Summary of settlement, in plain English:

http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/filelib...l-of-3L-Se.pdf

I still hate the weak statement on "No degradation of performance". Going to have to be really minor for me to collect the second half of my settlement.

 

And no surprise, the judge granted preliminary approval. Now we should all get official notices and have a chance to comment on the settlement.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...deal/97908466/

 

Looks like this was done by a high school student.

 

Geez. What SHOULD be an easy-to-digest summary is in fact a bit confusing LOL.

So part of the "restitution" comes from the difference between "vehicle value" and "NADA clean value". What determines "vehicle value"? I assume that # is vehicle specific and would need something like a trade-in appraisal done at the time they're cutting the check?

There is also language referring to "Owner" and language referring to "Lessee". Along those lines, there is then language referring to "former Owner" but NOTHING for "former Lessee". I have to assume that's intentional? Folks who leased but turned their vehicle in before the date of this settlement agreement get nothing?

The lessee part applies to me since I'm 99% certain the previous owner of mine actually leased it. Wondering if I'll need to split the payout with them (assuming they register by 5/17/17) or if, because they were a former *lessee* (vs. former *owner*), they are cut out?

 

Gen 2 owners are getting crap out of this settlement. Assuming they come up with a fix, we're asked to absorb multiple years of an unsaleable vehicle, a possible performance downgrade and we are left with a tainted product. All for less then 10 grand. What really hurts here is that for about $500, VW can buy Carte Blanche on the performance downgrade.

 

Seems pretty straight forward to me.

If there's a fix, the "Repair Payment" is the fixed amount + vehicle value (as of 9/1/2015). I think that's the based on the Clean Retail value, but I'm not positive about that. And it's 10% of that number.

And then there's $1500 from Bosch added onto that. So the average amount comes out closer to $10,000 than the $8.592 shown. I'm basing that on the settlement agreement documents, not the "plain language" presentation.

If no approved fix (by either August or November, depending on which document you read!), then we can opt out, opt for a buyback or take a less clean solution and a higher restitution. Both the buyback and less clean fix use the Retail minus Trade value, plus a fixed amount (~11,500 for Porsche), plus state and local taxes. Plus, of course, the 9/1/2015 value of the vehicle if you sell it back (Trade value, I assume, since they're giving you the difference already). But... Porsche can ask for a delay - 3 actually - in 30 day increments, for which they must pay each owner $500/delay.

And then there's the performance degradation limits. I'll be taking my CD to a dyno before any fix is applied and I'm already tracking fuel closely. 3mpg down, but from what? And 5% peak HP or torque... from what? Rated or actual? I'm guessing rated and, for the fuel, EPA test method numbers. Which means we're screwed there, since most of us already exceed those numbers and even if performance goes down, maybe it bring us all to published original numbers.

They don't do an appraisal except for mileage and options to adjust that 9/1/2015 number and to make sure you didn't trash the car, like some of the 2.0l idiots did.

As has been discussed, lessees don't take the depreciation, the legal owner does. Lessees are getting a token, but the owner would be the injured party, not the lessee who just walks away. Beyond that, I can't say, since I am the original owner of ours and haven't read the lease provisions that closely or the shared stuff with former owners.

Yes, I think the fix number is low. But no, they don't have carte blanche on the performance. If performance is degraded beyond the published numbers, you can opt out of the class and sue yourself (late opt-out authorized) or go back to the court for an adjusted settlement, "which VW can oppose."

The lack of a fix and partial fix numbers aren't low, though and I think that's what they ought to use for the full fix, too. But they're not, sadly.

 

$500 times the number of vehicles in the group, which could be up to 57,000. So $28 million.

 

For each 30 days delay.

And another $28M if they degrade performance.

 

Unsaleable? I love my 2010 Touareg, but can't refuse the buyback offer. I will be looking to buy one of the Cayenne diesel's to replace it. I hardly think your vehicle will be unsaleable.

 

$28 million seems like a lot, but lets say the incremental buyback cost per vehicle over a successful timely repair is $50,000 (you can use your own number) times 57,000- that is a potential $2.85 billion cost. VW has a cheap and easy way out of this by tilting the fix to be emissions compliant at the expense of performance- and trust me, I hope I'm wrong.

 

Yep- you Gen One guys have a sweet deal. I was referring to the pre-settlement days, when dealers would look at you funny if you asked them to value it in a trade. I'm not sure what would happen if I sold it now.

 

I just bought a 2014 Cayenne diesel from a local Porsche dealer. They had 3 and within a week the other 2 sold and I grabbed the last one remaining. It seems this whole legal issue is not deterring folks from buying them up, at least in may area. It also likely helps that Cayennes come with 6yr/100,000 mile warranty.

I am replacing X5 diesel, and while X5 feels lighter on its feet, Cayenne is much more refined, and amazingly quiet that I cannot tell it is diesel from inside the car, and barely hear the engine noise from outside. The only things my wife misses are keyless entry and top down camera view for parking in tight places.

 

^ I wonder why your dealer was able to sell their inventory and my SA tells me they aren't allowed to sell theirs yet.

 

There should be no compensation for a former lessee, since they received exactly what they paid for, and residual value was agreed upon at the start of the lease.

 

Trade-ins can be sold, but untitled vehicles and demos/loaners cannot be sold.