VW fiddling emissions data

The_Bookman

lucifersangel87 wrote: »

Any thoughts on it?

Yes. Several. Were I affected, and I must reiterate that I am not, I would have returned to the VW dealer from which I purchased the German lemon, and demanded a full refund. In the event that such was not forthcoming (highly likely, I think), I would have reported the matter to the Police as a crime of deception under the Theft Act.


Subsequent to the Police running a mile, and trying to tell me that it was a civil dispute (again, highly likely), I would, because I have lots of time on my hands, commenced a private prosecution against the dealer. This, I believe, would attract a significant amount of media attention, and serve to focus the minds of the great and the good as to what exactly has taken place here, and what should be done about it.


There may of course be Police officers who are members of this forum/website, and who have sufficient cojones (and, perhaps, limited career aspirations) to think that this might just be a viable option, or at least be prepared to "give it a run". In which case, chaps, go get 'em. Go arrest us a VW dealer, interview them, then charge them with the offence. Then find a member of the CPS (Criminals Protection Service) who is also lamenting their purchase of a VW, and let's get the thing into Court. In front of a VW-owning magistrate.


Just a thought.

WellKnownSid

The_Bookman wrote: »

There may of course be Police officers who are members of this forum/website, and who have sufficient cojones (and, perhaps, limited career aspirations) to think that this might just be a viable option, or at least be prepared to "give it a run". In which case, chaps, go get 'em. Go arrest us a VW dealer, interview them, then charge them with the offence. Then find a member of the CPS (Criminals Protection Service) who is also lamenting their purchase of a VW, and let's get the thing into Court. In front of a VW-owning magistrate.


Just a thought.

Next you'll be wanting the dealers to be burned at the stake. Alive preferably.

Can I remind you that your local VW dealer has as much to do with the deception as you have?

What is interesting is that no-one seems to have picked up on the 800,000 cars with incorrect mpg figures. Everyone is complaining that a software fix "might" impact mpg in the future - whereas for the owners of these 800,000 cars, they've already lost actual money - and there will be no recall as there is nothing that can be fixed - the mpg figures are simply over-stated.

bod1467

WellKnownSid wrote: »

the mpg figures are simply over-stated.

As they are for almost EVERY car sold ... a miniscule number of owners get anywhere near the published MPG figures.

E.g. the published combined cycle figure for my car is 63 mpg ... the reality is 52 mpg.

Yolina

bod1467 wrote: »

As they are for almost EVERY car sold ... a miniscule number of owners get anywhere near the published MPG figures.

E.g. the published combined cycle figure for my car is 63 mpg ... the reality is 52 mpg.

But for every single car, the stated MPG is "perfect" lab conditions and is more meant as a means of comparing between cars rather than what you get in real life - way too many variables in real-life.

However it seems that for the VW cars involved in the latest thing, the lab figures are not what they should have been.

WellKnownSid

Yolina wrote: »

But for every single car, the stated MPG is "perfect" lab conditions and is more meant as a means of comparing between cars rather than what you get in real life - way too many variables in real-life.

However it seems that for the VW cars involved in the latest thing, the lab figures are not what they should have been.

Correct.

There should be another thread. VW fiddling mpg figures too...

There is also a wider question. VW weren't really producing cars that were any better than others on mpg or performance or emissions.

Without pointing any fingers or suggesting / implying that any other manufacturer whatsoever has done the same thing, the latest round of problems has only been identified because VW have looked very hard at everything they've been doing, right back to first principles.

I can guarantee that if you look hard enough you will find problems in anything - isn't that the general rule of HMRC - pick up any piece of paper and you'll find a discrepancy? So - the wider question - will other car manufacturers do the decent thing and carry out as thorough an investigation as VW? Otherwise there will be a danger that, at the end of all this, VW will be the only car manufacturer anyone will trust...

Joe_Horner

WellKnownSid wrote: »

[...]
There is also a wider question. VW weren't really producing cars that were any better than others on mpg or performance or emissions.

Without pointing any fingers or suggesting / implying that any other manufacturer whatsoever has done the same thing, the latest round of problems has only been identified because VW have looked very hard at everything they've been doing, right back to first principles.
[...]

I'm guessing that the finger you're not pointing is wondering whether, if VW's "fiddled" figures are on a par with other makers' ones for similar models, those other makers may have been equally creative in order to get those same figures.

Given the wide disparity between test figures and real life that seems to be a very good question indeed, even allowing for the "perfect test conditions" argument which everyone's been accepting all this time.

Don't forget that those "perfect test conditions" were introduced in order to better mimic real life compared to the old "constant 56 / constant 75" figures, so you should get closer to the claimed economy with the newer test. But the disparity between "test conditions" and real life experience has steadily widened since they were introduced and there has to be a reason for that.

Cardew

jonny_power

Simple question (I hope?!)

I had my second letter yesterday explaining the timescales and more details on the software fix.

I'm not keen to do anything until I know a bit more about any potential compensation or routes to obtain compensation.

However, I'm also not keen to have a software fix which could (I guess) significantly worsen the performance of my car. Is that the case? Will the software fix downgrade acceleration/torque etc?

burlington6

I still chuckle when people write that they are expecting a full refund.

It's never going to happen so forget about it

neilmcl

jonny_power wrote: »

Simple question (I hope?!)

I had my second letter yesterday explaining the timescales and more details on the software fix.

I'm not keen to do anything until I know a bit more about any potential compensation or routes to obtain compensation.

However, I'm also not keen to have a software fix which could (I guess) significantly worsen the performance of my car. Is that the case? Will the software fix downgrade acceleration/torque etc?

Which engine do you have? For the majority the "software fix" will simply remove the "cheat device", so wont have any impact on performance or economy.