Volkswagen exec reaffirms commitment to diesel: ‘Now it is absolutely clean’

atc98002

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I wouldn't use the term "caved" for those who took the buyback. I sold my Jetta back, and was glad to be rid of it due to numerous little issues that would have cost big dollars to fix, including bodywork. My Passat, however, was a struggle, because there was nothing wrong with it. In the end it was all about the dollars. The buyback offer was just too good to pass up.
 

Lightflyer1

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Besides the people that caved in and sold their TDIs back, some didn't; a friend of mine dug his heels in, refused to sell his 2014 Audi A3 TDI back, it took forever, but Audi/VW eventually fixed it, and it seems to run better than before Deiselgate.
No one was forced to sell their car back. VWoA was required to fix any car brought in for the fix that had a fix available. I don't know why your friend had to dig his heels in as they were required to do the fix by court order for anyone that came in with one.
 

vwxyzero

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No one was forced to sell their car back. VWoA was required to fix any car brought in for the fix that had a fix available. I don't know why your friend had to dig his heels in as they were required to do the fix by court order for anyone that came in with one.
True. I didn't say anything about anyone being forced into selling their TDI back, but the incentive to so loomed large, and I remember how long he waited, how much of a PITA he thought the ordeal was in total; my only real point was in reference to the post I quoted, and that some of the people who held out might be selling now.
Did you get your New Beatle fixed too?

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vwxyzero

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I wouldn't use the term "caved" for those who took the buyback.
Fair enough, maybe a bad choice of words; call the grammar police! Unlike your Jetta his TDI was spotless with low mileage, so for him it was worth the headaches to keep it.


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BeetleGo

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
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My brother sold his 6-speed manual Passat TDI SE back to VW and picked up a cherry 6 month old Passat TSI SEL for $2500 less than VW gave him for the TDI. They don’t get the same fuel mileage and it’s somewhat louder than their TDI was, but the deal was too good to pass up. The big thing is that he is planning on buying a Tesla next. Sorry VW, you’ve lost his business. Like me he feels that Volkswagen shot themselves in the face (not just the foot) drumming up passable numbers, calling it clean, and then getting caught, which bite you back BIGTIME with people who up until late 2015 were selling TDI’s for you!

The repaired ones are only partly fixed. There are plenty of scenarios where they’re still dirty as hell.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-rival-volkswagen-exec-clean-diesel-commitment-interview/
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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True. I didn't say anything about anyone being forced into selling their TDI back, but the incentive to so loomed large, and I remember how long he waited, how much of a PITA he thought the ordeal was in total; my only real point was in reference to the post I quoted, and that some of the people who held out might be selling now.
Did you get your New Beatle fixed too?

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Ordeal? Windfall is probably a better description. Many owners came away from the buyback having driven a new TDI for 2 or 3 years at zero net cost to them. The buyback was incredibly generous.
 

atc98002

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2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium (sold back), 2009 Jetta (sold back), 80 Rabbit diesel (long gone)
Ordeal? Windfall is probably a better description. Many owners came away from the buyback having driven a new TDI for 2 or 3 years at zero net cost to them. The buyback was incredibly generous.
Exactly my situation. Just too good to pass up.
 

kjclow

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I wouldn't use the term "caved" for those who took the buyback. I sold my Jetta back, and was glad to be rid of it due to numerous little issues that would have cost big dollars to fix, including bodywork. My Passat, however, was a struggle, because there was nothing wrong with it. In the end it was all about the dollars. The buyback offer was just too good to pass up.
We sold the Golf back for the same reason, the money was too good to pass up. When we talk about how the engine characteristics of the JSW have changed, we're really happy we didn't subject our Golf to that.
 

kjclow

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2010 JSW TDI silver and black. 2017 Ram Ecodiesel dark red with brown and beige interior.
Besides the people that caved in and sold their TDIs back, some didn't; a friend of mine dug his heels in, refused to sell his 2014 Audi A3 TDI back, it took forever, but Audi/VW eventually fixed it, and it seems to run better than before Deiselgate. I'm convinced he's not the only person that refused the buyback, and he still has his, but I assume some people that stuck their ground are selling their TDIs, on the used market now. So there's probably that going on too.

