,” he said. “Without that trust in corporate America, the economy can’t function.”

Mr. Liang, a 63-year-old German citizen, declined to address the judge at the sentencing. His lawyer, Daniel Nixon, portrayed the longtime engineer as remorseful for the crimes that made him the “worldwide face” of the emissions scandal.

“He was not the mastermind, but he did play a role,” Mr. Nixon said, adding that Mr. Liang never benefited financially from aiding in the development of so-called defeat devices that masked the high levels of harmful diesel emissions.

But the judge said Mr. Liang was “too loyal” to the German automaker he had worked for since the 1980s, and unwilling to expose its deceptive practices or walk away from his $350,000-a-year job.


Graphic | How Volkswagen’s ‘Defeat Devices’ Worked Volkswagen admitted that 11 million of its vehicles were equipped with software that was used to cheat on emissions tests. This is how the technology works and what it now means for vehicle owners.
Although his cooperation with investigators has helped the government’s cases against the company and other Volkswagen executives, the judge said it was not enough to allow Mr. Liang to be sentenced to home confinement, as his lawyer had requested.

“Your cooperation and regret is noted, but it doesn’t excuse the conduct,” the judge said.

Volkswagen has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the Clean Air Act, as well as customs violations and obstruction of justice.


The company agreed to pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties in the case brought by the Justice Department. The penalties were part of $22 billion in settlements and fines that Volkswagen is paying in connection with the cheating scandal.

Six other Volkswagen executives have been indicted in the case, as well as one employee of the automaker’s Audi luxury division.

One of the executives, Oliver Schmidt, has also reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Mr. Schmidt, the former head of Volkswagen’s environmental and engineering center in Michigan, has been held without bail in prison since his arrest in January. Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act.

Mr. Schmidt, who is to be sentenced in December, faces up to seven years in prison.