[eye30]

Legal experts in the US have said it is almost inevitable Volkswagen will have to compensate owners of cars fitted with emissions-rigging software, and the carmaker could be forced to buy back the cars altogether.

A Seattle lawyer has cited a ruling in California that requires all car manufacturers to guarantee emissions control parts for up to seven years or 70,000 miles. He argues that the potential two-year waiting period proposed by VW to have the defeat device software updated breaks the legislation.

Owners in the US could demand Volkswagen buy their cars back because driving them to two years without having the emissions-cheating software updated is forcing them to cause environmental harm.

Volkswagen could be forced to buy back all emissions-cheating cars in the US | Daily Mail Online

[AlanHo]

I think it is all bonkers. I'm not defending VW but they truly have the sticky end of the treacle stick and are an easy target for money grabbing, ambulance chasing, scumbag lawyers.

The VW cars are not anywhere near the top of the list with emissions - with or without their so-called cheating software. Most diesels, when measured in real road conditions (rather than the Lab) emit higher levels of Nox than the Californian regulations. One report I saw cited BMW as having the lowest emissions - but they were 3 times the legal minimum. Volvo were by far the worst at 40 times the minimum.



I believe everyone should take a step backwards and measure all cars in realistic road conditions before penalising Companies.

The current testing regulations are a total nonsense and VW have unwittingly done us all a favour by demonstrating it.

As far as I am aware the US emission standards are complicated - there is a maximum Co2 and Nox limit measured in mg per mile and a fleet average limit for each brand. Manufacturers are thus encouraged to sell very low emission vehicles to counterbalance the high emissions from large and powerful cars. VW are handicapped because they don't export to the USA any petrol sipping hybrids to offset their diesel emissions.

It's a complex situation few really understand - not least the media and the scumbag lawyers I fondly referred to.

[Phil №❶]

A long time ago, car manufacturers should have stated that legislative emission requirements were simply unattainable. even with the best technology available the figures are impossible to reach. The testing standards are a joke and it is high time to set realistic standards.

VW have gained a market advantage and the associated $ profit, by adopting their cheating strategy, time to give it back and level the playing field for other manufacturers IMO.

[Dazzler]

Well said Alan.

[AlanHo]

Phil - I don't believe that VW have actually gained a market advantage. How many people go to the great lengths of looking up the emissions outputs for all the cars they are considering and then compare them with the legal standards.

In the UK people in general look at the road fund license annual cost and not the emissions figures. Stop a thousand drivers and ask them what the emissions figures are for their car and you just might find , if you are lucky, someone wearing an anorak who knows. Now ask them what they pay each year in road fund tax and most will know.  We all know the license cost is related to emissions but few are able to attach figures to it or how it fits with legislation.

So far as California is concerned the situation would be similar - only a tiny few would have a clue about emission levels, some would have some inkling about emissions being important to the ecology  and the rest would be off their trolley. They didn't buy a VW because it had low emissions, they bought it for its grunt, looks, comfort, quality and low fuel consumption.

Moving now to Australia - I have no idea what your emission regs are - but they are clearly not strict enough to make DPF's a necessity.

[Phil №❶]

Valid points, Alan.

No worries in Oz, big country, lots of air and only a few people 

[AlanHo]

Actually it is a worry - your polluted air is part of the World's atmosphere in which noxious gases are gradually building up.

I recognise however that the greatest polluters are China, India and the USA. The UK and Australia are but a fart compared to the gale emanating from those polluters

[Phil №❶]

I'm actually better known as an old fart nowdays