If there is no fix, can I opt out and still drive my VW?

I know this has been discussed, and some say yes if your state accepted the restitution money, they have to let you renew your license tabs, and some say no. I looked in the settlement docs and on page 21, it says this:

"Question - 41. May I still drive my car if I do not have the emissions system modified? Will my car pass my state’s emissions testing?

Answer - Yes. For now, you may continue to drive your vehicle without modifying the emissions, regardless of whether it would fail a state inspection. However, individual states might require Approved Emissions Modifications on Eligible Vehicles at some point in the future."

So from what I am reading in the answer above "individual states might require Approved Emissions Modifications on Eligible Vehicles at some point in the future". Doesn't sound like a sure thing to me.

So where can I find in writing where it says if your state accepted the restitution money they have to let you register for license tabs every year.

Any help would be appreciated.

Any state that has signed off on the settlement (about 45 of the 50, I think, and, no, I don't know which ones didn't get on board, mine -IL- is) is obligated to continue to register all dieselgatemobiles. So, they have agreed to do this. Will they do it? I don't know? What will be the consequences if they don't? I don't know.*

*NB: Yesterday, a thread was started by a poster who claimed he couldn't find the answer to a question. I made one (1) Google search and found the answer almost immediately.

Results of a Google search:

"-At this point, the signatories do not include Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont and West Virginia, which have 30 days to join in the settlement."

.....and since the 30 days are way past, I'm assuming they're the six one might wish to avoid.

I did a Google search before posting this and you didn't answer my question. I also found what you found "At this point, the signatories do not include Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont and West Virginia, which have 30 days to join in the settlement." But where does it say in writing that the states have to register your vehicle? Not criticizing you Rico, but if I had of found my answer, I wouldn't be here. I would appreciate it if you have found this, please point me in the correct direction. I am not a computer slouch, but I don't claim to have all the answers, so maybe I am not searching with the correct Google key words or ??? Silly me, I looked in the VW Settlement docs for my answer.

The reason I am asking this is because I read this from the question and answer session with Elizabeth Cabraser who is the the lead counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee on all Dieselgate-related litigation and she did not commit to the fact that the states have to register our vehicles if there is no fix and we elect to keep our vehicles. She said "We don’t believe that states who are included in the governmental settlements with VW (and most are) will refuse to re-register these cars".

http://jalopnik.com/ask-the-lead-dieselgate-plaintiffs-lawyer-anything-abou-1793506282

Davids question:

David Tracy
3/22/17 11:15am
Thanks a bunch for joining us, Elizabeth.

I’m going to start posting questions I’ve received from readers. Here’s one from Matt asking about whether owners can just hold onto their vehicles (this is a question I get often):


I have a 2.0L affected by all this cheating stuff. I considered the buyback, but I quickly discovered there are damn near zero decent family cars for sale in the United States. (Off topic, but seriously, just try looking for a well-handling wagon with a manual transmission. It turns out we already own a better family car than anything else we can buy new today.) So we aren’t planning on giving it back. So they could offer us a fix and some money. But my own professional experience makes me strongly suspect that there will never be a fix offered for this engine. So what happens if I decline the buyback offer and a fix is never offered (or one is offered and I decline it)? Can the EPA or my local municipality refuse to register my car? Is there any protection for me built into the settlement?
Thanks!

Elizabeth’s answer:

Elizabeth Cabraser
3/22/17 11:21am
You can certainly keep your car and drive it until September 1, 2018 and wait for a modification to be approved. If you keep your car and no modification is ever approved for it, you have two options. The first is you can opt for the buyback. The second is you can withdraw from the settlement, and pursue your claims in court. We don’t believe that states who are included in the governmental settlements with VW (and most are) will refuse to re-register these cars. So ultimately, you don’t need to decide now on whether to choose a buyback.

And in another question from that same Q&A she more definitively says you can go on driving your car forever. I think she was just being a bit more careful with the answer you quoted, because it's conceivable a state could try to refuse to register a non-modified car at some point in the future, even though it goes against the settlement language, and that would result in a new legal challenge.

The court website says:

http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/crb/vwmdl/final-settlement-2-Liter

States that accept money through the EPA/CARB settlement cannot refuse to register your vehicle as a result of the emissions problems at issue in this case. If any state does not accept money through the EPA/CARB settlement, it will not be bound by these settlements, but it is anticipated that Class Members will be allowed to drive their cars legally through the course of the Class Settlement Program, while they await their Buyback or Approved Emissions Modification.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much. Not sure how I missed this.