VW, you know. They did some stuff. Probably they shouldn’t have done it. They made a defeat device in the software of all their clean diesels since 2006 or so. The device detects when emissions testing is going on and then turns on the stuff that makes it all clean. As soon as it detects that the test is over, it’s back to it’s old polluting ways.
It seems pretty bad because there’s no wiggling to suggest that this is somehow not as bad as it seems. It’s a deliberate effort to defeat the emissions testing, get credit for being “clean,” while deliberately poisoning the world.
Their stock is down big. This might be the biggest criminal enforcement action in corporate history. I think if you own one of those diesels, not only have you been deliberately duped by VW, but I think you are pretty much screwed. Your trade in value is likely to go way down. When VW fixes those cars it is almost surely going to impact performance, so you will end up with a car that is far crappier than you bargained for.
Did I miss the thread on this? It seems like a pretty big deal. Can I have some posts of outrage and condemnation (against VW, not me,) please?
Can someone please appoint themselves as the troll/apologist for VW, so we can attack and Condemn you smugly?
Would somebody please point out the Nazi/VW connection?
How about a blanket condemnation of all Germans?
Can I have a woeful tale or two by somebody who owns one of these cars, about how betrayed they feel?
It’s a deliberately developed cheat device. That can’t be chalked up to negligence or incompetence or “old GM” like the ignition issue on GM cars. This was VW putting in effort to cheat. I deal with environmental regulations and have had clients fined. It’s one issue to screw up and pollute or to miss paperwork. It’s still a violation and the regulator will extract its pint of blood, but to deliberately violate a regulation is something the regulators will demand more than a pint for. It will never be the maximum allowable ($37,500 per vehicle), but I will not be shocked to see it run into the billions. It is also possible that individuals will be found criminally liable. I think that’s less likely, but developing and using a defeat device is probably a criminal offense if the vehicle regulations are parallel to other environmental regulations. Violating a standard is a bad thing, but it happens. Violating a standard then lying about it is (literally) criminal in the regulatory realm.
VW is going to have to fix the problem. What that means now isn’t clear, but adding a pollution control device post-market isn’t going to be easy. It may be possible that the fix is going to be computer-based, but that will likely mean a severe hit on the performance of the vehicle, otherwise, it would have been low-polluting and no defeat device would have been required. Either way, VW is going to be footing the bill for the fixes.
VW customers will also have their turn to make VW pay. Their cars are suddenly worth less. Their cars will likely take a performance hit and/or require more money to maintain. Customers were told they were getting a car that met emission standards, which they did not get. Civil suits are inevitable and customers are likely to win significant money.
VW is going to pay dearly for cheating. And it should.
Sorry. I didn’t see that. Than again, it was in MPSIMS.
Did you put it there because:
A. The environment is trivial
B. You consider VWs violation minor
C. You are so jaded by corporate malfeasance that it no longer generates any real
emotional outrage
D. You have poor thread placement skills
E. You were afraid someone would be mean to you if you posted in the pit
F. All the cool people hang out in MPSIMS so you wanted to post there.
G. You are using a browser that requires you to reboot your computer in order to change forums
H. Something else
By my understanding of the issue, the fix should be fairly simple. All the components to make the vehicles meet emission standards are already in place and can be activated by the onboard computers. The fix will be to just have the emissions control system always active like it should be. I suppose the question at that point is how much of a performance hit the vehicles will be taking. Will they be going from 25 and 30 MPG to 15 and 20?
A) Only the VW Diesels were affected. That’s about half of what VW sells in the US, which is one of their smallest markets. Lots of VW owners in the US won’t be seeing a penny or any changes in their cars at all.
B) The performance hit they’ll take by switching to full time emissions control mode is a blip. The performance of the cars they’ve sold in the US is already crap, so it’s not like you’re turning a Ferrari into a VW, you’re turning a VW into a slightly crappier VW.
C) The emissions defeat device was little more than a few extra lines of code in their computer controlled emissions system program. With as few cars as they sell in the US and as little effort as they put into making them well, compared to the EU versions of the same vehicles(hard plastic interiors, crappy suspensions), don’t think this was anything more involved than it had to be to get around the EPA regs. Just like they got around the exchange rates and import taxes by building a factory in Mexico to crank out these little VW buggers.
D) VW is exploding in popularity in South America and Asia. This isn’t going to hurt the company long-term. They’ll take a bloody nose on the US sales and then charge ahead selling their little crap-boxes to developing markets. This is a minor bump on their road to world domination. Dust off your armbands and practice your salute, they’re winning this world war.
E) European regulators are a bunch of pussies who may talk big about wanting to examine if their clean air regs were flaunted by VW as well, but they’ve got a house built on sand and they know it. They’ve looked the other way so many times they’ve got owls perching outside their offices watching and wondering how they do that. And if you say the Indian or Chinese government gives half a shit about enforcing clean air regs I’ll sell you a bridge for WAY below market.
F) Good ol’ boys like Caterpillar and Cummins have been busted for damn near the same thing. You don’t have to be a Nazi to want to fuck everyone over so you can keep/make your money. Everyone wants to save the snowy owls and California condors, but go ahead and put a car with shitty emissions and a $5k lower price tag up against one with good emissions and that extra $5k. You’ll find most people will take the money they save right to Wal-Mart where they’ll buy shit they don’t need, that was made in China by a bunch of smoke-belching factories. Cause greenbacks uber alles mother fucker.
I got VW out of my system in 1978, when I got rid of the incredibly flimsy, breakdown-prone Rabbit that I had bought new in '75. Brilliant conceptually, but lord, what a piece of tin. So, the current flap doesn’t mean much to me except for a bit of light entertaiment.
Starting with model year 2009, actually. Which is either good or bad for me and my '06 Jetta TDI. On the one hand, I don’t get to sue for any sweet, sweet VW money, but OTOH my car’s performance won’t change in any way.
