Volkswagen Hit With Class Action Over Emissions Cheating Scandal

An Indiana resident is suing Volkswagen Group of America Inc., for allegedly selling him two vehicles under false pretenses and misleading advertisements.

The plaintiff had specifically bought the Volkswagen diesel cars, believing that they are fuel efficient cars and are less impactful on the environment. After discovering that this is not the case, he decided to take legal action against the automotive company, along with many other Volkswagen customers.

Plaintiff Christopher B. purchased two Volkswagen diesel models from the defendant: a 2014 Volkswagen Passat TDI on Sept. 12, 2014 for about $36,000, and a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SE on June 28, 2014 for about $30,000.

It is important to note that before the purchase of these vehicles, the plaintiff had been previously driving an SUV, but had terminated the lease after fuel prices became too high. The plaintiff drives over 50,000 miles per year, so it was important to the plaintiff to have high-performance vehicles that were also fuel efficient, desiring a “clean diesel” car.

Overview of Volkswagen Defeat Device Allegations

Both Volkswagen diesel cars Christopher purchased had advertisements stating that they had a clean diesel emissions feature. Christopher had reviewed both decals and is still in possession of them.

Unfortunately, it was not long after he purchased the VW vehicles that it was announced that Volkswagen had essentially falsified their fuel efficiency numbers, using a defeat device, which artificially inflates the cars’ mileage that consequently increases their pollution output.

These defeat devices were implanted in the engine software, which allowed the car to identify if it was being driven for testing purposes, which triggered the car’s control to cut the diesel emissions through several clean diesel techniques.

In September 2015, it had become apartment to the public that Volkswagen had installed this equipment to falsely represent fuel efficiency, in a number of their vehicles.

The technology had managed to fool emission regulators to believe that the four-cylinder VW diesel cars had complied with American federal regulations. However, once driven under normal circumstances, the pollutants produce were nearly 40x the accepted federal standard

According to the Notice of Violation letter to Volkswagen of America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had discovered that approximately 500,000 VW diesel cars sold in America were producing about 40x more toxic fumes than allowed under the Clean Air Act.

After being confronted with the evidence, Volkswagen admitted that over 11 million of VW diesel cars worldwide were affected by their false emissions reports. Volkswagen had stopped selling the affected vehicles upon receiving the notice, which includes the following VW vehicles:

• 2009-2015 Volkswagen Jetta
• 2009-2015 Volkswagen Beetle
• 2009-2015 Volkswagen Golf
• 2009-2015 Audi A3
• 2012-2015 Volkswagen Passat

Christopher is one of thousands of customers, who were tricked into believing they had purchased an environmentally-friendly vehicle. According to his Volkswagen lawsuit, Christopher had paid more for the clean diesel in these vehicles than he would have paid for a similar gas model.

Had Christopher known the actual fuel emissions of the cars he purchased, he would not have done so at all or had at the very least, asked for a lower price. Furthermore, his lawyers believe that the VW recall will lead to decreased performance, decreased mileage, increased fuel costs, and will considerably diminish the cars’ resale values.

The Volkswagen Emissions Lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-01785, in the U.S. District Court of Oregon.

UPDATE: On June 28, 2016, Volkswagen reached proposed settlements with both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following the VW emissions scandal. VW’s deal with the DOJ includes up to $14.7 billion along with vehicle buyback provisions as well as funding for pollution control programs. In addition to the DOJ settlement, Volkswagen will also spend up to $10 billion in a buyback and lease termination settlement with the FTC that is expected to include about 475,000 vehicles.

UPDATE 2: The Volkswagen, Audi diesel emissions class action settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim!