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Date:         Thu, 1 Oct 2015 18:45:43 -0700
Reply-To:     Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: NVC Re: VW gave diesel drivers what they wanted!
Comments: To: James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <BLU169-W120BEA1C494C8DCD6009C1BE04C0@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

It's pretty simple: VW sold people on a myth--an affordable "clean diesel" high performance European car.

BMW, Mercedes, and other high end manufacturers (Audi/VW!!) make clean diesels that work just fine, but they cost a lot more, and maintenance is more expensive.

The VW-made Audi that was tested along with the Passat and Jetta that were busted passed just fine. VW passed their other TDIs for years by cheating with software to sell a fake high performance clean diesel to the masses--11 million times over. They knew exactly what they were doing, and it's called "fraud with criminal intent."

They charged a premium for a diesel that was supposed to be as clean and fun to drive as the gas version but with much better mileage, and it was a lie. After the fix these cars won't be fun to drive and will have much worse mileage. It's likely hundreds of thousands of people will feel cheated and want some or all of their money back.

VW will pay a huge price in both dollars and in a severely damaged reputation that could take a generation to recover from in the US.

This appears to be the result of an overpowering drive to be the world's largest auto manufacturer at any cost, the same drive that led to Toyota's recent quality problems. They are punching each other stupid, and it's causing bad decisions at the top.

A possible result is that Audi may offer a full range of cars in the US and VW as a brand might just disappear.

Stuart VW owner since 1974, but I'll never buy a new one.

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of James Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 12:29 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: NVC Re: VW gave diesel drivers what they wanted!

The opposite argument to this is that they did it for the faithful VW loving diesel owner. Let me explain this alternate argument.

If you have a VW diesel, you probably value its fuel economy and power most - not many people outside of the LA and Frankfurt 'smog basins' or the EPA care that much about NOx. By running with this 'trick' software, VW gave owners the best of both worlds - a car that will pass emissions tests as required by governments, AND a car that gets fabulous fuel economy and great power in real-world driving.

I know very few VW diesel owners who boast about their car's low pollution numbers. I know a lot of VW diesel owners who boast about their car's power and exceptional fuel economy - about how they get even better fuel mileage than the EPA/Transport Canada estimates.

In that sense, VW was just giving its faithful diesel owners EXACTLY what they wanted.

Pity that what VW diesel drivers wanted was technically impossible, and the VW solution to give it to them was thus illegal.

=


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