Volkswagen under investigation over illegal software that masks pollution

[Elmura]

Lol.... Years after the emissions debacle and my last retort with Frantic, he's still frantically trying to get his car's purchase price reimbursed. Here's a tip: Get on with life mate. Have you nothing else to do?

[feenix74]

But this is the modern society that we live in . . . when something goes wrong we look for someone else to blame and ideally to seek monetary compensation from them (in true American fashion).

[Transporter]

...and what are you going to do about it? Forever accumulate and post negative comments? It will make no difference to Volkswagen, for every potential customer (friend of yours) you claim you redirected, they get 10 new ones.
It’s all negative energy that drives everyday of your life and it’s not good for your health, you doing yourself more harm than all the emission combined. The heart attack and stress are the biggest killers and you might be heading that way with all your negativity and being unable to redirect your negative energy.

I’ll try not to respond to your negative comments, because your health should be important to all of us. Why? It’s all tax payers money spent on the health related issues even when people self inflicted it, which you do by increasing your stress level.

Please relax a bit and try to enjoy your life.

[doc_777]

There’s this type of customer in every industry Transporter. Manufacturers and retailers don’t want them because they are never satisfied and always bad-mouthing.

[Ozsko]

And they ALWAYS are at pains to point out that they are reasonable and obliging people and those that are unfortunate enough to have to deal with them are the problem every single time. I doubt that any of them would last a week behind the service counter of a dealer, the story would change then.

[feenix74]

Feenix, welcome to the modern world where people actually expect not to be lied to. Not to be sold a car that has severe emissions problems , unless you don’t actually drive it, and the patch to fix that causes other issues that increase fuel use and clog up the street/ engine.Not to be sold a car that depreciates faster than the titanic sinking, should but doesn’t have reasonably priced reliable parts that don’t fail, where a customer service ambassador doesn’t yell at you then hang up when your simply asking a question calmly without swearing.
But perhaps you both ,and we all know VAG ,would prefer the “good old days” where after you drove the cart off the lot it was your problem?
I don’t ever expect to get my money back for the DSG repairs that they knew would occur or the pathetic ,under 20%, resale value of the vehicle after 6years, but their treatment of us has cost them at least 15 sales directly from family and friends who we’ve directed away from VAG.
What I do find it exceptionally strange to the point of questioning posters motivations ,is why there are similar responses to people questioning vw’s emissions, gearboxes and other reoccurring issues in numerous forums , not just here but on overseas forums? It’s almost like their a set of scripted responses patched up for local markets and lingo..... But no company would ever do that would they?

I mean VAG would never be stupid enough to try and delete , dissipate or disparage posters of negative reviews like these builders did ?

Builder'''s customers banned from sharing reviews after website gets legal threat

Whereas, in my opinion, it as an age-old problem that buyers get lied to. The Romans had a saying "caveat emptor" ("let the buyer beware") and a Chinese proverb is "buyers are never as smart as the sellers." It is only in modern times that we actually have legal protections that try to help protect the consumer's rights. What VW did with diesel-gate is criminal and they will pay (and are paying) for that crime. In my opinion, they should pay for all the health costs caused by the excessive emissions. This could be big fines imposed by the government (which should hopefully fund a boost to the health system) or possibly compensation to individuals who are suffering from diseases directly linked to the emissions.

It is a modern sense of entitlement that says as well as being required to fix the technical aspects of your car for you so that it complies with the emissions regulations that you feel that VW should compensate you for your "economic loss" for the accelerated loss of value of the vehicle. May be I am just old fashioned but my father taught me that when I buy a new car that I should consider it to be worth nothing as soon as I drive it off the dealer's lot. That I should plan to drive it into the ground instead of just driving it for 1-3 years on a novated lease and expecting to make a profit when I sell/trade it for more than the residual figure at the end of the lease. Either way it is an educated guess as to what the service life of any vehicle will be, there is always a risk that even if you buy a Toyota or a Hyundai that it will turn out to be a lemon (either as an individual vehicle or as a model).

Effectively what you want is to be able to take the bet, have a guarantee that you cannot lose, and if you do lose that you can blame somebody else, seek compensation from them instead of manning up and learning from the experience. I own a diesel-gate vehicle. I made an informed decision to buy it. Part of the reason I bought it was that I had done my research, which made me believe that, as the diesels are much more fuel efficient and produce less CO2, it was the least-worst environment solution to the transport needs of my family. With 20/20 hindsight, I made a mistake. My engineering spidey-senses should have tingled at the fact that what VW was claiming that they achieved with the TDI motor was too good to be true. I have learnt from that and will be more cautious in future. However, my research did mean that we decided not to get a DSG and stick with a manual - it has turned out to be a good decision that I thank the stars every 60,000km.

So as you have said, the best thing you can do is pass your experiences onto those that you care about and help them make informed decisions. I love my VWs but I have had a number frank discussions with family and friends. My brother bought a Skoda Superb instead of a VW Passat after making an informed decision, while a work colleague ended up with a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla as his first car instead of the 2nd hand VW Golf that he originally lusted for. My brother saved himself a few thousand dollars upfront and got a car that is slightly better in build quality (in my opinion) and is a European car that will not look out of place in the parking lot of his golf club. While my colleague has himself a reliable white-good that should get him from A to B without causing him any grief (he is not mechanically minded). You can choose to continue to be bitter and negative but VW will not care about that (they have already made their profit from you). The only ones that suffer will be you and those that care about you.

[Ozsko]

I stand by all of what I said, I don't care where you have worked, you represent the company and their policies and the front door is always there if you don't like it.

[feenix74]

Absolutely, legal damages date from Roman times. In fact, modern tort law or your common law right to seek damages for a wrong which someone commits against you is based on the Roman law of Lex Aquilia. The dieselgate class actions (and if you decide that your case against VW is strong enough to sue them for civil damages in a court of law) is based on this ancient Roman law. However, discrete laws to protect consumer rights only came into being in the mid-20th century, which has given us specific rights to a repair, replacement or refund as well as compensation for damages and loss and being able to cancel a faulty service. If you do not understand the difference then you need to get a legal professional to explain the difference to you.

If you believe that the repairs that you paid for are covered by legislated warranties then you should get some profession legal advice on whether you have a case to take on VW to have these warranties enforced under consumer rights laws / contract law or whether you have a case to seek civil damages under common law. VW, like any other vendor, have a the right not to extend to you any warranties beyond the legislated warranties or those that they have agreed with you in the contract with you. There are many vendors who will go above and beyond what they are required to do by law but this is their choice and they can choose not to do it for you. You are not entitled to anything beyond what is in the laws of the land or in your contract. If you believe that the legislated warranties need to be extended then speak to your local member of parliament, they will be more likely able to assist you than the members of this forum.

[feenix74]

Ok, let me keep this simple for you.

I never said Romans did not have laws or damages. I said that consumer rights laws are modern laws.

If you do not understand the difference between tort law (which is the law you use to seek civil damages under common law) and consumer rights law then you need to get advice from a legal professional.

The fact that our laws do not cover a defect that are covered by the laws in another country is not VW's fault. It is the fault of our Government and, as you and I elect the Government, ultimately it is our fault.