Volkswagen: UK motorists begin mass claim over emissions scandal

jaybeetoo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50631823

motorguy

jaybeetoo wrote: »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50631823

"It remains Volkswagen Group's case that the claimants did not suffer any loss at all"

I'm finding it hard to argue with that...

The_Rainmaker

I bet Gareth Pope, head of group litigation at Slater and Gordon is eyeing up a new ski chalet in St Moritz regardless of the outcome.

Stupid greedy people with no case will discover the cost of frivolous court actions.

Ebe_Scrooge

motorguy wrote: »

"It remains Volkswagen Group's case that the claimants did not suffer any loss at all"

I'm finding it hard to argue with that...

This, a thousand-fold. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case itself, what possible reason can the owners of these cars have for a justifiable compensation claim ? Compensation for what ? This really is a shining example of "compensation culture gone mad".

AdrianC

Some_ambulance_chaser wrote:

Volkswagen "cheated" European emissions rules

Bzzt. They did not.

They cheated US emission rules, which were far stricter for diesels than European rules. They didn't need to cheat the EU rules.

Specifically, it was about NOx limits. The US doesn't differentiate between diesels and petrols. Back in the mid-late 00s, the Euro 4 NOx limits for diesels were 0.25g/km for diesels and 0.08g/km for petrols. US limits are complex, but on the whole they were slightly stricter than the European petrol standard.

The result was that nobody bar VW even attempted to sell diesels in the US.

sevenhills

motorguy wrote: »

"It remains Volkswagen Group's case that the claimants did not suffer any loss at all"

I'm finding it hard to argue with that...

In April 2017, a US federal judge ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for "rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests".


With ethical motorists now starting to buy electric vehicles, I certainly think that some people would not want to own a vehicle that has poor emissions. There value would be lower.

AdrianC

Yes, exactly. A US case relating to US Federal emissions testing. US-market cars are not to the same specification as European-market ones, in many ways.

No motor manufacturer ever does or could guarantee any kind of future value, except in the very specific context of a PCP finance deal.

So, no, they've suffered no loss that's in any way relevant to any court claim. On top of that, there's a strong argument that any increase in depreciation is directly due to the actions of the claimants - so allowing that to be claimed would just be a recipe for malicious high-publicity cases.

Mercdriver

sevenhills wrote: »

In April 2017, a US federal judge ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for "rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests".


With ethical motorists now starting to buy electric vehicles, I certainly think that some people would not want to own a vehicle that has poor emissions. There value would be lower.

How do you make that fit into where individual people can demonstrate ACTUAL losses? Remember this is not no win no fee. Slater and Gordon are going to going "Kerching" win or lose, and they will do so with a smirk as they appealed to people's sense of absolute greed. You reap what you sow. At least I hope so. Or else there is no justice in this world.

motorguy

sevenhills wrote: »

In April 2017, a US federal judge ordered Volkswagen to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for "rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests".


With ethical motorists now starting to buy electric vehicles, I certainly think that some people would not want to own a vehicle that has poor emissions. There value would be lower.

That has not translated in to lower values for VW diesel cars. I'm on trade auction sites and their prices are still strong, as is demand.

So no, no material loss.

Lets hope those who signed up with S&G read the small print on their contracts....

Car_54

sevenhills wrote: »

With ethical motorists now starting to buy electric vehicles, I certainly think that some people would not want to own a vehicle that has poor emissions. There value would be lower.

Are you suggesting that those of us who choose not to buy EVs are in some way unethical?

sevenhills

Car_54 wrote: »

Are you suggesting that those of us who choose not to buy EVs are in some way unethical?

Maybe they dont have money to burn?