VW TDI goodwill package: Offers $500 Visa cards & $500 dealer credits to TDI owners

dropnosky · Nov 7, 2015

Perry01 said:
The wording states that all you need to get the cards activated is to visit your local dealer and present proof of ownership. I guess we'll find out Monday if this is the case.
.

The dealer here specifically told me you needed to bring in some kind of letter they will be mailing.

bubbagumpshrimp · Nov 7, 2015

Jeta Life said:
Boy I am telling you, that Subaru driver that gave me the finger was really angry.

I can't understand how people get so angry. His finger was directed more at my car than at me so I accepted it. I did nothing wrong, did not drive aggressively at all.

My guess he is a disgruntled former VW employee or another HPFP or DPF statistic. Sometimes when I drive this TDI it's like I feel I'm rolling the dice. But the problem with this forum is that it is over doing it with the VW bashing.

We used to have great pride and confidence in our cars and I sure hope VW can restore that with an emissions fix. This temporary measure of gift cards is a good gesture.

If VW makes it rain with gift cards...people will be happy soon enough.

bubbagumpshrimp · Nov 7, 2015

I need a 40k service shortly, so that will likely kill the dealer card. As for the other one...who knows. I'd rather get a cash/check and stick the money in the bank. I can't think of anything that I NEED at the moment.

Perry01 · Nov 7, 2015

dropnosky said:
The dealer here specifically told me you needed to bring in some kind of letter they will be mailing.

I suppose we'll find out Monday. I registered my affected vehicle on vwdieselinfo.com and was informed that I will be receiving info via email.

I don't put much validity in the information provided by VW dealerships.
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JSWTDI09 · Nov 7, 2015

pknopp said:
Lifetime? I dunno about that. I did oil/filter and fuel filter this past week. I sadly didn't plan ahead.......only place I could get the fuel filter was the VW dealer so I figured I'd just get it all there.

Fuel Filter, oil filter, oil.....$120.......so four changes and a set of wiper blades perhaps.

Well, maybe not lifetime (if I am lucky, I am an old fart). I have a case of Mobile 1 ESP in my garage, so all I really need from the dealer is filters and that odd size rear wiper blade. Therefore, $500 will at least be several years supply.

Have Fun!

Don

kjclow · Nov 7, 2015

Autozone now carriers or can order the rear wiper blades for the JSW and golf. I haven't gotten any there yet, just noticed it the last time I was in there looking for something else.

ndmike88 · Nov 7, 2015

bubbagumpshrimp said:
I need a 40k service shortly, so that will likely kill the dealer card. As for the other one...who knows. I'd rather get a cash/check and stick the money in the bank. I can't think of anything that I NEED at the moment.

Use it for Christmas shopping.

bubbagumpshrimp · Nov 7, 2015

ndmike88 said:
Use it for Christmas shopping.

Yup. That's what I'm thinking too. That time is fast approaching.

IndigoBlueWagon · Nov 7, 2015

This is what our local dealer owner told me:

To make sure a qualifying TDI customer gets on the list, they should go online and register at www.vwdieselinfo.com. Diesel customers should go online now, before the formal announcement, and register their diesels just in case the site gets overloaded. Plus, the sooner they register, the sooner the customer will receive their package in the mail (that must be activated at a Volkswagen dealership). The first customer package could arrive by the end of November (if they are already registered). Activation means coming to the dealership with your qualifying TDI vehicle, your driver’s license and your registration or title. The car must be driven to the dealership, and your license and registration (or title) must match.

I assume they can accommodate financed vehicles, where the owner will be listed as the creditor.

And regarding getting berated by other drivers, I don't think most drivers have any clue what a diesel car is, much less that I'm driving one. I've never had a gasser driver express anything but surprise or confusion when I've said I'm driving a diesel. It seems a stretch to get the finger on the road for driving one. And I still encounter people regularly who have no idea that there's any EPA issue with VW TDIs.

Lightflyer1 · Nov 7, 2015

Our titles list the individual as the owner. The creditor is listed as a lien holder.

Mike in Anchorage · Nov 7, 2015

I wonder how much they can mess up if I take in my summer tires on VW original wheels and ask for new summer tires. They will not be able to get their hands on my car and I'll get something I could really use.

Englando · Nov 7, 2015

Probably going towards steel wheels for my snows and both 2micron kits.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

IndigoBlueWagon · Nov 7, 2015

Except in Massachusetts you don't get the title until you pay off the lien. But it sounds like the registration would work.

