Quote:
Originally Posted by Boreas
I suppose the governments involved would attempt to moderate the punitive aspect of their response but it would be unconscionable for them, or for VW, to allow these cars to remain on the road in their present configuration. The cars need to be brought into full compliance or bought back.
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I'm thinking buy-back (I believe I read somewhere that VW's announced write-down corresponds to the projected cost of a buy-back program). If it costs $6-7k per vehicle to retrofit (on some cars with residual value not much greater) and it doesn't make much sense. Moreover, they may have problems designing a retrofit into these small cars (which likely contributed to the subterfuge to begin with).
The hitch will be whether VW is forced to buy them back at their depreciated value before or after the news broke (the news itself likely devalued the cars significantly). You can bet that VW will want the latter. You can bet there will be folks who love their cars and its (illegally derived) efficiency and performance who will put up a stink about getting $10-12K for a car they bought 4-5 years ago for $25k.