Posted on 09/25/2015 8:08:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Volkswagen is confronted with a monumental challenge.
The company has admitted that 11 million of its cars used illegal software to cheat emissions standards.
Now, many owners are demanding that the offending cars be fixed.
That's easier said than done, and Volkswagen has already tried — and failed — twice.
Here's the issue, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency: Cars with Volkswagen's 2-liter TDI turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines include software that detects when the car is undergoing emissions testing and turns on a suite of pollution-control systems.
But as soon as the test ends, the controls switch off, leaving the engine free to emit up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, a highly polluting gas. According to the California Air Resources Board, Volkswagen admitted to using a defeat device during a September 3 meeting with the agency and the EPA.
The problem for Volkswagen is that getting the engine's emissions in line with pollution standards probably means sacrificing something else.
"Building an engine involves balancing four factors — performance, emissions, durability, and fuel economy," explained Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' director of automotive testing.
Right now, VW has sacrificed emissions to create a TDI engine that offers great performance, incredible fuel economy, and solid reliability.
"Whatever the fix is, it will likely sacrifice fuel economy and probably durability as well," Fisher said.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
On another VW track - My mom, who no longer drives, has a 1991 Westfalia camper van. It needs body work, so I start to look into it - and discover the world of the WESTY
Folks restore these things, up the suspension, even swap in better engines (Subaru) - to the tune of $50-90k! Well Mom's van isn't going to get that treatment, but it's good to learn that the old crate may have a little value.
I saw a woman being interviewed a couple days ago when this first broke.
She was really upset and said she was parking her newly bought TDI.
Crazy
If I owned a TDI I'd do my best to ignore any fixes that may be coming down the pike.
Those would never pass the emission standards required for new cars.
“The sad part is this will set back diesel introduction into the US market to a certain extent”
The real goal, I believe. Environmental groups specifically targeted the diesel cars, even though the mpg blows away most competing gas cars. Factoring in the engine life of the diesel makes them even less wasteful to the environment.
Not Mexico--Cuba. Their cars are 50 or more years old. Commies will love a car that tells a lie.
“that’s the challenge faced by all the other automakers, and they applied engineering solutions and solved the problem.”
As far as we know... I would bet real money most of the others are doing strange workarounds too. Some more legal than others.
Huh? No way. They drive a test course and see how much fuel you used.
Exactly, the main goal.
I was just joking.
In any case, cars, 25 or so years old I believe the number is, are not even required to undergo emissions tests, at least here in New York, during a state vehicle inspection.
What is interesting is it took a regulatory agency 6 years (first models affected were 2009) to find the flaw.
It is like the slaughter houses sued for e-coli; aren’t they inspected? Don’t the inspector’s bear any liability?
Does it still have the flower on the dash?
I’d love to pick one up cheap. I don’t care about what they told the EPA. Are prices coming down on these yet?
The fines in question are not a mere few million but a few billion.
They cheated and tricked their buyers. The car is doing stuff vw hid from the owners. I dont like being sold stuff that is cheating on me to get numbers, that could get what i bought confiscated from me by fedgov, potentially for trucking its way around emisions that the car was set up to cheat its way around, but was marketed to me and veryoje else as being compliant AND having awsome performance. That is why people were buying them and its a vw lie. I dont like being lied to to get me to buy something and i dont like the company deliberately lying to me toget me to buy their product.
And exactly whose fault is that? VWs fault.
The real idiocy of the emisions tests is that cars older than 2p years dont gave to pass the test. Guy tells me there are less than 1% of cars on the road fom 20 years ago. I see them all tye time, i can spot a car 195 or earlier, and i know what demos are most likely to drive them. I see them at the gas station filling up so i know they can drive to a test station, as its right there at the station.
i am by no means a auto sales expert but i would imagine trade in values on vw diesels is probably falling like hillarys poll numbers
They are called mufflers. And customers like them because they make the ride quieter, not because government mandates them. The market would demand a quiet ride regardless of whatever laws there were. Its why car cabins are also better insulated to keep outside noise out.
Actually sales of existing would go up as the engines produce good torque and power. Going forward the engine is going to be a dog.
Vw is unethical because it lied to customers and sold them a product that claimed it works a certain way and it doesnt. They outright lied, people were made to believe they were geting something that theynwere not.
The epa is evil and an untouchable entity. That doesnt excuse vw.
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