Some Owners are Stripping their TDIs Before Handing them Over to VW

Volkswagen and Audi have begun buying back the thousands of 2.0-liter diesel cars involved in its emissions cheating scandal. The automaker’s deal requires the company to offer buybacks to the 475,000 affected owners, but does not carefully outline what condition those returned vehicles have to be in.

Some owners are taking that inch for the full mile and stripping their VWs down before returning them to the company to get their check.

The qualifications specified in the EPA’s Partial Consent Decree aren’t wildly specific, stating that vehicles only need to be “operable” to maintain eligibility or for the buyback. Document 1973-1 only offers the clarification that an operable vehicle means one driven under the power of its own 2.0-liter TDI. Returned vehicles also may not possess a branded title of “Assembled,” “Dismantled,” “Flood,” “Junk,” “Rebuilt,” “Reconstructed,” or “Salvaged” as of September 18, 2015.

Green Car Reports says most of the diesels will end up getting scrapped since it’s not cost-effective to repair and redistribute them — especially the older models. Still, if VW wants to spend the money, it is within its rights to export the cars for non-U.S. resale or fix them and place the units back on the American market as used vehicles.

A few indignant buyback owners on Reddit have discussed the morality and legality of removing choice pieces from their car, while a couple of posters have even confirmed that VW’s still handed them a check after returning an incomplete car. Jalopnik spoke to one user who removed the front fascia from his damaged Golf without VW making a stink. “Yes the front end I took off for my friend and then the back was in an accident,” Tacoboutnachos committed over Reddit.

So far, there’s no clarity on how much owners are allowed to keep, nor how long this state of affairs will last, but for now at least it seems that TDI owners are within their rights to keep souvenirs of their car.

This story first appeared on thetruthaboutcars.com

The post Some Owners are Stripping their TDIs Before Handing them Over to VW appeared first on VWVortex.

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