Quick News About Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen Problems

Short stories about Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen recalls, lawsuits, and other interesting bits. Signup to have these stories emailed to you for free from CarComplaints.com.

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  1. There’s an important deadline coming up for VW owners who previously paid for repairs to their timing chain system or damage to their engine from a timing chain failure, and want the automaker to pick up the tab.

    A recently approved timing chain settlement benefits thousands of owners by providing them with an extended “new vehicle limited warranty” for any future repairs, plus conditional reimbursements for any previous repairs.

    The extended warranty is applied automatically if you own or lease one of the affected vehicles and didn’t opt out of the class-action.

    Owners who want to be eligible for reimbursements must file a claim by January 25th, 2019. More information is available at TimingChainLitigation.com.

    How to Submit a Claim ∞

    1. Use the VIN lookup tool to check your eligibility
    2. Gather the documents requested by the Claim Administrator
    3. Submit your claim before 11:59 PST on January 25th, 2019
    keep reading article "Upcoming Deadline for Timing Chain Reimbursements"

  2. When Volkswagen agreed to a multi-district settlement for selling polluting engines marketed as clean diesel, it did so knowing it’d have to pay billions of dollars to customers that owned or leased an affected vehicle when the news about the scandal broke.

    Some owners that had sold their affected vehicles before the news came out tried to file for compensation in court, but didn't get very far. That may be about to change due to an interesting court decision in California.

    Former owners and lessees of Volkswagen "clean diesel" vehicles can proceed with their lawsuit even though the customers got rid of their diesel vehicles before anyone knew the emissions systems were illegal.

    Volkswagen, as you might image, is less than impressed with this decision.

    Volkswagen says the case is nothing more than trial attorneys trying to suck more money out of the automaker that has already paid more than $25 billion for its emissions sins.

    keep reading article "Judge's Decision May Open to the Door to New Diesel-Scandal Claims"

  3. A new group of diesel owners are seeking “clean diesel” compensation from Volkswagen.

    The owners had not been covered by previous diesel settlements because they had sold or traded in the cars before dieselgate became public knowledge. From CarComplaints.com:

    Volkswagen told the judge those former owners and lessees are attempting to pry money out of the automaker's pockets even though the former owners didn't lose anything. When they sold or traded their diesel vehicles, or ended the lease agreements, the transactions occurred before the emissions scandal was known.

    The lawsuit boils down to economic harm. VW says the cars were sold at a value determined before anyone knew they spewed 40x the legal limit of NOx emissions, so dieselgate had no affect. The owners say they paid a premium for an eco-friendly car and should be compensated accordingly.

    Now a judge will decide if this case is a money grab.

    keep reading article "VW Says New Lawsuit Represents Group Unaffected by the “Clean Diesel” Scandal"

  6. The settlement details for VW diesel customers in the USA is here and you know what? It actually looks pretty good.

    The agreement involves 500,000 2-liter engines that VW called "clean diesels" but turned out to be NOx spewing polluters. The full details are available here, but here's some cliff notes:

    1. Volkswagen will offer to buy back the affected diesels using their pre-scandal NADA book value (September 2015)
    2. Owners can sell their cars back or keep them and wait for an EPA approved fix
    3. Whether you sell it or keep it, VW will compensate owners somewhere between $5000-$10000 for their trouble
    4. Lessees will have the option of terminating their lease without penalty

    So far there is no word on what the fix will be for these vehicles or how that'll affect MPG or performance. Owners of the following are eligible for compensation:

    475,000 2.0-liter diesel cars including the 2013-2015 Beetle, 2010-2015 Golf, 2009-2015 Jetta, and 2012-2015 Passat, along with the Audi A3 between 2010-2013 and 2015. All in the USA.

    keep reading article "VW Close to Agreement to Buy Back Diesels and Compensate Owners"

  7. Your vehicle might be involved in one of the largest and most dangerous recalls in automotive history.

    Volkswagen is recalling 850,000 VW and Audi vehicles with Takata inflators.

