Volkswagen cheated, got caught, and is now ready to make amends. Or, as drivers of the company's so-called clean diesels can think of it: jackpot.
Under a proposed $15 billion settlement filed today, VW will buy back or fix about 475,000 of the diesel-powered cars it programmed to cheat on emissions tests and sold in the US between 2009 and 2015. If you own, lease, or have owned or leased one of those definitely not clean diesels, here's how to get your restitution.
On July 26, Judge Charles Breyer will hold a hearing in San Francisco to discuss the proposed settlement, which concerns 2.0-liter diesels—VW hasn't yet figured out what to do with the 3.0-liter cars that also cheated. If Breyer grants preliminary approval, VW will mail out explainers to current owners and lessees laying out their rights to comment, object, or opt out of the program. Then Breyer will hold a second hearing, likely this fall, to consider any comments about the fairness and adequacy of VW's proposal, and give his final approval.
If Breyer gives the green light, you can start cashing in. First off, make sure your car's covered by punching your vehicle identification number into VW's Holy Moses We Messed Up microsite. This deal covers these 2.0-liter models:
- VW Beetle (2013 - 2015)
- VW Golf (2010 - 2015)
- VW Jetta (2009 - 2015)
- VW Passat (2012 - 2015)
- Audi A3 (2010 - 2013; 2015)
If you're leasing, VW will terminate the deal without a fee (doy). If you're an owner, the automaker will buy back your car at its pre-scandal value, based on options and mileage. Either way, you get a cash payment as an apology for the whole scamming-you-and-destroying-the-atmosphere thing.
For owners, that'll be somewhere between $5,100 and $10,000 (to be exact, $2,986.73 plus 20 percent of your car's value). VW will pay lessees half what it would pay the owner of an identical car. If you sold your dastardly diesel or bought one off someone else, the two of you will split the cash payment down the middle.
After July 26, you can use the microsite to check exactly how much you'll be paid. You don't have to sell the car back right away, but you do have to identify yourself as the car's owner by September 16, 2016.
Say you forgive your Jetta for cheating on you: You can have VW modify the car so that it meets all emissions regulations, if the EPA and California's Air Resources Board approve the fix. If that happens at all, it might not be until May 2018. (In January, EPA rejected VW's first proposal, which reportedly would have retrofitted cars with catalytic converters to break NOx down into harmless nitrogen and water.) If you hold out until then but decide against the fix, you can still sell your car back to VW. Either way, you get the cash.
If you opt out of this settlement, you can't sell your car back to VW and you don't get the pile of Benjamins, but you're still eligible to get your car fixed for free.
Under the settlement, VW will also pay $2.7 billion in fines to the EPA and California Air Resources Board, and put forward $2 billion to fund zero emission vehicle development.
The story isn't over. First off, this deal only covers the US; VW sold more than 10 million of these cars all over the world. The company could still face criminal charges. And VW sales are still in the crapper, not to mention damage to the brand.
But hey, at least you'll get your money back.
