I think some of you people are taking this ethical stuff too far.
No one knows what VW is going to do with these cars. There is NO fix available for any of them as of now, including the ones they still have on their stop sale. If they can't " Fix " them, they have to destroy them. Sure they may be able to strip the cars themselves and sell off body panels and transmissions and so on, but you really think they will do that? I Don't. I think they will park these cars for a while and see if they can come up with a fix and then apply the fix to the cars that have low enough miles and condition to be sold as a CPO car. And even then I have my doubts they will do that. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to find out they simply sent all these cars straight to the crusher.
But back to ethics...
Bottom line is this. Your VW whatever ( jetta, Bug, Passat ) is YOURS. Key word, YOURS! You can do anything you want to with it. You can take off the headlights, take off body panels, remove the radio, take out the seats, swap out rims and tires, etc..... Anything you want. Spray paint the car, drag race the car, take it off roading, take a crap in the trunk, etc.... Its YOUR car afterall.
The ethics thing comes into play in the fact that VW is offering to buyback the car and is offering money based on clean trade in value as of sept 2015. Some here believe that obviously, if the car was missing the hood and trunklid, lights, doors and seats, and was spray painted and rolling on 4 spare tires.... The car would obviously not be in " Clean " trade in condition. But I look at it differently. They are basing the amount of money you will get for the car on clean trade in value, but they are not basing that on your car actually being in the condition that constitutes " Clean Trade "............... Matter of fact, the only condition they are stipulating is the car just be able to move under its own 2.0 TDI power. If they expect a working radio, or the upgraded headlights, or the OEM wheels and tires, etc.... they would have had a much more detailed description of what condition the car would need to be in and the inspection process etc... at time of turn in. If you stop and think about it, it would open a can of worms if they had people assigning value to the cars based on actual condition at turn in. I believe that is why they just decided to spare the drama and just make the only requirement that the car be able to move on its own.
Bottom line is it is YOUR car. The fancy headlights you paid extra for, they are YOURS, not VW's. Every single nut and bolt and piece of steel glass and plastic on that car is YOURS. VW is offering to buy back YOUR car and their only requirement is that the car be able to move under its own power. What they do with the car after you hand them the keys and they had you a check is their business and their problem, not yours. If you feel better about yourself that your turning in YOUR car and it is in pristine condition, freshly washed and waxed, freshly serviced and topped off with a full tank of diesel, by all means... feel good about yourself! But if someone else wants to turn in their car with no radio, some dents and dings, hasn't seen soap in a year, running on fumes, and half the lights on the dash are lit up, thats fine too.
I have already said that for me, I don't know if its worth my time to take crap off my cars before I take them back to VW. I don't know if I could easily and quickly sell stuff I removed and or if I could really get enough money to make it worth my time. And I for sure wouldn't do anything radical like spray paint my car or remove parts etc... till the buy back has started and we know no new provisions haven't been placed on the cars actual condition. That and going to the dealer first and checking in with the buyback people to ask directly if car is missing panels or seats or whatever will that be a problem.
VW was not thinking about ethics, now were they. 