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Your friend didn't dig his heels in. He took the fix and the adjustment ($$) just like most of the rest of us did that are still driving the 09-15 diesels.
 

turbobrick240

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maine
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Yup. They're just cars. They make new ones every day. No mystery to me why most owners took the buyback.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
Yup. They're just cars. They make new ones every day. No mystery to me why most owners took the buyback.
Well, yes they make new ones every day... but WE can no longer buy them. So....

You couldn't get me to sell any of my cars for MSRP+. Not a single one of them can be replaced with a new version of the same.
 

turbobrick240

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Well, yes they make new ones every day... but WE can no longer buy them. So....
You couldn't get me to sell any of my cars for MSRP+. Not a single one of them can be replaced with a new version of the same.

Trust me, I've had irrational attachments (not saying yours are irrational) to my share of vehicles. Like the '84 Volvo 245 diesel decomposing in my yard. Or my first car, an '85 Volvo 244 turbo, which I finally parted with last year. But these newer cars just don't have as much soul (how's that for irrational), imo.
 

oilhammer

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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
Happiness is often a difficult thing to pin down to any rationality. I know people who have no hobbies, no interest in much of anything, no interest in life. Really sad. I don't think everyone need be a "car person", but it is to me a noble hobby and isn't likely to be going anywhere any time soon.

I am currently fixing up a pair of 2.sl0 Jettas... how's THAT for irrational? :p

(this is what I do to stay busy between TDI fixer-uppers)
 

turbobrick240

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There's something to be said for simplicity of design. I've re-adapted rather well to the gasser powerband of my 2.5 Golf.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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Today I drove my GSW to work, and just went out to a meeting in my B4. So I drove the last 4 cylinder TDI VW sold here, followed by the first. Truth be told, I like the B4 better, even though it has 20x the miles on it than my GSW. A diesel the sounds and drives like a diesel is nice.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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outside St Louis, MO
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There are just too many to list....
There's something to be said for simplicity of design. I've re-adapted rather well to the gasser powerband of my 2.5 Golf.
The 2.5L isn't exactly "simple" (the 4.0hr thermostat job comes to mind) although they have proven to be reasonably reliable after the first revamp around 2008. But the "powerband" as you call it is really more of a high output lump placed into a rather smallish car. So yeah, not much adjusting required, just stab it and it goes along quite nicely. It should. It makes as much horsepower as the VR6 did when it came out.

Now the old 2.0L "2.slo" engines ARE simple, and ARE easy to service. But adapting to daily driving one compared to a TDI: no thanks, no way, not even close, LOL. But they are sturdy simple and reliable, and if you need something cheap that doesn't do anything especially great but does have longevity and simplicity on its side, then they are stellar.
 

turbobrick240

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Compared to my commonrail tdi the 2.5 is pretty simple. No turbo, no dpf, no hpfp, and no timing belt (it's a '10, so the chain should be good for a long time). The power is there, it just doesn't come on until 4k rpm, by which point the tdi was just about done.
 

atc98002

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I find mine to be a gas sucking pig. Good luck trying to break 30 mpg with it.
I had a Jetta rental for about 6-7 weeks two years ago. I'm pretty sure it had the 1.4T engine, although I'm not certain. I was surprised how peppy it was, and my Fuelly calculated gas mileage was 37 in mixed driving in northern Virginia. But there was no heavy, stop and go traffic with that. The worst traffic would be leaving the Vienna Metro station about 2:30PM and driving to my hotel, about 16 miles in heavy but not slow traffic. The days I went to the Command Center in Vint Hill I was opposite direction of the traffic heading to DC, so was smooth sailing both ways.
 

turbobrick240

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I find mine to be a gas sucking pig. Good luck trying to break 30 mpg with it.
I consistently get 30 mpg tanks with it. Not great, but better than a lot of vehicles I've owned. It's really just an interim vehicle until I buy something that's 80%+ efficient.
 

