For owners and lessees of 3.0-liter V-6 TDI-equipped Volkswagen vehicles affected by a huge diesel emissions scandal, the wait for compensation appears to be nearing an end. In a settlement filed in California federal court, Volkswagen has agreed to a $1.2 billion payout to those who bought or leased about 78,000 affected cars and crossovers.
A similar, $14.7 billion settlement involving 475,000 2.0-liter four-cylinder TDI-equipped cars was filed in June. Since October, the German automaker has been giving out cash payments in addition to offering to buy back, terminate leases, or fix the cars. Payments are based on the car?s age. In buying them back, Volkswagen has been using trade-in values frozen in September 2015, when the German automaker first admitted to using ?defeat devices? to trick U.S. emissions tests. The settlement for 3.0-liter TDI vehicles is similar except that the owners of newer vehicles may not have the option to sell their cars back to the automaker, because Volkswagen could offer a fix that satisfies U.S. regulators.
The settlement for 3.0-liter TDIs is divided into Generation 1 and Generation 2 vehicles, because of different engine designs. Generation 1 includes 2009?2012 Volkswagen Touaregs and Audi Q7s, while Generation 2 includes 2013?2016 Touaregs; 2013?2015 Q7s; 2014?2016 Audi A6, A7, A8, A8L and Q5s; and 2013?2016 Porsche Cayenne diesels.
For the Generation 2 vehicles, government regulators are giving Volkswagen the opportunity to repair the...