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Volkswagen’s clean diesel cars amazed people when they first came out. Diesels are known for being slow and sluggish with poor fuel economy. Diesel emissions can cause damage to lung tissue in children, the elderly, and asthmatics. They also can form smog and acid rain. But Volkswagen promised superb power, great mileage, and clean emissions. They promised something no car company had promised before: a high performing car with clean emissions.
The promises were too good to be true. Following a lengthy investigation, the Environmental Protection agency found that almost 500,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles with the 2.0 liter TDI Clean Diesel engine failed to meet emission requirements. The EPA has also found that certain Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche light duty diesel vehicles equipped with 3.0 liter engines for model years 2014 through 2015 also failed. Volkswagen, which manufactures Audi and Porsche, has admitted that these diesel cars were qualified for sale only because of a “defeat device” which cheated the emissions tests. Volkswagen installed defeat devices on several Audi and Volkswagen models sold in the 2009 through 2015 years.
For years, Volkswagen sold the clean diesel cars as an alternative to traditional gas vehicles and electric and hybrid cars. It claimed that these clean diesel cars had better mileage than gas cars and better performance than hybrids or electrics. As a result, hundreds of thousands of American consumers bought cars that emit unsafe and illegal amounts of dangerous gaseous chemicals. These vehicles will be subject to replacement or updates of the on board computers that monitor and control emissions. Even if successful, the changes will negatively affect the performance and/or fuel economy of the vehicles. The value of the vehicles will decrease. In short, the cars people thought they were buying are not the cars they bought. Indeed, they are worth much less.
The cars affected include:
Volkswagen Jetta, Jetta Sportwagen (2009-2015)
Volkswagen Beetle, Beetle Convertible (2009-2015)
Audi A3 (2009-2015)
Volkswagen Golf (2009-2015)
Volkswagen Passat (2014-2015)
Volkswagen Gulf SportWagen (2015)
Volkswagen Toureg (2014)
Porsche Cayenne (2015)
Audi A6 Quattro (2016)
Audi A7 Quattro (2016)
Audi A8 (2016)
Audi A8L (2016)
Audi Q5 (2016)