Buyback Lessons Learned

chief poncho

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2016
Location
Arizona
TDI
Jetta
Just thought I'd start this thread for late comers, procrastinators and just folks that put off doing the buyback/modification until later.

So what are your lessons from the buyback, such as pitfalls to avoid, things to speed things along, or just general tips for making the process as smooth as possible?

Here are a few of mine:

1. Mileage adjustment is calculated based on the 1st of each month. When scheduling your buyback verify your adjusted mileage. Waiting a single day longer could net you $300-$700 extra.

2. Even though mileage adjustment has been beaten to death on this forum, keep this in mind. Your buyback/modification mileage adjustment is calculated by subtracting 1042 x number of months since Sept 2015 from the mileage at your turn-in date. VW uses 5k increments for each bracket such as 0-5000; 5001-10,000; 10,001 - 15,000; etc. If you don't understand how this works, research it.

3. If you don't want to dig through the settlement tables, use an online calculator to get an accurate estimate of your buyback/modification amount. https://agrahamg.github.io/VWBuybackCalculator/

4. If your car has sat for awhile, make sure it will start a couple days prior to the buyback. Dead batteries, rodent damage, etc can make you miss your appointment. If you need a battery, consider picking up a used one instead of paying full price for new. Jumping the car to get you to the appointment may not be enough, since the claims adjuster will want to start the vehicle prior to completing the turn-in.

5. I highly recommend using the electronic transfer over a paper check. If there is a mileage adjustment it's automatically handled and there is no need to reschedule.

6. If you have a loan, continue making payments until VW pays off the lien. Don't just assume this will happen as some folks have experienced as many as 6 weeks delay in loan payoff.

7. If your loan is not paid off within 2 weeks (10 working days) of completing your buyback, contact VW claims via the help number or online chat and ask for a tracking number for the payoff check. This was extremely helpful in determining exactly when my bank received the check (24 calendar days after turn-in).

8. If you haven't filed a claim yet and are close to having your loan paid off, do so before filing or wait to file until the loan is paid off and you receive the title or lien release. Clear titles are processed much faster than vehicles with liens.

9. When scheduling your appointment be sure to check multiple dealers for the earliest date.

10. Double check to remove any media such as CDs or SD cards from the infotainment system.

11. If collecting your payment by check at turn-in, verify the check is physically in the hands of the buyback rep before signing any paperwork.

12. If turning in a crash damaged car, you may or may not have the buyback accepted depending on the level of damage and the buyback rep executing the process.

13. Don't unload your vandalized and graffiti plastered with vulgar insults car while blocking the service entrance of the dealership.

14. If flying United, make sure you wear head gear, padding and are UFC trained, just in case you need to get bumped for United employees to get to their destination. ;)



That's it for me...I know others have a lot more to add.
 
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DanB36

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Location
Savannah, GA
TDI
2014 Q5 Prestige TDI, Monsoon Gray
Your buyback/modification mileage adjustment is calculated by subtracting 1042 x number of months since Sept 2015 from the mileage at your turn-in date.
So ******* much this. The mileage brackets are for the adjusted mileage, not the mileage reading on your odometer. It's in black and white on the charts themselves.

I highly recommend using the electronic transfer over a paper check. If there is a mileage adjustment it's automatically handled and there is no need to reschedule.
Word is that they're finally doing what the settlement documents require them to do: mailing you a check if your mileage is enough higher than expected, that your payment is lower than expected. With that said, I still favor EFT, though there have been problems with both methods of payment.
 

2015vwgolfdiesel

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 1, 2016
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
2015 VW Golf S DSG Silver
2. Even though mileage adjustment has been beaten to death on this forum, keep this in mind. Your buyback/modification mileage adjustment is calculated by subtracting 1042 x number of months since Sept 2015 from the mileage at your turn-in date. VW uses 5k increments for each bracket such as 0-5000; 5001-10,000; 10,001 - 15,000; etc. If you don't understand how this works, research it.


Crying in my beer over this BB factor. My adjusted mileage is a negative 15,500 miles


Along with the fact my car is in pristine condition. -- We all know about the really stinko condition units being turned in.


Should I be thrilled I am getting the WAG $$$$s --- Heck yes, I am X 10 -- :D

At least I will have a good feeling, that someone will get a nice car, after WAG resells it. :rolleyes:
 

2015vwgolfdiesel

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 1, 2016
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
2015 VW Golf S DSG Silver
Brian P.
formerly ... 2006 Jetta TDI 5-sp, Spice Red, Unitronics stage 1, 0.681 5th gear.
and before that ... 1996 Passat TDI, Silk Blue
GoFaster is offline Report Post

Brien, Is your (passed) Silk Blue the exact same Silky Blue of today's cars?

