Stripping the Turn Ins

turbocharged798 · Oct 14, 2016

GyroRon said:
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.

What a line of nonsence.

Its not your car when you sell it back to VW. VW is paying you for a WHOLE CAR and have every right to refuse a stripped car. Its people like you today who ruin it for everyone.

Freeze Plug · Oct 14, 2016

LOL they have NO RIGHT to refuse a stripped car based on settlement language

k1xv · Oct 14, 2016

Nowhere does it say incomplete cars are acceptable. Some dings, dents, and non functioning systems are OK, but "condition" does not mean a less than complete car.

I dare you to strip your car and then try to get paid for it. Report back here what your experience is.

TDIinMA · Oct 14, 2016

BuyMeBackSoon said:
Although I won't be stripping my car, Gyroron's points are pretty convincing. So in his honor I've snagged the first aid kit and will rebrand it as a MINI Cooper unofficial first aid pack!

LOL

You rebel.

turbobrick240 · Oct 14, 2016

Most people who claim they plan to strip their cars are just flapping their gums. I think it's just a juvenile way for them to vent their frustrations.

GyroRon · Oct 15, 2016

I have never claimed I would strip my car.

I also have said, it would be foolish to strip the car without first verifying directly and in person with the buyback rep at the dealer who would be " inspecting " the car and responsible for handing you the check.

Freeze Plug · Oct 15, 2016

k1xv said:
Nowhere does it say incomplete cars are acceptable. Some dings, dents, and non functioning systems are OK, but "condition" does not mean a less than complete car.

I dare you to strip your car and then try to get paid for it. Report back here what your experience is.

I am not planning on stripping my cars, but nowhere does it say incomplete cars on NOT acceptable either

I will be removing the radios, floor mats, roof racks, trailer hitches, spare tires, other things of that nature etc.

Airpizz6 · Oct 16, 2016

Freeze Plug said:
I am not planning on stripping my cars, but nowhere does it say incomplete cars on NOT acceptable either

I will be removing the radios, floor mats, roof racks, trailer hitches, spare tires, other things of that nature etc.

Agree with your first sentence, but the optional equipment is considered in establishing vehicle values. If one is getting more money because his TDI was delivered with a Fender sound system, does it follow that returning that TDI sans that sound system would be acceptable? Not so black and white to me. I'm concerned that they will give me grief because one of mine has only one key fob.

Freeze Plug · Oct 16, 2016

I agree with you, but both of mine have no options that alter the value so I am not concerned about that

I wouldn't stress over keys either

atomicfront · Oct 16, 2016

DubFamily said:
We haven't won anything; we are being compensated for the fraud committed against us...
And barely compensated at that...

There was no fraud committed against us. What a joke. We got a car that had incredible gas mileage plus good power. How is that a fraud. They really only hurt other car companies who couldn't sell cars with so much power and gas mileage combination at such a low price. Of course American's didn't care. They would have an under powered Prius at a higher cost. So really no one was hurt.

atomicfront · Oct 16, 2016

Also the compensation is not primarily for us. It is there to get us to sell our cars back and get them off the road. If they didn't make such an offer why would I trade mine in? I could just keep on getting the great gas mileage.

BuyMeBackSoon · Oct 16, 2016

Look up definition of fraud.

Fraud was committed. As minute as the additional pollution might be it still is more than represented, therefore they knowingly perverted the truth. It is irrelevant that the cars are generally less polluting than gassers, etc. fraud pure and simple.

k1xv · Oct 16, 2016

There was tax fraud in qualifying a bunch of we early buyers for $1300 income tax credits.

MichaelB · Oct 16, 2016

k1xv said:
There was tax fraud in qualifying a bunch of we early buyers for $1300 income tax credits.

Well, I purchased my 2009 JSW during the cash for clunkers program and got $4,500 bucks for a rotted out 94 Ford Aerostar minivan which got at best 24 mpg. The car was worth fifty bucks as far as I was concerned.

The 09 JSW got crashed and totaled within the first three months of ownership so my insurance company replaced it with a 2010 model lock stock and barrel (tax title etc.).

