I'm not saying they are good or bad. I'm just saying that
1) VW aren't alone in what they have done (in EU / UK many tests have shown other brands to produce too much emissions)
It's just that for some reason America has a huge dislike of products which are not "American" and specifically in the state of California hates diesel cars (cars in general lol)
2) The value of the cars IMO aren't effected. You as a consumer, your car is just as as fast (dyno tests show as more powerful infact) and your economy is still very good. The reasons you have bought the car are still valid.
3) How many hugely smokey pickup trucks with those Cummins diesels are people driving around without getting any of the hate....?
As mentioned above the general attitude is not of knowledgeable, informed opinions, but a media driven hatred towards VW TDI's, purely as a result of the media making this a huge issue, by people, who frankly know nothing about cars!
No-one seems to have the same attitude for older models over the years... it's just a bandwagon that people can jump on, which makes them feel better about themselves. Lol.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defeat_device
1) It's absolutely irrelevant what other manufacturers are doing. VW defrauded governmental agencies as well as consumers alike. No manufacturer has gone to the lengths to do what VW did on this large of a scale. 482,000 cars, an additional ~100,000 SUV's here in the U.S. and about 10.5 million cars in Europe.
2) The value of the cars are affected. If my car gets totaled, the payout I will receive from my insurance company will be less than that of what I would receive if all things were equal and this scandal did not occur. So through absolutely no fault of my own, but instead, of the fraud of VW, I am financially affected if my car is totaled or I decide to sell it. And who wants to even buy my car knowing the future of the car is up in the air until possibly 2 days from now? If someone takes a bat to your windshield and keys your car, through no fault of your own, your vehicle is devalued. It's a very similar concept.
Normally I wouldn't care about something like this as I tend to take care of my cars and drive them until the wheels fall off but my MK4 PD was totaled when I parked in on a street in Manhattan. Insurance opened up the blue book and paid the value at the time. So I'm always conscious that these things happen.
3) Absolutely irrelevant. What one does with their own car and whatever laws they choose to break does not affect what the manufacturer, through careful and planned fraud, has done. You mention Cummins diesels, how many TDI Club members are operating their vehicle on public roads (scandal affected cars or not) with emissions equipment purposefully removed in violation of Federal laws?
You don't have to be a mechanical engineer or a 'car guy' to clearly see the level of fraud VW engaged. This was a concerted effort by VW to save an average of $324 on the retail price of a TDI. They used code words to describe their on-going fraud internally and reaped the benefits of being able to sell a car for a lower price than if they actually complied with regulations.
The Federal government handed out tax credits to buyers of new TDI cars in 2009 amounting to $50,000,000 in tax subsidies because the car was considered a "clean diesel."
I love my TDI and diesels in general but I can separate my love for TDI's and all things diesel to know that what VW is absolutely atrocious. I really do hope they find a 'fix' for my 2010 Golf, but I doubt it considering the value of a 6 year old car vs. fixing it and the problems with a change in performance. Fuel Economy is highly regulated and if the cars start to consume more fuel, the EPA numbers will need to be retroactively adjusted and VW will have to pay the difference. BMW had an issue with some 7-series alternators cooking batteries and it was either disable the system that allowed the alternator to free-wheel to save a few MPGs and retroactively go back and have EPA re-adjust number and pay the difference to warranty the batteries and change them at every (yes, every) 10,000 oil change.
On Friday, hopefully VW will have a concrete plan as Judge Breyer required. At the last appearance, VW claimed to have engineers working around the clock for a fix so we'll see what happens.