Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[team_v]

If only we could bury our own exhaust emissions
https://youtu.be/f41HfZGzQPs

We can, but it is prohibitively expensive and not worth the outlay.

[tigger73]

Well I have to admit I haven't been following the conversation in this thread for the last 1300 posts. It all ended up getting a bit repetitive.

Anyways some interesting discussions I had today was that rumour has it that all the diesel cars that have been pulled for sale in Australia actually do meet the emissions requirements and now ACCC is in real trouble as they have effectively forced VWA to lose $millions in business and have cars pulled from sale for 9 months.

So there is no fix required here in Australia because the cars already meet the requirements and some heads are no doubt going to roll unless it all gets hushed up and swept under the carpet. Plus a big expenses and damages bill gets paid.

Anyway that's the rumour. Sorry if I'm repeating old news which has already been discussed but I'm not going to trawl through 1300+ posts of diesel bashing and frustrated diesel owners.

I wonder if Maurice Blackburn will be calling for a class action of VW diesel owners against the ACCC/Commonwealth government then?

[Greg Roles]

Gee that's an interesting rumour twist!

[Ryeman]

".........rumour has it........"
Right.......

[tigger73]

Well this thread is full of rumour and innuendo so I thought I'd start one that may actually be based in a little bit of truth.... and also explain why it's taken so long for VW to come up with a technical fix. Fact is there is no technical fix needed and it's all down to face saving. Looks like it's all being held up in bureaucratic processes and then because there was an election in the middle of it nobody wanted egg on their face right in the middle of an 8 week election campaign. So it's dragged on longer than it probably should have.

Moral of the story someone pulled the pin on VW diesel sales before they had the proof that the cars were actually running outside the limits without the cheat software. The fact that the cheat software was installed was probably just an oversight because it actually wasn't needed to meet Australian emissions laws.

Well that's the rumour at least

[Ryeman]

It's all about the U.S. situation that VW are concentrating on and even in the EU there is frustration at the lack of clarity.
Australia is a very low priority in comparison and government seems relaxed about it all.
VW claim the illegality is confined to the U.S. in any case due to their unique standards.
The Chevy Cruze diesel and 2017 BMWs have been cleared for sale though.

For VW it's more of an international embarrassment.

[Dutch77]

Well this thread is full of rumour and innuendo..

Never, ever let the the facts get in the way of a good VW rumour..

[Amalgam]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2016...RTVEJk5uZT0xNQ..

Volkswagen Group to fit particulate filters to all petrols

Filters to be introduced on all vehicles by 2017, VW Tiguan and Audi A5 will get them first next June 2017

[Ryeman]

VW's U.S. EV platforms
VW details plans for 3 EV platforms, more SUVs

[jets]

So there is no fix required here in Australia because the cars already meet the requirements

I stated this in one of my early posts but it was ignored by those who wanted to peddle tripe as one person put it.
The only issue here is if you bought a VW believing it met Euro 5 standards but the truth is it only met Euro 4 but still complied with Aust standards. VW are prepared to fix your car so that it will comply to Euro 5 at no expense to the owner. If you were to ask someone about to buy a VW back in '08 or when ever, 99.9% of buyers would have no comprehension of what it all meant & it would not have influenced their decision on a purchase.

[woofy]

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2016...RTVEJk5uZT0xNQ..

Volkswagen Group to fit particulate filters to all petrols



Filters to be introduced on all vehicles by 2017, VW Tiguan and Audi A5 will get them first next June 2017

That would be the last thing I want, it's bad enough that diesels have it so if you live in city traffic you can plan on it getting blocked, what the hell are petrol owners supposed to do if there is no option anymore. Hello mass migration from the VAG group....

[tigger73]

I stated this in one of my early posts but it was ignored by those who wanted to peddle tripe as one person put it.
The only issue here is if you bought a VW believing it met Euro 5 standards but the truth is it only met Euro 4 but still complied with Aust standards. VW are prepared to fix your car so that it will comply to Euro 5 at no expense to the owner. If you were to ask someone about to buy a VW back in '08 or when ever, 99.9% of buyers would have no comprehension of what it all meant & it would not have influenced their decision on a purchase.

Well I can tell you that there are certainly a number of people within VWA and VW dealership network that are just a little bit annoyed that the ACCC have essentially stopped them from trading for no good reason. If a car has been advertised as meeting a particular emissions standard and doesn't then that's one thing (misleading advertising), however if it's not compliant to the emissions regulations then that is a completely separate issue.

So the ACCC could possibly ping VW for false advertising if they'd put these claims in their brochures that weren't true. But seriously I think it would be less than 1% of customers that would have bought the car because it was Euro 5 instead of Euro 4 compliant as listed somewhere in the back in the tech specs.

But VW has a much bigger case of restriction of trade against the ACCC who have pulled all the non-MQB diesels off the market (Tiguan, Jetta, etc). Plus damages to the brand, etc, etc.

Somehow I don't think this story is over.

[Ryeman]

I thought VW chose to withdraw diesels.

[tigger73]

I don't think they would have done it voluntarily unless VW knew there was a major issue and that they were breaching emissions regulations.

From what I understand VW were instructed to remove vehicles from sale until the cars went back through compliance testing. Cars passed compliance testing and now the issue is that they shouldn't have been pulled from sale in the first place. Basically the government cocked it up because they didn't have the evidence before they told VW to pull the cars from sale.

I think it's just the fact that we have (had) an auto industry that is a little bit behind the rest of the world in terms of meeting emissions standards and one of the ways that the government could assist the local industry to compete was to allow them more time to meet the regs. I think this may have saved VW in this case.

[Ryeman]

I suspect there was so much confusion they simply took the easy route.
I don't recall the ACCC making any threatening statements.
I don't think VW are wanting any more court action than necessary.
They now have to deal with individual action in numerous U.S. states, both from govt and class actions in each and having just been put through the ringer by the Federal regulators.
Korea is playing hardball also but that may be more to do with protecting their own industry, something they are expert at.