Perry01 · Nov 7, 2015

I guess I'll bring my title to the dealer after my "package" arrives. I'm still curious as to what if any strings are attached.
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bubbagumpshrimp · Nov 7, 2015

You just need your vehicle registration.

andyrooski17 · Nov 7, 2015

IndigoBlueWagon said:
This is what our local dealer owner told me:

To make sure a qualifying TDI customer gets on the list, they should go online and register at www.vwdieselinfo.com. Diesel customers should go online now, before the formal announcement, and register their diesels just in case the site gets overloaded. Plus, the sooner they register, the sooner the customer will receive their package in the mail (that must be activated at a Volkswagen dealership). The first customer package could arrive by the end of November (if they are already registered). Activation means coming to the dealership with your qualifying TDI vehicle, your driver’s license and your registration or title. The car must be driven to the dealership, and your license and registration (or title) must match.

I assume they can accommodate financed vehicles, where the owner will be listed as the creditor.

And regarding getting berated by other drivers, I don't think most drivers have any clue what a diesel car is, much less that I'm driving one. I've never had a gasser driver express anything but surprise or confusion when I've said I'm driving a diesel. It seems a stretch to get the finger on the road for driving one. And I still encounter people regularly who have no idea that there's any EPA issue with VW TDIs.

Interesting, We'll see what the paperwork has to say (I just registered). Of course I'm most interested in whether you must go with your tdi. Presumably, they want people to get the fix, but I'd rather wait it out for a while, but still get the money...

If it doesnt say anything about bringing the affected car, maybe I'll drive over to the dealer in my fiancés Focus with my Golf registration.

Perry01 · Nov 7, 2015

"The car must be driven to the dealership, and your license and registration (or title) must match."

andyrooski17 · Nov 7, 2015

Perry01 said:
"The car must be driven to the dealership, and your license and registration (or title) must match."

If the official terms end up matching what the dealer told IBW.

CHenry · Nov 8, 2015

Perry01 said:
I agree. I bought my Golf TDI two years old with 20k miles on it. I didn't buy it because it was a "clean diesel" but because it gets great fuel economy and has lots of torque. I'm not mad at VW, they didn't lie to me but I can understand that others may be.
.

FWIW, VW did lie to you and to every other buyer. You may believe the deception to be inconsequential to you because you enjoy the features of high fuel mileage and torque with the car running in the non-compliant map, but you were still deceived, you were sold and promised something you did not receive.

IndigoBlueWagon · Nov 8, 2015

I suspect what I received was a copy/paste from a VWoA internal document. They want proof you own a TDI in order to quality for the program. Seems they'd want to see your TDI, right? And they aren't going to do anything to your car in the next few months: we're a ways from that.

DEAD-BROKE · Nov 8, 2015

500 bucks, thats a lot of AMMO.

guess i'll be buying either a new pistol or 2K rounds of AMMO.

tadawson · Nov 8, 2015

CHenry said:
FWIW, VW did lie to you and to every other buyer. You may believe the deception to be inconsequential to you because you enjoy the features of high fuel mileage and torque with the car running in the non-compliant map, but you were still deceived, you were sold and promised something you did not receive.

True . . . we actually received *better* . . . . so still no reason to gripe . . . .

- Tim

tsingtao · Nov 8, 2015

pknopp said:
The odds of getting more than $1000 in a class action lawsuit are infinitesimal.

Has anyone ever gotten > $1000 in a class action? I think you are right on that.

Heck more than $100 is hardly ever heard of.

dropnosky · Nov 8, 2015

Just signed up as well, we shall see what comes of this

sbh1973 · Nov 8, 2015

tsingtao said:
Has anyone ever gotten > $1000 in a class action? I think you are right on that.

Heck more than $100 is hardly ever heard of.

While most class action suites result in small payouts, largely due to the sheer number of plaintiffs, that's not always the case. And I don't think it would be the case here either, where there are only about potential 500,000 plaintiffs in what will be a cake-walk of a lawsuit. If the lawsuit successfully argues that customers deserve back the premium they paid for the diesel engine - say $2000 just for the sake of easy math - and 15% for the loss of value - say $2250 on an average pre-scandal resale value of $15,000 for a 2009-2015 TDI - that's $4250 per plaintiff. Let's just say $4000 per plaintiff to make it easy. That is "only" a $2 billion dollar settlement, a lot of money, sure, but hardly unheard of for a class action lawsuit - and an easy award given VW's resources and the nature of this case (admitted, near-criminal consumer fraud).

