Has anyone returned a stripped TDI yet?

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Eggieztdi

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Man. 2015 TDIs
Who can tell me how to safely remove my airbag? I'm ticked that it's taking 3 times as long as I was told. This whole experience has left me with a horrible impression of VW.
As Mr. furious said, be very careful. It could send that screwdriver you're using to do so straight through your chest. I'm sure you know this, but I feel the need to reiterate the fact.
 

Ares

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Takoma Park, MD
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2013 Passat SE
For those removing parts, be mindful of having a vehicle that is legal to drive on public roads. VW might not care if the headlights are missing, law enforcement will. For most, a chance encounter with police while driving to the buy back is slim, but the consequences can be major.
 

chadbag

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If you went to a restaurant, and they told you it was a "Chef's Special" secret recipe, would you accept the Chef spitting in your meal? Didn't think so.
Not an analog that works. Besides the fact that there are laws concerning that, the situation does not apply.
 

k1xv

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I suggest removal of the entire steering wheel. Drive it there with a Vice Grip clamped to the shaft going down to the rack and pinion.

Do not remove the roof if it has a sunroof, as you will lose your credit for a car with a sunroof (though I suppose you could argue you just turned it into a "panoramic" sunroof.)
 

k1xv

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Not an analog that works. Besides the fact that there are laws concerning that, the situation does not apply.
Sure it works. You didn't tell him what ingredients he couldn't use, and its his "special".
 

autdi

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Were I in a fiduciary position at that company that owns 5k+ of these cars, I'd have to extract maximum value from them, or I wouldn't be doing my job. Now I'm not at all associated with that company, but from a legal basis, I would have to extract maximum value from the asset, and that would mean selling every bit of the car I could make money on while turning in the least car possible that gets a payment made. That's the legal system we have if you're in business.

The chef special isn't applicable as there are food handling laws that have to be followed. Could they make it with more ghost peppers than one could handle, you bet, that would be anything edible, you can't taste anything for weeks, but it technically was edible. Were it on the menu, chef likes the dish hot, that's the condition I ordered under, it didn't say, it's about as hot as Pace, it said hot, face melting hot, that's the condition I accepted.
 

chadbag

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Sure it works. You didn't tell him what ingredients he couldn't use, and its his "special".
One, it is not a buyback of a predetermined product.

It is illegal to spit in food. He can use whatever legal ingredients he wants.
 

autdi

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Sure it works. You didn't tell him what ingredients he couldn't use, and its his "special".
You know nothing of servsafe I presume. There are laws on the books which dictate what can be on the plate, heck even the garnish whatever it happens to be you can eat it. There were flowers on a plate not long ago, sure enough, edible.
 

2015vwgolfdiesel

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Any normal person would interpret the settlement's provision of allowing "any condition" to mean that wear and tear, road rash, dents, and normal damage encountered in ownership would not be penalizing factors. It does not mean you can intentionally disassemble the car and keep parts of it.

If you went to a restaurant, and they told you it was a "Chef's Special" secret recipe, would you accept the Chef spitting in your meal? Didn't think so.

there is "no condition" CONDITION on the buy back

'sept drive there under its' own power.

Pristine cars get squat extra ~~ as per vw and the Judge concluded.

road killed cars get the SAME buy back

wondering what else (besides split) will be in the fuel tanks last 100 yards:confused:
 

k1xv

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southern Vermont
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Looks like good faith dealing died and went to parts unknown.

If any of you guys are in business, remind me not to do business with you.
 

dubStrom

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..... as a newbie

...... I feel 80 % ~~ 90 % the same as you

.... best part for me was watching the old guard saying the CAS was a waste of time.

$25,275.53 is a few $$$$s more than a car wash and a coupon for a candy bar:D
The State of Oklahoma? You do not have to pass any emissions testing anyway.

Do you want to keep your car? You don't have to accept the buyback. You can keep your car and suffer no loss.

The DPF removes the worst offender (particulates), and as far as the NOx goes, the car is compliant with older standards just a couple of years ago. ALH is compliant for the years it was sold-not long ago. Lots of F250 diesel trucks out there spewing FAR MORE NOx than ANY Volkswagen!!

So you are off the hook in Oklahoma. We are too in Missouri except in St. Louis area. But it is still not clear that most States (other than California and possibly a few others) will take a hard nosed approach to this. I doubt that Missouri will require anyone to demonstrate that they've had the fix to register. We just don't roll that way in Missouri. Government regulations, especially these days, are already unpopular. The Governors office may call the DOR and tell them to instruct their licensing bureaus to ignore the fix. Register their cars without question, sir. States can do that. Oklahoma will not force anyone to get the fix.

I suspect that any car that a fix is NOT approved for will simply be let off the hook in the end anyway. No one will take your car away or force you to fix it. You might even get the restitution on top of that! This is not over.

You can also sell it on Craigslist if you really do not want it. Of course, you can get a lot more if you accept the buyback. :)
Lots of people still want TDIs, and they are MORE valuable now in some areas where people love them, especially now that you can't buy them.

If you want to keep it, then keep it.

Or strip it like OP is asking about...and turn it back for more than it is worth from VW. And don't forget, those guys at the dealership did not cause this whole mess. They are good guys for the most part. I had a great experience recently leasing a new Passat. Stand up folks.

"VW" didn't do this. It is a big company... it was a few engineers, and possibly some upper management. I know lots of people that work for VW at Dealerships and there are lots of them in Chattanooga TN. I would not want to see them "punished" for the actions of a small number of people in the company.


 
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2015vwgolfdiesel

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Looks like good faith dealing died and went to parts unknown.

If any of you guys are in business, remind me not to do business with you.
We who bought a "Clean Diesel" are the plaintiffs here.. No?

Is that not why we are having our cars bought back? No ?

regarding any matter of "Good Faith" falls solely on the defendant (vw)

I'm a thinkin' more than a few new car buyers have gone to parts unknown __ :D:D:D:D
 

k1xv

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southern Vermont
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09 TDI sedan, sold back 12/16. Present cars 2013 BMW X5 diesel, 2015 Corvette convertible
We who bought a "Clean Diesel" are the plaintiffs here.. No?

Is that not why we are having our cars bought back? No ?

regarding any matter of "Good Faith" falls solely on the defendant (vw)

I'm a thinkin' more than a few new car buyers have gone to parts unknown __ :D:D:D:D
Another one who fails to understand that entering into a settlement resolves all past grievances. You think you are getting $5100 because you are handsome?
 

2015vwgolfdiesel

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Another one who fails to understand that entering into a settlement resolves all past grievances. You think you are getting $5100
in my case will be getting $25,275.53.

if not wrecked or stolen

I will be entering into a contract that requires my car to be returned driven to the dealer under its' own power.

as I bought it July 15 (?) 2015 I will be under 36 Month bumper to bumper warranty 'til July 15 (?) 2018 :D

may (or may not) trade out the tires (and-or) ALLOY wheels.

but it will be clean ~~~ car still has most of its' new car smell ~~ and only 'bout 3,515 miles :rolleyes:
 

ccbsecu

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Greensboro, NC
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2013 Touareg Executive TDi
The terms of the settlement are black/white.

It specifically states the requirements to turn in the car, no more - no less.

If I were building a track car at the time of the settlement and had stripped the interior for weigh savings - taken all the accessory and safety lights off for additional weigh savings, replaced the windows with poly...I should still be eligible for the buy back.

What makes this any different? I could be removing all my parts for the next car..?
 

17seconds

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...and I'm actually worried about removing my $1,500 of aftermarket stereo equipment leaving only a set of alpines in the back (stock head unit still intact)
 

Mr. Furious

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The terms of the settlement are black/white.
Yes, they are. So are the timelines and deadlines, which Volkswagen has summarily ignored and then (presumably) instructed their claims reps to lie and say the court changed the terms. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they tried to add/remove/change terms and hope the court doesn't do anything about it.
 