J

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VA, USA
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'12 passat tdi.... my 6th TDi!! a4, a3, b4, a5, my b7 and wife has a '11 JSW.. :)
When the elctric car thing bombs (there will be a surge of interest, since the whining Euro weenies and the looney idiots in the press tell everyone that they are the future) there MIGHT be a chance to buy another diesel from someone, maybe not VW though. Too bad, since after 50+ years of involvement, I have probably bought my last ever new VW (Q7 TDI)
The thing w the evs is 50-60% of electricity is created by burning CNG. 30% is coal!! IT'S NOT ANY CLEANER TO OL MOTHER EARTH THEN A DAMN DIESEL!!
 
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bhtooefr

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The thing w the evs is 50-60% of electricity is created by burning CNG. 30% is coal!! IT'S NOT ANY CLEANER TO OL MOTHER EARTH THEN A DAMN DIESEL!!


National average is 30.4% coal, yes, but only 33.8% natural gas (and 0.6% oil, and 0.3% other fossil, for a total of 65.1% fossil-sourced. There's also 0.1% unknown source.)

In your grid region, SRVC, it's even better, at 24.9% coal, 0.2% oil, 29.5% gas, and 0.1% other fossil, for 54.7% fossil-sourced (with, again, 0.1% unknown source). The largest single fuel source on your grid is nuclear.

And, things are trending towards reduced fossil fuel usage on the grid, too.
 
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BeetleGo

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The thing w the evs is 50-60% of electricity is created by burning CNG. 30% is coal!! IT'S NOT ANY CLEANER TO OL MOTHER EARTH THEN A DAMN DIESEL!!
Now. Clearly you don’t read the papers. Renewables are ramping up fast. These numbers do NOT show that.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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Now. Clearly you don’t read the papers. Renewables are ramping up fast. These numbers do NOT show that.
They don't show that because it's still a very small portion of power generation. What I'm surprised at is how much of the generation is nuclear. We've been through waves of renewable generation in the past, just drive to Palm Springs to see all the idle Reagan era windmills. I hope it takes hold this time but low oil prices don't bode well for renewables.
 

turbobrick240

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A pretty healthy portion of EV owners make use of photovoltaic and other renewable energy sources though. It has got to be very gratifying to fuel up on free sunshine every day.
 

flee

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They don't show that because it's still a very small portion of power generation. What I'm surprised at is how much of the generation is nuclear. We've been through waves of renewable generation in the past, just drive to Palm Springs to see all the idle Reagan era windmills. I hope it takes hold this time but low oil prices don't bode well for renewables.
I'm sorry to see another otherwise thoughtful forum member fall for this old canard.
This windmill region has served as a proving ground of the (then) new technology for
the last 40 years.
There are many dozens of different turbine designs, many of which did not survive
the conditions in that desert and failed early or are at the end of their design life now.
Then there are the plots leased by speculators who weren't happy with the short
term profits and moved on. Wind power - all power - generation is a long game.
People see what they want to see, especially from their car windows at 80 MPH.
Next time you do this drive, why not pull off and take a dune buggy tour through the
area and learn first hand the history of this region and the many ongoing stories of
people, companies and, yes, government departments that are actually making a
difference for the 'generations' coming after us.
Or just repeat the same nonsense that the anti-renewable interests keep spewing.
 

turbobrick240

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maine
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Yeah, I would expect Reagan era wind turbines to be idle (or scrapped). I believe the typical design life is 20-25 years.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

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I know there are windmills that are producing power. But both prior posts acknowledge that there are obsolete or abandoned windmills there. That's all I was saying. It's a great location for wind farms, but I wonder what percentage of the windmills there are actually productive.
 
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