Now, let's assume that the lawyers end up taking 50% - a high estimate, but just for the sake of argument. That still leaves a cool billion for 500,000 TDI owners, or $2,000 per each. And I think this is still on the low end of what is possible.

Sure, this is assuming a lot, but does anyone here think that a class action lawsuit can't achieve a $2 billion dollar settlement in this case, which is basically a foregone conclusion? And does anything here not think that VW knows this, and is thus offering $500 in cash ($250 million) to save money? The extra $500 on cash to spend at the dealership is less than $250 million, as some will be spent on marked up parts.

So, take the cash if you want and be happy. But if it involves giving up any rights to a payout from a class action lawsuit, I for one am going to refuse it. But if it comes with no strings attached, it's probably just VW's way of mitigating the damages from the class action lawsuit. They see the writing on the wall here and are trying to keep this as inexpensive as possible, and have teams of lawyers and accountants figuring out how to do it.

tonyzee · Nov 8, 2015

I won't accept it and I will be grossly disappointed if it doesn't come with a comprehensive proposal on what else they are going to do about this entire mess. Some will likely blow their newfound "windfall" on something frivolous but the rest of us face the likelihood of losing big time on valuation at trade in, especially at other brands.

mu3098 · Nov 8, 2015

Maybe, they might want to see the car to assess the general condition and mileage of the affected vehicles that are on the road. They might need this info to determine any additional costs with the older cars that they are going to run into when doing the fix and/or to come up other options to resolve this.

tsingtao · Nov 8, 2015

sbh1973 said:
While most class action suites result in small payouts, largely due to the sheer number of plaintiffs, that's not always the case. And I don't think it would be the case here either, where there are only about potential 500,000 plaintiffs in what will be a cake-walk of a lawsuit. If the lawsuit successfully argues that customers deserve back the premium they paid for the diesel engine - say $2000 just for the sake of easy math - and 15% for the loss of value - say $2250 on an average pre-scandal resale value of $15,000 for a 2009-2015 TDI - that's $4250 per plaintiff. Let's just say $4000 per plaintiff to make it easy. That is "only" a $2 billion dollar settlement, a lot of money, sure, but hardly unheard of for a class action lawsuit - and an easy award given VW's resources and the nature of this case (admitted, near-criminal consumer fraud).

Now, let's assume that the lawyers end up taking 50% - a high estimate, but just for the sake of argument. That still leaves a cool billion for 500,000 TDI owners, or $2,000 per each. And I think this is still on the low end of what is possible.

Sure, this is assuming a lot, but does anyone here think that a class action lawsuit can't achieve a $2 billion dollar settlement in this case, which is basically a foregone conclusion? And does anything here not think that VW knows this, and is thus offering $500 in cash ($250 million) to save money? The extra $500 on cash to spend at the dealership is less than $250 million, as some will be spent on marked up parts.

So, take the cash if you want and be happy. But if it involves giving up any rights to a payout from a class action lawsuit, I for one am going to refuse it. But if it comes with no strings attached, it's probably just VW's way of mitigating the damages from the class action lawsuit. They see the writing on the wall here and are trying to keep this as inexpensive as possible, and have teams of lawyers and accountants figuring out how to do it.

Thank you for the analysis. I am going to think hard if the goodwill $1000 comes with strings before I sign for it.

dmarsingill · Nov 8, 2015

tonyzee said:
I won't accept it and I will be grossly disappointed if it doesn't come with a comprehensive proposal on what else they are going to do about this entire mess. Some will likely blow their newfound "windfall" on something frivolous but the rest of us face the likelihood of losing big time on valuation at trade in, especially at other brands.

Here in lies the problem.....Why are you already thinking about trade in values? Of course it will take a hit...it's only 2 yrs old. Let's give an example.....I bought a new 2003 Expedition. It was $45,000. In less than a year, it was worth $25,000. It was due to demand. No big suv's were worth anything due to the gas prices going up. Did I go crying to APEC for loss of valuation? No.....I still have the car, and I haven't had any problem. We still have it. Keep your car for a long time, and trade-in values don't mean anything.

Donald

Donald

oldhifi · Nov 8, 2015

I can see new tires for Christmas...

VW TDI goodwill package: Offers $500 Visa cards & $500 dealer credits to TDI owners

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