Mr. Furious

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...and I'm actually worried about removing my $1,500 of aftermarket stereo equipment leaving only a set of alpines in the back (stock head unit still intact)
My original plan was to take out my aftermarket HU and leave the RNS-510 and factory Bluetooth module on the seat - no sense in spending good money to have the HU put back in.

I'm debating not even doing that, though. I may just bring the RNS-510 with me, in the vehicle I'll be driving home, and keep it unless they kvetch about it.
 

k1xv

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09 TDI sedan, sold back 12/16. Present cars 2013 BMW X5 diesel, 2015 Corvette convertible
The terms of the settlement are black/white.

It specifically states the requirements to turn in the car, no more - no less.

If I were building a track car at the time of the settlement and had stripped the interior for weigh savings - taken all the accessory and safety lights off for additional weigh savings, replaced the windows with poly...I should still be eligible for the buy back.

What makes this any different? I could be removing all my parts for the next car..?
If you rendered your car into a SCCA racer by removing the safety equipment and accessories necessary to pass State Inspection, you would have rendered your car unregisterable for use on public roads, and would not have a valid registration for it at the time when one was necessary.

Like a total wreck, you will have taken your car off the road, and there would be no public purpose to paying you anything for it.
 

chadbag

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If you rendered your car into a SCCA racer by removing the safety equipment and accessories necessary to pass State Inspection, you would have rendered your car unregisterable for use on public roads, and would not have a valid registration for it at the time when one was necessary.
You are making an assumption. If I turn it into an SCCA racer today, that does not change the fact it was registered during the validity period.

Like a total wreck, you will have taken your car off the road, and there would be no public purpose to paying you anything for it.
NO, because I could un-convert it and make it road worthy again, which would make it a problem (according to the original complaint)
 

Cayman

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If you rendered your car into a SCCA racer by removing the safety equipment and accessories necessary to pass State Inspection, you would have rendered your car unregisterable for use on public roads, and would not have a valid registration for it at the time when one was necessary.

Like a total wreck, you will have taken your car off the road, and there would be no public purpose to paying you anything for it.
Do you work for VW?
 

turbobrick240

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Maybe I'm just too proud, but I'd be embarrassed as hell rolling in for the buyback in a stripped down car. A wrecked car I'd be fine with.
 

k1xv

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southern Vermont
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Do you work for VW?
No. When you go to a diner, do you grab all the jam packets and sugar packets and take them home? They are there for your use, and there is normally no sign that says you can't take any home.

By my standards, when someone is giving me a break, such as not deducting anything for a dent or torn upholstery, I do not take that as license to cannibalize my car. Particularly when I know that the buyer intends to have the option to take the better cars, "fix" them, and sell or donate them to others. Destruction of economic value on purpose just shows spite.
 
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LogicBomb

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No. When you go to a diner, do you grab all the jam packets and sugar packets and take them home? They are there for your use, and there is normally no sign that says you can't take any home.

By my standards, when someone is giving me a break, such as not deducting anything for a dent or torn upholstery, I do not take that as license to cannibalize my car. Particularly when I know that the buyer intends to have the option to take the better cars, "fix" them, and sell or donate them to others. Destruction of economic value on purpose just shows spite.

I think it's opportunism at its finest. People trying to monopolize, financially, on a weakly worded loophole, and they might just get away with it. I don't see a problem with it, even though I won't be stripping my car of anything.
 

PDXA3TDI

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2011 A3
Wish I was as good as some of you saints.

But if those fingers wagging at "stealing" parts off my own car were wagging in my face, I might pull those parts, too. I don't know what they would fetch on craigslist with that smell, though. For me, getting my all-green-check-in-October status kicked back to "incomplete" today has got me ready to preach back at you, as I lose my purely-emotional hesitation to strip.

I have a deep love for my car. I could not sell baseball bat swings for $100 each, even if the crusher was seconds away. It does, foolishly, make me sick to my stomach to think about stripping, but morals/values/fairness/car- love-wise, I think we should all be stripping the parts for highest and best use, before they are neglected and probably crushed. These cars will SIT for a long time and the "fix" will ruin what's left of our cars, if it comes at all.

