Think of it this way: one of the main goals of the settlement was to get the cheating cars either fixed or off the road. If the settlement benefits do not apply to the current owners of the cars, then they would have no incentive to participate in the settlement, and polluting cars stay on the road.

How would the phone lock-out distinguish a driver from a passenger?

I don’t think the Bronco has to look retro to compete, though.

I wouldn’t say that their cars “aren’t competitive”, but they certainly aren’t the bargain that their reputation led me to believe they were. My wife and I both bought new cars within the last year, and both times we gave a fair amount of consideration to Hyundais, and both times we came away incredibly…

Agreed. I actually just bought one (gas version) with my blood money buyback funds from my Jetta TDI. I was able to find a 2014 Touareg for literally the exact same price that VW is paying me for my 2013 Jetta. Despite the frustration from the delays and lack of communication during the buyback process, I couldn’t be…

FTFY.

I, too, am waiting to finalize my buyback, and an Outback is also my current top candidate for a replacement car. The salesman I worked with at the Subaru dealership also told me he had two other customers that have an Outback picked out and are just waiting on the buyback to be finalized. Looks like Subaru is going…

And the lift and tires are another couple grand. And the locking rear diff is another grand.

So is your car a ‘15 Golf SEL? Or was the $31k sitcker price you quoted also a wildly inaccurate “off the cuff” number? If it was an SEL, I am really having a hard time buying the fact that your buyback is $27k unless you put an insane amount of miles on it.  

How long ago did you buy the car and how many miles did you put on it?

And at his other numbers, he is actually making about $4k (and getting the free use of a car for more than a year), because he bought the car for $26k and the buyback for that car is more than likely over $30k.

Well, I was initially going to give you the benefit of a doubt, but checking your comment history to see what kind of car you have, it seems like your story isn’t entirely consistent. For example, this comment, where you state:

Yeah, I am incredibly happy with the buyback, and can’t find a single thing to complain about. I bought my car in fall of 2012 for $24,500. I have put almost 40k miles on it, and have not spent a single dime on repairs or maintenance (all service for the first 30k miles was included, and I am still on the original…

“a minimum of 112.6% of the subject vehicles’ retail values as of September 2015,”

That’s a fair point. I would think it is also a fairly serious lost opportunity for them if they didn’t ramp up production in anticipation of the beginning of the buybacks.

I have wondered about how the insurance companies would handle that. As a lawyer, I think that there is a pretty damn good argument that if there is a standing offer from someone to buy the car back for a certain price (e.g., VW’s buyback offer), that is virtually irrefutable proof of what the car’s value on the…

It’s also worth noting that you can simply wait until September 1, 2018 to sell it back, and as long as you don’t drive it more than 12,500 miles a year, they buyback amount stays the same. Two years of depreciation-free driving!

It will be interesting to see what sort of loyalty incentives VW dealers will be offering. I imagine that VW is probably offering the dealers some pretty good incentives to help them keep customers with the brand.

Yeah, I will be really glad to put this all behind me. I’ve been watching Craigslist for a good replacement vehicle for a while now, and it has been somewhat torturous to see cars that I want to buy come and go as I sit and wait for the buyback to actually start. Have you narrowed your list of what you plan to buy? 

I don’t understand this argument. If I ever publucly discuss any aspect of my sex life, I lose any further right to privacy associated with every single aspect of my sex life, and people are thereafter free to serruptitiously film me having sex in the privacy of my own home and publish it for the world to see?