    You've probably heard about Takata by now. They're the ones that made airbag inflators which sometimes explode with too much force and send metal shrapnel flying throughout the cabin. They're also the ones that have been linked to a number of deaths and injuries. Needless to say, there aren't a lot of Takata fans out there.

    But wait, there's more ... replacement parts aren't expected to be available until later this year.

    keep reading article "More Takata Inflators Recalled"

  8. Speaking before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee, VW CEO Michael Horn said U.S. vehicles wouldn't start being fixed until 2016 and it will take many years to repair all 500,000 affected vehicles.

    Horn said it could take between 5 to 10 hours of labor for each of the 500,000 vehicles affected in the USA. And if that wasn’t enough, the cost of the repairs might end up being higher than the vehicle’s worth.

    To sum up: repairs could take years, cost lots of money, and reduce the horsepower and gas mileage of the repaired car.

    “Mr. Horn told committee members Volkswagen would consider a buy-back program for all affected vehicles. It's estimated that based on current values, the cost for such a program could reach $7 billion just for the Volkswagen vehicles on U.S. roads.”

    VW is just hemorrhaging money at this point.

    keep reading article "Fixing Each of the Cheating Volkswagen Diesels Could Take Years"

  9. Investigations are popping up across the globe to learn what damage has been done by VW, and the automaker says it has set aside over $7.3 billion to handle the crisis.

    However, Volkswagen says that might not be enough due to the massive number of vehicles potentially involved.

    What started as 500,000 vehicles in the USA has quickly ballooned to 11 million vehicles worldwide. The total cost of the fines, repairs, and lawsuit settlements are going to be astronomical. To the point where only setting aside $7 billion seems rather optimistic.

    Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said that he is "endlessly sorry" shortly before resigning. He just rammed his ship headlong into an iceberg and took off with the only lifeboat.

    keep reading article "Volkswagen Sets Aside $7.3 Billion for Emissions Mess"

  10. Lawyers, Start Your Lawsuits.

    A VW diesel emissions lawsuit has been filed in California. Girard Gibbs LLP has filed a class-action lawsuit against VW in California, for deceiving customers into buying vehicles marketed as “clean diesel.”

    "Volkswagen promised consumers a car with power, high fuel economy, and low emissions—if they paid a few thousand dollars more for a Volkswagen “clean” diesel vehicle." - Attorney Andre M. Mura, Girard Gibbs LLP

    The vehicles named in the lawsuit are the 2009-2015 Volkswagen Jetta (including the Jetta Sportswagen); 2010-2015 Volkswagen Golf (including the Golf Sportswagen); 2010-2015 Audi A3; 2012-2015 Volkswagen Beetle (including the Beetle Convertible) and the 2012-2015 Volkswagen Passat.

    keep reading article "The First Class-Action Filed Against VW for It’s Not-So-Clean-Diesels"

  11. Volkswagen has been caught manipulating the emissions output of its diesel engines during lab testing.

    The EPA says the "defeat device" is sophisticated software on VW cars that detects when the car is going through official emissions testing. When the software recognizes an official test is underway, it turns on full emissions controls to make it appear the emission standards are within the rules. Once the official tests are completed, the emission controls are decreased during normal driving.

    The EPA estimates 482,000 diesel passenger cars are violating the Clean Air Act, an offense that can carry a penalty of $37,500 per vehicle. Holy $$$.

    The offending cars were sold in the USA starting in 2008 and include:

    • 2009–2015 VW Jetta
    • 2009–2015 VW Beetle
    • 2009–2015 Audi A3
    • 2009–2015 VW Golf
    • 2014–2015 VW Passat

    The government has temporarily blocked VW from selling any 2016 diesel inventory, and the automaker should expect a wave of fines and consumer blowback. This is going to get interesting.

    keep reading article "VW Busted by the EPA for Using 'Defeat Devices' to Manipulate Emissions Output"

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