Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) VW group cars diesel emissions issue

Hi Stewart
I have seen you on this forum as a very level headed person for many months, gaining much respect, however you know what is coming:This support of the VW rip off is not forgivable.
There is no doubt that the engineers at VW created an illusion (possibly with other manufacturers) that diesel engines were less nasty than they ARE. How anyone can begin to defend them is beyond me. Sorry if this disturbs a beautiful relationship.

The diesel era is at the beginning of the end. Particulates are the big issue and always have been.
My only concern about my Golf was that the performance or economy might suffer after the retune but they have not. I bought a diesel because at the time of purchase the fuel economy was more enticing than the green credentials.
This really is no big deal. The USA went hysterical but don't set a good example with home grown machinery.
Most other manufacturers have design issues which may not be emission related but in some cases are worse. I'm thinking about the Toyota throttle problems, the Vauxhall dash fires, the BMW inlet tract vanes and so on.
Has it put me off VW? Not at all.
Will my next car be a diesel? Maybe not.

Dear hysterical of Kent,

Just been listening to the immoral scandal from the old National Coal Board regarding their actions over the Aberfan disaster. I really can't get that worked up about some penny pinching from VW I'm afraid.

No-one's died as a direct result & there's money corruption wherever there is greed. Football, boxing & horse racing, planning departments and now emmisions software engineers.

If I bought a pair of shoes at a tenner over rrp, it shouldn't mean every cobbler is a thief should it..?

Have another glass of wine & rejoice in the fact we're fit, healthy and safe..

Totally agree about the Aberfan disaster, i feel it well from the reports at the time and having visited the town to further remember. I don't think you can say that no one has died from diesel particulate ingestion. Many have been identified with this as a contribution to poor health. But even that event might be less significant if you consider the other man made tragedies i.e asbestos & poor H & S management generally.

We are all so aren't we. We buy a car that we know does not comply with the rules (small volume exemptions) and then we modify it (oops I mean customise it) with extras and modifications that don't comply with the rules. For example winged wheel nuts are not legal if they protrude beyond the tyre as they do on a 4/4, not to mention sports exhausts etc. etc. Even the carry rack on the back may not be strictly legit.

Then we all sit around in te pub and complain that someone has done something questionable that really makes b---r all differnce because the tests are conducted over a narrow range of conditions that are rarely met in real world driving.

The exemptions for paying to enter the center of Milan with methane or GPL powered vehicles will be cancelled for 2017 because studies have just shown that the emissions for these vehicles is only a tiny percentage less than those for diesel and petrol powered cars. Now that's a surprise when they have been telling us for years that GPL and methane is cleaner. Really the main thing is that they want to reduce the total number of vehicles that enter Milan (Euro 4 diesels will be banned too).

What the politicians have been ignoring is that something like 5.5 million tons of carbon black is used in tyre production every year. A portion of that will inevitably finish up on the roads and in the air of our cities. They have been wondering why the banning of "polluting" diesel powered vehicles from cities has actually had little effect of reducing fine carbon particles that disappear (get washed down the drains?) the moment it rains.

So "the governments of the world" should ban all cars, trucks and lorries, OK?

What was the motivation behind VW using tech to circumvent regs?
Probably profit.
By portraying false results they made their cars look better than they actually were.
This meant less investment and cost to truly achieve those emissions levels AND to make the cars look comparable to or better than competitors, and keep them in lower emissions tax brackets.
The tax collected was lower than it should have been. Tax evasion? Tax avoidance?
Fraud? Trades description issues? Future values of affected cars?
Not the first company to get caught and unlikely to be the last.
In my view the perpetrators are those emplyees who
a) authorised it
b) came up with the idea. But perhaps they looked at it as one possible solution albeit one in a series of theoretical ones.
Other employees of VW are potentially victims of this as well as buyers of cars.
The real problems are US based where, as earlier commenters post, there are vested interests and opportunists looking to make $$$$$$$.
Unpaid tax and fines for government.
Compensation for car owners/dealerships.
Lawyers fees.
As for diesel. I moved back to petrol when my annual mileage dropped a lot. Initially I wouldn't recoup costs for my new lower mileage.
When I changed cars again 18 months ago I stayed away from diesel also because of the change in attitude to diesel re particulates. Suddenly politicians were commenting about it despite knowing for ages. A sure sign of changes to come.

You said much more, but all that i meant

I'm a little bit surprised that someone driving a +8 gets over sensitive on emissions of orher cars.

We enjoy useless sports cars, burn petrol for the pure fun of driving and point our finger at modern cars because of pollutions? My 4/4 hardly meets any modern standards as I got an updated ECU, alternative exhaust system and an open air filter. My 2 ton Audi runs better fuel economy than my light 4/4.
I wonder how much more petrol is burned to move a +8
By the way: my M3W with the "great" S&S engine from the US is most likely even worse on emissions/horsepower than your +8. At least it burns more petrol per mile than any of my other cars.

Fair points made. I guess the real reason i was hacked off is that the issue has affected the value of the car. Even though VW have said they will correct the tech side it will IMHO never reinstate the value.