Give yourself a gold star for being nice to the "next owner" and turning in all those key fobs, if it helps you sleep at night, but I'm having nightmares of scrap yards and crushers. My Audi dealer doesn't give half a crap about the 2011 car I love, they don't sell even three year old cars and their snotty noses go up when I come in under extended maintenance for them to F-up a brake fluid change or break off a fuel filter bolt that they don't have in stock(!) and just give it back with one bolt missing.

They will not be kind to these A3s while they sit and wait for a "fix." The fix will suck, if there is one, and the highly reduced value and general continuation of the bad PR will make it not worth VWGofA's time to deal with any but maybe the newest/highest end cars. The thought of my car sitting out on the back dirt lot with moss growing in the pano roof channels and mice nesting in the sport seats - then finally being crushed, breaks my heart. I would like my parts being used to help upgrade or repair a gasser with known owner - vs. a dim hope that my car will have a happy "future owner" with any car sense at all.

I would be thrilled to see folks with the guts, time and blowtorch driving on those steelies, sitting on a milk crate tied to the frame, steering with a board, shifting with a wrench, wearing goggles and a bike helmet with a little side view mirror attached. My dreams about stripping have got more elaborate every night since that ten-business day window passed.

The notion of owners being unfair to VWGofA is so puzzling, as they get away with too-big-of-a-mess-to-do-the-right thing BS. There are tens of thousands (more than 100,000? of us for whom they have already breached the settlement timelines - and really every single owner in the class was supposed to get "transparency" that is no longer there as they lie about processing claims in the order receive, sketchily remove the 10-day language from the portal, fail to give updated timelines, hang up on callers, and turned away from getting offer letters out to artificially pushing loads of owners to "documents complete" - just to show some movement to the court this week (though not movement that count$). Then outrageously knocking some of us back a step after more than a month of limbo.

I don't have to think the settlement is "fair" to accept that it is what I'm stuck with. Love it or leave it DNA. Besides not not abiding by it and not being transparent with modified timelines, etc. the settlement was not "fair" to begin with. The compromises made for expediency were to give owners, overall, the best chance of getting somewhat close to "whole" in a reasonable amount of time. That's better for us than spending years and years sorting through all the details of each individual's situation. Most of us accepted it, but it doesn't make it "fair."

The use of NADA Clean Value is especially unfair to many of us, but the minimal requirement that the car "can" be driven is meant to offset that. Stripping parts is not going to send anyone to hell, it is still adhering to the agreement (while VWGofA is not) and it is a (tedious) way that some of us might make our own buyback somewhat more "fair." That is not "opportunistic" and it especially is not true for me as the $ is not at all worth my time and hassle to strip.

I just hate that those without this understanding, or else without the skills, physical ability, time, emotional fortitude (me) or upfront $ to pay someone else to strip are sending good parts and great cars to a long stay in purgatory and probably car-crusher hell.

I understand the court's reasoning on using trade-in, but it is still infuriating and insulting. Major retailers, law enforcement, and the courts do not give shoplifters or fraudulent check writers sale prices. An armful of levis to feed your hungry kids, or a fake check for $200 on clearance shoes with $500 "regular price" could get you that felony strike that would put you in prison for years based on the full "retail" price - even if none of those items EVER sold at that full price. Allowing Audi, whose un-truth in engineering made me buy this car, to give me what an honest dealer gives in an honest transaction - where they are giving a little on a new car, and then making a little on the sale off the trade in - is not "fair" even with the additional restitution.

I would never ever choose to enter into even an honest trade-in transaction for any car I have ever owned for NADA value. I buy, maintain accessorize and upgrade my cars so carefully that I always privately sell for more than I paid and always get far more than NADA value. I also always have that flexibility to sell if I need cash, and I was especially counting on that with this car being so desireable, if the lies were true. It has been a significant burden for me to not have been able to sell when I was ready to buy a house. Though I'm not starving, homeless, or walking in the snow, it is not "fair."