I'm somewhat thrilled with my Tungsten Silver. But the "blue" is still in my heart.
 

Airpizz6

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Location
Bel Air, MD
TDI
Now TDI-free, but there now is a 15 MB E250 BT in the driveway
Turned in one last Wednesday. Spent nearly an hour cleaning out the car beforehand - glove box, console, trunk, seat back pockets, EZ Pass tag, erased the nav system memory, zeroed the Homelink, etc... Then today I remembered - left my wife's favorite CD in the car. Dang, guess you can never be too careful.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
10. Check to ensure all CDs and SD cards are removed from radio!
....and if the nav unit / radio has an HD or SSD, one may find it desirable to erase any mp3s or whatever that have been loaded onto it.
 

jekl843

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Location
CT
TDI
2011 Golf TDI (sold), 2002 Jetta TDI 5spd, 2017 GTI SE 6spd
10. Check to ensure all CDs and SD cards are removed from radio!
Whoops! Good advice after the fact, I completely forgot the CDs in my car when I turned it in... Oh well, I first put them in 2011 when I first got it and almost never used 'em again after hooking up the Ipod. At least I remembered to take that.
 

Airpizz6

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Location
Bel Air, MD
TDI
Now TDI-free, but there now is a 15 MB E250 BT in the driveway
Turned my second one in today. The agent was happy to see that I had downloaded the online forms and completed them in advance. She indicated that I was the first this week to do. So:

11. If you want to save time at the buyback appointment, download and complete the forms in advance.
 

Cairo1984

New member
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Location
Toronto
TDI
2014 Passat
I am a late comer... sorry guys..

I am assuming these tips are solely for the USA given that Canada's court proceedings are still in the works?

Is there anything Canadians can do in the meantime if we want to rid ourselves of our vehicle (private sale? etc.) or are we at the courts mercy?

Lastly, I purchased my vehicle after the scandal broke (I purchased it in Jan. 2016). Anyone know how that effects me or if I still qualify? The class action lawsuit website is a bit vague as it says "you MAY qualify" vs "you DO".

Any feedback is appreciated!
 

Armby

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Location
Ottawa, Canada
TDI
2013 Golf
I am assuming these tips are solely for the USA given that Canada's court proceedings are still in the works?
You should ask your questions in The Dieselgate the Canadian Edition sticky but not before doing some reading of the latest messages in that thread and reading the FAQ on the https://www.vwcanadasettlement.ca/en/ site.

You are an eligible purchaser. See question 15 in the FAQ. You will get a cash payment if you have your car fixed (if a fix is approved). In Canada an eligible purchaser will not be able to do the buyback unless there is no fix.
 

shirec08

New member
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Location
Indiana
TDI
2011 Golf TDI
I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but I initially opted for the fix. Since then, I came across a 12' GTI at a price I couldn't pass up. I had my VWGoA Online Claim Account reverted back to the step asking for choice of fix or buyback. I'll likely be going the buyback route, but had some questions first.

1. Are there any mileage milestones that will significantly impact offer? (I'm approaching 100k).
2. A guy who owns a VW Rabbit was interested in my wheels. If I swapped with his generic ones, how might that effect me?
3. For some reason, the prior GTI owner removed the back headrests. If I were to take the ones out of my TDI, again, what's the end result with offer amount?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. If you don't feel like going into detail, tell me where to look. I have no problem doing my own research, I just wanted to narrow the scope of my search a bit. Thanks in advance!
 

DanB36

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Location
Savannah, GA
TDI
2014 Q5 Prestige TDI, Monsoon Gray
1. Mileage brackets, as noted at least twice above, are based on adjusted mileage. No round number milestones on your odometer matter; the brackets are 5000 miles wide for adjusted mileage. And the difference is on the order of a few hundred dollars between brackets.
2. It won't affect you in the least. If you return the car on four donut spares, they might not want to take it, but if it's on four normal wheels you should be fine.
3. Again, no effect at all.
 

shirec08

New member
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Location
Indiana
TDI
2011 Golf TDI
1. Mileage brackets, as noted at least twice above, are based on adjusted mileage. No round number milestones on your odometer matter; the brackets are 5000 miles wide for adjusted mileage. And the difference is on the order of a few hundred dollars between brackets.
2. It won't affect you in the least. If you return the car on four donut spares, they might not want to take it, but if it's on four normal wheels you should be fine.
3. Again, no effect at all.
Thanks, Danno. I read about the mileage brackets (at least twice from above) but wanted to make sure there was no fine print or any additional factors outside of the general brackets. At this point, I feel like the longer I give VW to find a way to screw me, the more creative they will become in doing so. Cheers!
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
<snip>
2. A guy who owns a VW Rabbit was interested in my wheels. If I swapped with his generic ones, how might that effect me?
<snip>
Be sure you've got the same pattern of wheel lugs. Our son is turning his '13 Jetta TDI inon Monday, and was going to swap wheels / tires with hi '02 Jetta GLI. Can't happen; different lug patterns.
 

