This just in: they paid out.
Volkswagen has paid out a STARTLING £193m to settle 91,000(!) legal claims in England and Wales linked to the VW emission scandal. The law is the law; if a company misleads its customers, it should not be able to walk away from the sale without being held responsible. Fortunately, that’s just what’s happened. Identifiable as the VW emission scandal, the diesel dupe or even Dieselgate, it’s safe to say that VW and paying for their mistakes. See, VW claimed their vehicles were not just legally compliant but environmentally friendly. As has come to light, this was patently untrue. Back in 2015, it became clear that VW had some – shall we say – murky intentions. Intentions that were not only damaging to public health and the environment but – as VW is now learning – its credibility. Now, anyone who has owned or leased a diesel car or van manufactured since 2008 by VW is eligible to claim over specific models. Those who have, are now entitled to receive at least £2,100(!) each after joining forces to take legal action against the iconic manufacturer. Not only that but VW is also believed to be paying out tens of millions of pounds to cover the claimants’ legal costs. The reason?
Along with Audi, Seat and Skoda, VW vehicles emitted more nitrogen dioxide than they claimed.
In fact, VW downright installed "defeat devices". These devices' chief purpose was to diminish the traceability of any increase in NOx emissions . . . which obviously doesn't fit VW's clean-cut image. VW has since admitted to having found "irregularities" in measuring levels of carbon dioxide emissions. These "irregularities" could affect about 800,000 cars in Europe alone – including petrol vehicles. This was despite having a HUGE marketing campaign that promoted the opposite. You know the one, how "Clean Diesel" was a great alternative to hybrid and electric vehicles as it featured significantly low emissions . . . yeah, that one.
Now – okay – VW were wrong. VW got fined. However, just how many owners based their buying decisions on false emissions data?
This also happened to be when the UK Government incentivised the decision to go diesel as it was "less polluting". . . which in itself has had a knock-on effect on the now patently unrealistic car tax. The trouble is, this begs the question. If some VW buyers paid lower vehicle exercise duty (VED) rates because VW fiddled their figures - who is responsible? Buyers have already begun to accept compensation for their claims. So, are they now responsible for paying the DVLA for unwittingly paying lower VED rates for their years of ownership? Would this not be considered fraud – whether committed knowingly or not? It's food for thought but something we'll leave to the legal professionals. Disregarding speculation, however, this opens up the possibility of recourse for those unaware of the VW emission scandal. Anyone considering filing a claim will have to produce an original purchase invoice and payment receipt for their VW vehicle. For more information on the exact details, visit the source at Volkswagen.co.uk.
Wow! Okay, so we’re not typically ones to break “bad news" but we’re willing to bet this has set a lot of tongues wagging in the VW community. If you’ve stumbled across this page out of interest in the topic, allow me to introduce myself . . .
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