I agree entirely and you could of course ask where are the media stories on such things.

But I guess it's still one step, albeit a small one, away from flat out lying about what's in your product.

Just had notification that one of our vehicles (a Skoda Yeti)is affected. They are working how to rectify things as a priority! Can't see the point in rectification - if they lied about emissions then the emissions are what they are. Any fix will no doubt reduce power / performance so hopefully they won't get round to fixing it before next summer when we are due to hand it back (3 year lease).

My dads Skoda Superb is affected too.
As far as I know the "fix" shouldn't affect performance just what information is given out by the car.
From the albeit limited information I've seen I think the issue is that the software could detect when the car was being tested and alter the info given to the tester equipment.

I could be very wrong on that as my knowledge of cars extends only as far as changing a wheel and topping up the oil and screenwash.

VW officials have already said there will likely be a performance hit.

Correct. They can't get the engine performance required and pass the emissions regulations. I heard from a European colleague that in some cases they will have to change the entire engine and that they have estimated 50 billion euros as the cost to the company overall.

I am going to be very surprised if VW are the only diesel manufacturer who have done this,

Sorry but I reckon your friend is talking out of his 'arris.

I seriously doubt that any vehicle would need re-powering. A re-map of the ECU should be sufficient for every vehicle that may be affected

I feel kinda smug with my part veggie oil run B5.5 Passat estate now, I was going to trade up to a B7 140PS bluemotion but had read lots regarding all sorts of issues including poor mpg. Mine gets through the emissions test on first pass every year, is quieter than most of the newer diesels, less smokey in general & still gets within 10% of the official figures regularly, once exceeding it on a long run back along the French autoroute.
I've averaged 5k/year for the last 10 and now do less than 4,000, almost half of that is travelling up to Hull to watch matches/visiting the folks so replacing is a consideration more out of boredom of the car than a necessity.
It's a shame we are still probably a hundred years away from nuclear fusion technology

That's roughly in line with the figure quoted by the head of VW (America) when grilled by Congress. I mean, when senior corporate officials start talking about "a modest drop in performance" it's usually best to think of a number and multiply by ten.



They're all cheating the system. Sure, the methods are probably different - but in a cut-throat environment such as the automobile industry it's completely naive to think manufacturers wouldn't dream of bending or breaking the rules to gain a competitive advantage.

The real question here is WHY Volkswagen were busted in the first place. American manufacturers have been on their knees for decades. Chrysler should really have gone bust in the eighties and only exist today because the then chair, Lee Iacocca, managed to negotiate a very shady deal to supply the US military with trucks and tank parts. Both Ford & GM needed multiple transfusions of public money to stave off bankruptcy more recently.

It wouldn't surprise me if one or two have teamed up and thrown a bung at senior officials on Capitol Hill in an effort to stymie a competitor. Goes on all the time.

Sufficient for what, though? Yes it could be remapped to make the car emit the same lower level of emissions in real life driving as in the static tests - but then it will pull like a pig tied to a shed.

Do you think that VW's sales will be affected much? I understand that many people will have bought a diesel VW, swayed by the engine stats, better mpg, lower road tax, but do the majority of the car buying public really care much about carbon emissions? If they did they would stick to their old car. The environmental impact of building a new car must be greater than the exhaust fumes coming from the car you already own. Think about the mining/manufacture of the metals, all the plastic that goes into it, parts and materials shipped from the other side of the globe.