So that year I got the 4,500 buck deal and two $1300 dollar tax credits for buying a "green car"twice So does VW owe the US tax system those rebates and tax credits. Your thoughts here.

dmcdon2851 · Oct 17, 2016

rfortson said:
Yeah, basically getting a refund on my purchase price for driving the car for 5 years is really sucking. I feel so violated. I guess I should demand a pony as well.

You are 100% correct. Some, however, had delusional expectations.

k1xv · Oct 17, 2016

MichaelB said:
Well, I purchased my 2009 JSW during the cash for clunkers program and got $4,500 bucks for a rotted out 94 Ford Aerostar minivan which got at best 24 mpg. The car was worth fifty bucks as far as I was concerned.

The 09 JSW got crashed and totaled within the first three months of ownership so my insurance company replaced it with a 2010 model lock stock and barrel (tax title etc.).

So that year I got the 4,500 buck deal and two $1300 dollar tax credits for buying a "green car"twice So does VW owe the US tax system those rebates and tax credits. Your thoughts here.

Cash for clunkers, which I also took advantage of, was a program to replace existing older cars with poorer fuel economy with newer ones that got better fuel economy. No question the TDi got the fuel economy it represented. No fraud there.

But the $1300 credits were intended to help "jump start" sales of efficient, and environmentally friendly cars. By misrepresenting the environmental aspects of the 2009-10 TDi, VW committed a fraud to help them market their cars.

Do not confuse opinion of whether these programs had merit, with the simpler facts that to qualify for the credits, misrepresentations were made. Frankly, I think Cash for Clunkers was a relief program for auto dealers, to help them clear their inventories of cars after the biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression. But that is not the issue here regarding "fraud". The issue is, were performance data rigged and misrepresented. And here , they were.

kjclow · Oct 17, 2016

MichaelB said:
Well, I purchased my 2009 JSW during the cash for clunkers program and got $4,500 bucks for a rotted out 94 Ford Aerostar minivan which got at best 24 mpg. The car was worth fifty bucks as far as I was concerned.

The 09 JSW got crashed and totaled within the first three months of ownership so my insurance company replaced it with a 2010 model lock stock and barrel (tax title etc.).

So that year I got the 4,500 buck deal and two $1300 dollar tax credits for buying a "green car"twice So does VW owe the US tax system those rebates and tax credits. Your thoughts here.

Yes, Someone should be responsible for refunding those tax credits but talk about a nightmare. For 2010, the IRS changed the reporting line and lumped this credit in with the education credit. At the end of my filing, I only got $700 of the listed $1300.

TDIinMA · Oct 17, 2016

MichaelB said:
Well, I purchased my 2009 JSW during the cash for clunkers program and got $4,500 bucks for a rotted out 94 Ford Aerostar minivan which got at best 24 mpg. The car was worth fifty bucks as far as I was concerned.

The 09 JSW got crashed and totaled within the first three months of ownership so my insurance company replaced it with a 2010 model lock stock and barrel (tax title etc.).

So that year I got the 4,500 buck deal and two $1300 dollar tax credits for buying a "green car"twice So does VW owe the US tax system those rebates and tax credits. Your thoughts here.

Technically, you would be responsible, since you paid less taxes, not VW (so I'd be a bit hesitant in pushing this angle..). And the EPA, et al are already making VW pay through the nose and to suffer from public scorn, so I am sure this is part of the settlement as the Fed Govt tends to leave no stone unturned in these high profile cases which they can exploit to promote their agenda.

But this is beside the point that these programs are an issue in bending the markets and picking winners and losers. You have the outright tax subsidized variety and collusion. Both are not the way we should be governing, imho. I learned of the "clean diesel" tax credit after buying my JSW in 2010 and took advantage, as I am sure most everyone did, but this played no role whatsoever in me buying the car for practical & economic reasons (and the fun factor, of course

). This type of Govt coercion in the markets should me minimized and tax relief should not be conditional. (again, jmho)

BTW, if anyone wants to know where this is heading (i.e. the "end game") .. check out this article.