bubbagumpshrimp

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2013
Location
Virginia
TDI
'13 Jetta TDI
Turned my second one in today. The agent was happy to see that I had downloaded the online forms and completed them in advance. She indicated that I was the first this week to do. So:

11. If you want to save time at the buyback appointment, download and complete the forms in advance.
Yup. I had the forms ready to go. From the time I pulled onto the lot to the time I walked out the door with the check was x < 15 minutes.
 

todds87ss

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Location
Lake Jackson, Tx
TDI
2003 Jetta, 2012 Passat SE
http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/todds87ss/passsat/passat_zpsmlcwrsmn.jpg
they will now cut you a check at the appointment. they even took my broke-a**-deer-killin-bumper-draggin Passat, no questions (some interesting looks, though). It just had to drive in under it's own TDI awesomeness. That alone is a testament to the VW engineering. On my way out of the dealership, I asked if they were going to release the 2015s - some fixed, some new. The sales manager said "soon". You never know. I may end up going from a broken 2012 to a new 2015...fingers crossed.
 

Salsaman06

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Location
Texas
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL (sold back to VWoA Dec 21, 2016)
This is a checklist I made for myself before turning in my car (because i tend to forget the obvious )




- [x] Remove Bluetooth adapter fm OBDII port
- [x] Remove any media from the NAV system (CDs/SD cards)
- [x] Clear custom POIs from NAV system
- [x] unpair phone and iPod
- [x] clear home setting and any contact info stored in the NAV system
- [x] Clear front console
- [x] Clear out rear of console
- [x] Clear rear arm rest
- [x] Clear all 4 door pockets
- [x] Remove Toll tag from windshield
- [x] Remove dash cam from windshield
- [x] Clear glovebox
- [x] Clear driver glove box
- [x] Clear sunglasses roof console
- [x] Remove front headrest slip covers
- [x] Remove dash mat
- [x] Remove front and rear license plates
- [x] and license frames
- [x] Remove custom fit front sunscreen
- [x] Remove monster mats
- [x] Remove trunk contents
- [x] Remove tools fm spare tire area
- [x] Remove trunk mat and cargo blocks
- [x] Remove trunk package hook
- [x] Remove Panzer Plate
- [x] File notice with DMV
- [x] Deactivate satellite radio
 

JAV37

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Location
Newark, Ohio
TDI
2001, 2002 Jetta TDI 2011 Golf tdi, 2014 Jetta TDI wagon
anyone keeping their TDI?

I am planning to keep my 2011 Golf. I do not want the modification/s to make it "better". Is anyone else planning to keep theirs? If so do you think any parts will be available? Do you think they will force us to give them up? The dealer called me a "5%er" Not real happy with them either. I just want a TDI I can drive and find parts for like my A4 ALH.
 

vmb

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Location
Omaha, NE
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen
http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq245/todds87ss/passsat/passat_zpsmlcwrsmn.jpg
they will now cut you a check at the appointment. they even took my broke-a**-deer-killin-bumper-draggin Passat, no questions (some interesting looks, though). It just had to drive in under it's own TDI awesomeness. That alone is a testament to the VW engineering. On my way out of the dealership, I asked if they were going to release the 2015s - some fixed, some new. The sales manager said "soon". You never know. I may end up going from a broken 2012 to a new 2015...fingers crossed.
Well if they took that, hopefully they'll take mine, with all it's engine sputtering and short-circuit-reporting, misfiring nonsense... Assuming it'll make it to the dealer.
 

Dieselaire

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2007
Location
Kennedy Space Center
TDI
2015 Golf SEL SportsWagon
Turned in 2011 TDI SportsWagen What to expect on a new TDI

