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No, that's not it. This is a story written by reporters who have sources supposedly inside the negotiations and they are selectively leaking high level descriptive information. Later today, at 4 pm EDST, the settlement will be announced. Whether or not that is a summary of the settlement or the fine details of the settlement itself, we will have to wait to find out.

The devil is always in the details of a settlement, so I am waiting to read the fine print. I lease a 2015 Passat TDI, and would love to be able to buy it at the end of the lease (for a price heavily discounted from the buyout prices in the lease terms.) But it is pretty unlikely that VW (or VW Credit, owner of the leased vehicle) will be allowed to sell the car. So, my curiosity is on the terms of the settlement that apply to the surrender of leased vehicles.

One article from several months ago indicated that they expected leases to be allowed to terminate early without penalty. If that means what it appears to say, then I would keep the car until the month before the lease expires, drive the hell out of it in the meantime, and then turn it in. An alternative that I doubt VW would be allowed to do would be to extend the lease term (at a much discounted rate) and let me lease it for another 3 years. I love the car - regularly get in excess of 42 MPG in mixed interstate and urban driving. I was at the dealership last week getting service and it was news to the employees there that the settlement was going to be announced this week. VW seems to have been dropping the ball ever since this was exposed. Some of their customers are rather pissed about this, and their dealers are looking for compensation for the costs and sales hit this caused.