Plumb loco. But this is obviously an OFF TOPIC discussion that could go in a lot of directions.

dmcdon2851 · Oct 17, 2016

DubFamily said:
We haven't won anything; we are being compensated for the fraud committed against us...
And barely compensated at that...

Oh, OK. LOL

1. I am being paid $4,000+ more than I paid for the car 14 months ago.
2. I used their car for over 30,000 miles during that time.
3. Got fantastic fuel efficiency.
4. Used over 30,000 miles of tire rubber.

I not only got exactly what I paid for, I am now not even paying for it. In fact - I am being paid for using their car for 14 months. Not a bad deal.

Barely compensated? Naw, I and most others are very happy.

bennybmn · Oct 17, 2016

dmcdon2851 said:
Oh, OK. LOL
1. I am being paid $4,000+ more than I paid for the car 14 months ago.
2. I used their car for over 30,000 miles during that time.
3. Got fantastic fuel efficiency.
4. Used over 30,000 miles of tire rubber.
I not only got exactly what I paid for, I am now not even paying for it. In fact - I am being paid for using their car for 14 months. Not a bad deal.
Barely compensated? Naw, I and most others are very happy.

It seems to me that lots of people seem to forget point #2 when considering cost of ownership, depreciation, what sort of "deal" they got on a trade, etc. Same thing with houses. "I lost 20 grand on my house." Yeah but you lived in it for 20 years, so you got a roof over your head for $1000 per year... doesn't that have value? I think you make some great points.

Debra Morgan · Oct 17, 2016

bennybmn said:
It seems to me that lots of people seem to forget point #2 when considering cost of ownership, depreciation, what sort of "deal" they got on a trade, etc. Same thing with houses. "I lost 20 grand on my house." Yeah but you lived in it for 20 years, so you got a roof over your head for $1000 per year... doesn't that have value? I think you make some great points.

Again, I think the compensation is more than fair.

tjsadler · Oct 17, 2016

I would never recommend deliberately stripping the car before turning it in, but, for what it's worth... I had a direct conversation with Elizabeth Cabraser (lead plaintiff's attorney) regarding some accident damage. I also spoke with three or four other law firms working on the case. Their opinions were unanimous. "Don't bother fixing anything that isn't mechanically necessary for the car to run under it's own power into the dealership." The bottom line is that the majority of these cars are going to be compressed into a much smaller shape and then melted down for scrap metal recycling and VW has enough bad publicity and a big enough headache just dealing with the buyback itself. They don't care about the condition of the cars. They can't employ multiple appraisers and then spend days/weeks/months arguing about condition. The lawyers/courts also wouldn't leave the settlement that open-ended. They have established an exact, easily determined, concrete value that VW must pay for each car. The value applies whether it's in prime, creampuff condition or it's missing a headlight and the front end is bashed in. It applies if you have a clean or salvaged title (unless it was in a junkyard and you bought it after 9/18/15 or it was totaled after 6/28/16). If you want to wax/detail it, change the oil, fix the a/c, and fill it with diesel before you bring it in, great. VW will then drain all the fluids, reclaim the refrigerant and crush the car right before or after mine...

tanner · Oct 17, 2016

dmcdon2851 said:
Oh, OK. LOL
1. I am being paid $4,000+ more than I paid for the car 14 months ago.
2. I used their car for over 30,000 miles during that time.
3. Got fantastic fuel efficiency.
4. Used over 30,000 miles of tire rubber.
I not only got exactly what I paid for, I am now not even paying for it. In fact - I am being paid for using their car for 14 months. Not a bad deal.
Barely compensated? Naw, I and most others are very happy.

You're in a similar situation to me.

I've had my car since 2014, Since then I've put 50k miles on it and still going up. I've put about $600 in tires, $500 in tune, $400 in Sigma 6 & Panzer. I believe that's everything.

I'm making a tad over $3k not counting the mods I'm taking off, because they are mine and I paid for them and they are mine to do what I want with, which also goes for the whole car as well. Doubt I'll change anything with car, just saying it is yours to do how you please.