We completed our buy back on our 2011 TDI SportsWagen. We did not use the same buy back dealer that we bought the car from. Completed all forms with no problem, Check was cut and presented to us in about 1/2 hour. The female VW Rep said it was one of the cleanest cars turned in. (No Extra incentive was offered) We expected to trade in on a New 2015 SportsWagen. No such luck, Losing the Sales Tax incentive on a trade in. So we had already made a deposit on a 2015 TDI SEL SportsWagen several months before. This was to sew up a Deal on the particular vehicle that we wanted. Our local dealer had 22 of these TDI 2015 SportsWagens with only 2 that was SEL trim packages. All the rest were SE trim. VW of America will sell the remaining TDI cars at full factory retail. The only incentive is a $5000 rebate on VW:confused: financing 0%. All prior dealer incentives were revoked. There was no dealing, take it or leave it. We did work with the local dealer salesman, but their hands were tied by VW of America on any offers as VW still owned the cars. Did We Get Screwed? As the current blue book on a new 2015 loaded SEL SportsWagen is about $25,000 plus a little more for 0 mileage. Original Factory sticker price on the 2015 $32,265
 

DanB36

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Location
Savannah, GA
TDI
2014 Q5 Prestige TDI, Monsoon Gray
The female VW Rep said it was one of the cleanest cars turned in. (No Extra incentive was offered)
Of course not; condition is not a factor here unless it's in bad enough shape that the rep thinks it's been stripped, or that it isn't roadworthy, in which case they won't take it at all. There's no adjusting of value for condition.

We expected to trade in on a New 2015 SportsWagen. No such luck, Losing the Sales Tax incentive on a trade in.
There's no reason you should have expected that; this isn't a trade-in and never has been.

We did work with the local dealer salesman, but their hands were tied by VW of America on any offers as VW still owned the cars.
They lied to you. MSRP minus the $5k does seem to be the deal most people are getting, but at least a few have gotten a lower price.
 

vtbigdog

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Location
Vermont
TDI
2012 Jetta TDI DSG
I am planning to keep my 2011 Golf. I do not want the modification/s to make it "better". Is anyone else planning to keep theirs? If so do you think any parts will be available? Do you think they will force us to give them up? The dealer called me a "5%er" Not real happy with them either. I just want a TDI I can drive and find parts for like my A4 ALH.
Your State may enact legislation that would not allow you to register your vehicle if you have not installed an available emissions fix, even if there is no emissions testing in your state...fyi
 

DanB36

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2003
Location
Savannah, GA
TDI
2014 Q5 Prestige TDI, Monsoon Gray
Your State may enact legislation that would not allow you to register your vehicle if you have not installed an available emissions fix, even if there is no emissions testing in your state...fyi
No, they may not. They've agreed not to as a condition of receiving funds under this settlement.
 

branforddiesel

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Location
CT
TDI
2001 '01 golf TDI 4dr 5speed
trade appointment is in an hour..Really quick question. I've got a 127,500 on it now. If I wait until next week to turn it in , would I be netting more?. Does adding another month stretch out acquired mileage? Thanks, Jeff
 

3 Diesels

Active member
Joined
Dec 22, 2012
Location
RI
TDI
09 Jetta TDI with Performance Chip 284,000 miles, 05 Passat TDI with Race Injectors & Performance Chip 302,000 miles& GMC Suburban 6.5L Diesel 4x4 3/4 ton 179,000 miles, 2015 Passat TDI SE w Roof, no Nav, 6 speed.
After VW's Updates then what?

I have a 09 TDI Jetta 270k 6 speed and a 2015 Passat TDI 6 Speed and I am concerned what happens after the 'updates'. If any one has had them done and can tell me please post. I have heard the older Jetta's run hotter and parts tend to go faster. The new 2015 I just expect to loose performance and mpg. I appreciate anyone that can add their experiences for the following:
1. Performance differences
2. MPG losses
3. Mechanical issues after the fix

I have not yet had either car fixed due to web site locking on government vehicles which these are now.
Thanks Very Much!
 

Fourplay

, TDI Parts Ninja Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Nov 6, 2015
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
2014 A8L
I have a 09 TDI Jetta 270k 6 speed and a 2015 Passat TDI 6 Speed and I am concerned what happens after the 'updates'. If any one has had them done and can tell me please post. I have heard the older Jetta's run hotter and parts tend to go faster. The new 2015 I just expect to loose performance and mpg. I appreciate anyone that can add their experiences for the following:
1. Performance differences
2. MPG losses
3. Mechanical issues after the fix

I have not yet had either car fixed due to web site locking on government vehicles which these are now.
Thanks Very Much!
There is not a fix for your Jetta. It's unlikely that there ever will be.
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
There is not a fix for your Jetta. It's unlikely that there ever will be.
The first sentence is correct. The second one is speculative.

There is a fix for that poster's Passat (at least, the first stage of such a fix), and people don't seem to be reporting degraded performance or fuel consumption. It seems to be fine. Take note that the fix for that car involves a pro-active replacement of the DPF under some circumstances, which could indicate that the "downside" is shortened life of the emission control components ... but that's what the 162,000 mile warranty is for.
 
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