The circling sharks and morbid curiosity

We've all been seeing advertisements looking for people to join potential class action lawsuits, and today I just received my first direct mail solicitation, urging me to call some hotline today to see if I'm "eligible for compensation".

Now I have no interest in getting involved in any legal baloney, nor am I interested in getting on the phone with any of these firms. But I'm curious if anyone has spoken to any of the organizations floating these class action suits and what the lawyers are considering "compensation". Typically the "compensation" for such class action suits ends up being virtually nothing of value for the claimants, while the attorneys clean up. Which is why you're seeing so much advertising online and elsewhere.

You more than likely won't talk to anyone other than a "data gather" who sends all the names to the lawyers office. The phone droids probably know nothing. I have trashed 6 already without opening. I don't even own mine any more.

I know there's the "oh the lawyers are gonna take everything" attitude, as well as the "herp but I like my VW" argument. I like my VW and I hate these types of lawyers (well most to be honest), but the resale value on our car is significantly down, the reflash we did in December made the mileage worse and the car run hotter, and I suspect the ultimate fix will just be another reflash that makes everything worse yet.

There is no car better suited to my family and me, but VW did commit massive fraud, and I am out of pocket on this.

Has anyone seen any good lawsuits to get involved with?

Slum Cut said:

I know there's the "oh the lawyers are gonna take everything" attitude, as well as the "herp but I like my VW" argument. I like my VW and I hate these types of lawyers (well most to be honest), but the resale value on our car is significantly down, the reflash we did in December made the mileage worse and the car run hotter, and I suspect the ultimate fix will just be another reflash that makes everything worse yet.

There is no car better suited to my family and me, but VW did commit massive fraud, and I am out of pocket on this.

Has anyone seen any good lawsuits to get involved with?

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Have you ever heard of a class action lawsuit where the claimants were actually made whole? I haven't. There is going to be a recall, and any repairs are going to be done at Volkswagen's expense.

Slum Cut said:

I know there's the "oh the lawyers are gonna take everything" attitude, as well as the "herp but I like my VW" argument. I like my VW and I hate these types of lawyers (well most to be honest), but the resale value on our car is significantly down, the reflash we did in December made the mileage worse and the car run hotter, and I suspect the ultimate fix will just be another reflash that makes everything worse yet.

There is no car better suited to my family and me, but VW did commit massive fraud, and I am out of pocket on this.

Has anyone seen any good lawsuits to get involved with?

Click to expand...

The solicitations that I have received in the mail from attorneys have been to sue VW as an individual, not as part of a class. I have gotten three and all have offered to take it on a contingency (no recovery, no fee) basis.

I have not signed up with anyone because I am waiting to see what VW offers.

My opinion of lawyers varies between avoiding them as I would plague rats and invoking Shakespeare*. As with some others, though, I think it's far too early in this process to even consider engaging legal counsel. I ignore all solicitations and remain in "wait" mode.

*"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Henry IV, Part 2 Act IV, Scene 2

Jimbo70 said:

Have you ever heard of a class action lawsuit where the claimants were actually made whole? I haven't. There is going to be a recall, and any repairs are going to be done at Volkswagen's expense.

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What you're saying is true, but if the choice is between VW "fixing" our car and VW "fixing" our car plus a check for $200, the latter is preferable, even if it means some lawyers somewhere are going to be getting even richer because of the lawsuit. If anything, it's $200 from whatever settlement they get that the lawyers can't have.