What's the rush?

I'm driving a 2015 A3 that I love. I've registered and had my claim (modification) approved, but it seems that on balance I should wait until next fall to schedule my appointment...

Plus side
-Car drives great
-Better than advertised/expected gas mileage
-Bumper to bumper new car warranty until Nov. 2018
-In case of non-total accident, can take insurance claim and still turn in car
-Can always change my mind from modification to buy-back
-Car is essentially depreciation proof for the next year
-More data on others experiences with Stage 1 and 2 of fix

Risks
-VW goes belly up (seems we'd be very high up on the liquidation preference list)
-Car gets totalled in accident (harder to collect insurance $$ than VW buyback)
-I'm polluting more than I, the EPA and the general population would like (though apparently the Gen3s are barely over the acceptable standard)
-I screw up and don't get the modification or buy-back done by 12/31/2018
-Time value of modification $$ today vs. 1 yr. from now

What am I missing?

If I had bumper to bumper warranty till Nov 2018, I would not rush for buyback and wait till Sep 2018 deadline.

An homage to the greatness of Rodgers and Hammerstein - well played, sir! And I agree 100% with your thinking. One other point - if you can hold on until December of 2018 you might be able to pick up a end-of-year bargain on your next vehicle.

As far as I'm concerned, you're not missing a thing. We're all signed up for the buyback on our '13 Passat, will select an available date in Dec. '18. For us, the benefits of waiting outweigh the risks.