OT: VW cheating emissions on TDI vehicles

[bikerboy337]

Check this out... it all comes back to Lance...

Congressman Peter Welch, blasted the company, labeling it "the Lance Armstrong of the auto industry," after the champion cyclist shamed and banned for doping....

[mgm777]

I don't have a dog in this fight, don't own a VW. If I was a VW owner, I don't think I'd want a solution that resulted in another VW vehicle of any kind. VW intentionally and willfully deceived on a massive scale. Personally, I would never give them any more money whatsoever to drive a different VW vehicle. As a potential future customer, VW is permanently off my radar. The entire senior management team at VW should be eliminated. They should all be kicked to the curb without their golden parachutes.

[AngryScientist]

i agree that heads should roll for this one.

in addition to the VW owners should feel cheated and lied to, what about the competitor car mfg's? VW pretty brazenly made claims that their engineering was "better" for developing a better mousetrap to cope with the stricter regulations. were sales lost to other guys because customers preferred VW's lower price and less complicated tech (no urea tank, etc), surely the answer is yes.

i would be shocked if any real jailtime is awarded to anyone at an executive level over this, but i believe it is warranted here.

[bcroslin]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i agree that heads should roll for this one.

in addition to the VW owners should feel cheated and lied to, what about the competitor car mfg's? VW pretty brazenly made claims that their engineering was "better" for developing a better mousetrap to cope with the stricter regulations. were sales lost to other guys because customers preferred VW's lower price and less complicated tech (no urea tank, etc), surely the answer is yes.

i would be shocked if any real jailtime is awarded to anyone at an executive level over this, but i believe it is warranted here.

This. My wife would be driving a Prius right now and I'd be thanking my lucky stars that I didn't buy a JSW. Even my wife is now angry and wants to talk to a lawyer.

[akelman]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i agree that heads should roll for this one.

in addition to the VW owners should feel cheated and lied to, what about the competitor car mfg's? VW pretty brazenly made claims that their engineering was "better" for developing a better mousetrap to cope with the stricter regulations. were sales lost to other guys because customers preferred VW's lower price and less complicated tech (no urea tank, etc), surely the answer is yes.

i would be shocked if any real jailtime is awarded to anyone at an executive level over this, but i believe it is warranted here.

Yup. Everyone -- consumers, competitors, bystanders -- got ripped off while VW executives got fabulously rich. Eventually, I imagine somebody is going to write a very interesting book about all of this: about transnational trade agreements and the hegemony of global capitalism; about the life, death, and rebirth of German industrialism; about the absurdity of regulatory capture and oversight regimens that are weaker than instant coffee; about a culture that increasingly seems to value marketing uber alles; and about the emptiness of so-called green consumption.

[akelman]

In the meantime, I've still got my fingers crossed about buy-backs and significant prison time for VW executives. I'm not especially optimistic on either front, but a guy can dream, right?

[cfox]

A car company did something shady. Dog bites man.

Why didn't anyone go to jail from GM? Actual humans died as a direct result of GM's negligence.

[kevinvc]

Originally Posted by akelman

Yup. Everyone -- consumers, competitors, bystanders -- got ripped off while VW executives got fabulously rich. Eventually, I imagine somebody is going to write a very interesting book about all of this: about transnational trade agreements and the hegemony of global capitalism; about the life, death, and rebirth of German industrialism; about the absurdity of regulatory capture and oversight regimens that are weaker than instant coffee; about a culture that increasingly seems to value marketing uber alles; and about the emptiness of so-called green consumption.

Another group that was hurt by this is the population as a whole, particularly the young, elderly, or those with respiratory issues. I know some are saying that the illegal extra pollution from these vehicles are just a drop in the bucket relative to the industrial world's overall emissions, but try telling that to the family of someone with pulmonary disease who bought one of these and regularly spent time in and around it.

Also, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make regarding lax regulatory oversight. It's true that in the US we have throttled most of our key regulatory agencies, e.g. EPA, USDA, SEC, IRS, etc. It's almost impossible to get a company to recall meat tainted with e-coli unless the company admits to the problem and agrees to play along. This is because our legislative "representatives" have systematically de-funded these agencies and denies them of many common-sense investigative and enforcement abilities.

It's specious to claim that regulatory agencies are useless for not preventing this sort of incident when they have intentionally been denied resources to allow them to do so.

I don't want to go on a political rant and I'm not saying this is your position, but stating that a non-regulated free market is better for the commons requires someone to be deliberately obtuse or a flat out liar.

[akelman]

Originally Posted by kevinvc

I'm not saying this is your position, but stating that a non-regulated free market is better for the commons requires someone to be deliberately obtuse or a flat out liar.

Yes, that's not my position -- at all. And when I wrote "bystanders" above, I was thinking especially about people with respiratory issues. That said, it's not simply that the various watchdog agencies are underfunded, though they absolutely are; as I noted, regulatory capture is also a serious issue.

[kevinvc]

Originally Posted by akelman

Yes, that's not my position -- at all. And when I wrote "bystanders" above, I was thinking especially about people with respiratory issues. That said, it's not simply that the various watchdog agencies are underfunded, though they absolutely are; as I noted, regulatory capture is also a serious issue.

I think we probably have fairly similar opinions on these issues.

Sadly, I believe that regulatory capture has intentionally been neutered. The solutions are inherently political and I hold no delusions that this will be addressed in the foreseeable future.

[cat6]

Received my first letter from a Law Firm looking to represent me against VW, I feel very special.
Guessing there will be more of them over time. Have any other TDI owners received these yet? Are you following up with them?

[Skenry]

50plus pages over exhaust? I don't get it. At all.
Drive your cars, then again, I am happy to buy one of your Dirty cars cheap, just to get it off your hands.

[David Kirk]

Originally Posted by cat6

Received my first letter from a Law Firm looking to represent me against VW, I feel very special.
Guessing there will be more of them over time. Have any other TDI owners received these yet? Are you following up with them?

I got a letter from VW yesterday but that's it so far.....I suspect it won't be long before they start making a pile in the VW folder.

dave

[Ti Designs]

I don't get this either. As a tuner, I've increased the performance of cars, then found a way of getting them to pass emissions. This is a standard feature in the TDI. The only way VW failed here was not marketing this better.

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

I got a letter from VW yesterday but that's it so far.....I suspect it won't be long before they start making a pile in the VW folder.

dave

My neighbor has a '13 TDI Passat got a letter from VW this week stating that his was one that needed to be repaired.