What was the easier fix just got buried in soot. The tides have suddenly turned for consumers in the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Months ago, it was looking as if finding a remedy for owners of Volkswagen, Porsche, and Audi models with the 3.0-liter turbo-diesel (TDI) V-6 was going to be the easy part?far easier than fixing the VW 2.0-liter four-cylinder TDI.
Yet now, with a buyback plan underway for those 2.0-liter engines, a settlement plan reached with federal regulators, and individual settlements reached with the majority of the states, Volkswagen?s pockets are feeling about $15 billion lighter, but the company’s path toward redemption is far better defined than it was a few weeks ago.
That is, until you consider those V-6 TDI models. Now it?s quite clear that the typically more affluent owners of these models?higher-priced luxury vehicles, for the most part?will go the longest without seeing their vehicles fixed. In a particularly blunt statement released yesterday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said it found the proposed recall plans from Volkswagen and Audi regarding those engines to be ?incomplete and deficient in a number of areas.?
CARB, in the letter that went out to Volkswagen and Audi, highlighted a number of details, including inadequate data and an incomplete demonstration of how the repair would affect fuel economy, drivability, and performance and of how average emissions levels would compare before and after the fix.
The Rare Time P...