By the "it's your car to do how you please with" I mean if I get in a fender bender do you think i'm fixing the car or pocketing the money.. Think about it.

If I left mods on it'd be closer to $1500 or $1000. either way, i got paid to own this car.

Jimmy Coconuts · Oct 17, 2016

tjsadler said:
I would never recommend deliberately stripping the car before turning it in, but, for what it's worth... I had a direct conversation with Elizabeth Cabraser (lead plaintiff's attorney) regarding some accident damage. I also spoke with three or four other law firms working on the case. Their opinions were unanimous. "Don't bother fixing anything that isn't mechanically necessary for the car to run under it's own power into the dealership." The bottom line is that the majority of these cars are going to be compressed into a much smaller shape and then melted down for scrap metal recycling and VW has enough bad publicity and a big enough headache just dealing with the buyback itself. They don't care about the condition of the cars. They can't employ multiple appraisers and then spend days/weeks/months arguing about condition. The lawyers/courts also wouldn't leave the settlement that open-ended. They have established an exact, easily determined, concrete value that VW must pay for each car. The value applies whether it's in prime, creampuff condition or it's missing a headlight and the front end is bashed in. It applies if you have a clean or salvaged title (unless it was in a junkyard and you bought it after 9/18/15 or it was totaled after 6/28/16). If you want to wax/detail it, change the oil, fix the a/c, and fill it with diesel before you bring it in, great. VW will then drain all the fluids, reclaim the refrigerant and crush the car right before or after mine...

Who wants to be the first TDIClub member to make their turn-in " look mean"?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IahDEcy9Ssc

flee · Oct 17, 2016

TDIinMA said:
edit...
BTW, if anyone wants to know where this is heading (i.e. the "end game") .. check out this article.
Plumb loco. But this is obviously an OFF TOPIC discussion that could go in a lot of directions.

Since you brought it up, the article states that "new" ICE cars would be banned,
not all ICE cars.

DubFamily · Oct 17, 2016

turbocharged798 said:
What a line of nonsence.

Its not your car when you sell it back to VW. VW is paying you for a WHOLE CAR and have every right to refuse a stripped car. Its people like you today who ruin it for everyone.

Incorrect; VW is paying you for a non-compliant engine and drivetrain, and that is ALL they care about. Everything surrounding the engine/drivetrain is irrelevant to VW.

Freeze Plug said:
LOL they have NO RIGHT to refuse a stripped car based on settlement language

Exactly.

k1xv said:
Nowhere does it say incomplete cars are acceptable. Some dings, dents, and non functioning systems are OK, but "condition" does not mean a less than complete car.

I dare you to strip your car and then try to get paid for it. Report back here what your experience is.

See above.

TDIinMA · Oct 17, 2016

flee said:
Since you brought it up, the article states that "new" ICE cars would be banned,
not all ICE cars.

Yes, the title is a bit misleading. That would be one hell of a "buyback" or "ca$h for clunkers" though.

Point is, they will stop selling them, sort of like VW and TDI in the US.

dmcdon2851 · Oct 17, 2016

DubFamily said:
Incorrect; VW is paying you for a non-compliant engine and drivetrain, and that is ALL they care about. Everything surrounding the engine/drivetrain is irrelevant to VW.

Exactly.

See above.

{sigh} Your standards are amazing. Well, not really. LOL

k1xv · Oct 17, 2016

So Dub, I dare you to remove the radio, the trunk lid, the passenger seat, and the window glass. Report back here on what happened at your turn in of your car.

az7000' · Oct 17, 2016

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म; IPA: [ˈkərmə] ( listen); Pali: kamma) means action, work or deed;[1] it also refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect).[2] Good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness, while bad intent and bad deed contribute to bad karma and future suffering.[3][4] Karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Asian religions.[5] In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives - one's saṃsāra.[6]

Wikipedia, yep, some say vw started it but I'm satisfied they are making it good. The beauty is we all get to do what we want and face the consequences!

Stripping the Turn Ins

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Top Post Dawg

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Top Post Dawg

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member