It makes sense that the settlement has compromises like trade-in / clean valuation for "expediency." But this isn't being expedited, and VWGofA agreed to the can-drive part of that compromise. My car is so much more than "clean" but someone with serious body damage (and cash in pocket from insurance) and terrible neglect will get the same as me.
I know I'm better off than a lot of owners who are really financially suffering and very unfairly screwed, but I'm losing patience and I'm sad about the probable fate of our cars. As some of you point out, there's nothing we can do about the delays. Instead of "relaxing" though, I'm looking at the one thing I'm not left powerless over - what I will turn in at buyback.

My car has more than $3,500 (depreciated, not sticker price) in OEM accessories and even factory options (heated mirrors and seats, paint upgrade, etc.) that are not included in the NADA valuation. Those would go with my private party sale if the value had not been devastated when the lies were finally revealed after all the years of hiding and then denying. Some. like mats, racks, first aid, truth-in-engineering seat covers, 18" oem winter wheels (not to mention a couple grand in hanooks and thule ksummit cables that won't fit next car), are obviously not going with the buyback, but it's not "fair" that I have to spend my time being a used part dealer for these bits and pieces. If I don't feel like ripping off the heated mirrors and taking out the heaters from the sport seats and knowing I'm getting nothing for lifetime Serius, I might decide to save the climate control panel and the stupid RNSE+ (where's the damned Fakra) from the mice.

Highly compensated plantiffs' attorneys emphasizing to media how terrible condition is fine and how lucky we are to be able to drive for free another few years (not mentioning those that will be stolen or rendered undrivable) if we don't choose our buybacks "in the fall" = sport seat and steering wheel swap OK for me. My time to remove and sell A3-specific racks, mudflaps, etc. and inability to sell clear bra, metallic paint, etc. = spare/jack, climate control panel, air vents, shift knob might come out, too. Breach of timeline makes me nervous enough to do another oil and fuel filter change that will eentually seep into the mud = engine cover, battery cover, fuse covers, belly pan, cargo cover...? Recalled Takata airbags threatening my life and Audi will never have to deal with them = front lip, xenon lights, grill, sport wheel, paddles, shift knob..
The $ I'll get from selling this stuff is absolutely not worth the hassle to me, but "stealing" good parts from the mice, mildew, and crusher is. That makes moral sense to me, but YMoralsMV.
 
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turbobrick240

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Damn friend, I only made through the first couple chapters of that post, but if you love the car so much, keep it. Problem solved.
 

autdi

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No. When you go to a diner, do you grab all the jam packets and sugar packets and take them home? They are there for your use, and there is normally no sign that says you can't take any home.

By my standards, when someone is giving me a break, such as not deducting anything for a dent or torn upholstery, I do not take that as license to cannibalize my car. Particularly when I know that the buyer intends to have the option to take the better cars, "fix" them, and sell or donate them to others. Destruction of economic value on purpose just shows spite.
Since food seems to be the only way to discuss this, when you visit a to-go salad bar in a restaurant/grocery can you pick the ingredients you place in the box? It is sold by weight, and there are typically things on the salad bar that cost way more than you are paying for the salad. Most notably bacon bits, walnuts, cheese. Is that ok to put whatever you want in the container that you are buying by the ounce/pound from the display that you can load the to-go box from?
 

k1xv

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Sure. But you cannot eat the salad before you get to the weigh station. That is stealing. And at turn in, you are being paid for a car, not a fraction of a car.
 

VeeDubTDI

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Sure. But you cannot eat the salad before you get to the weigh station. That is stealing. And at turn in, you are being paid for a car, not a fraction of a car.
You are being paid for the powertrain in operable condition and a few select option packages. That is it. They are not inventorying what parts the powertrain has attached to it at the time of turn-in except for the ones that add value to the settlement (navigation is one of those items). (They are inventorying it at a later date, presumably to make a determination on whether they fix and resell it, or recycle it).
 
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k1xv

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You are being paid for a car, in running condition. The options that affect the buyback price are items that would affect trade in value for a car. When they "pay for a sunroof", you cannot bring in a sunroof that is not attached to a car.
 
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