Well dales, most affected owners probably won't be too concerned their VW diesel performs better than it would if it had to comply with the relevant jurisdictional NOx emission standards. Now presumably for many EU countries and US states like California that meant Adblue additive which keeps the catalytic converter to control NOx emissions clean and doing its mandated job. I was chatting to a diesel mech at the cara park and he mentioned Adblue is $1.65/L here but I forgot to ask how much diesels fitted with it consume. Anyone know as with DPF and EGR/inlet manifold clogging costs, the benefits of diesels are rapidly deteriorating for new purchasers now.
In that regard I heard an analyst on radio today saying he thought this VW scam situation had illuminated the problem of 'peak diesel' for all makers now. In Oz with around 50,000 of these cars already lawyers Maurice Blackburn have mooted a class action by consumers and the ACCC are rumbling too. He pointed out that Europe had encouraged diesels and as such European manufacturers were heavily invested in diesels whereas US in particular was more heavily invested in electric and hybrid cars. Thinking about that I'd conclude the US makers would have a strong incentive to back US EPA fines and restitution by a maker like VW in order to really strangle a global competitor, as if the regulators and greenies will need any encouragement here.
In that sense you can see that while most owners might be comfortable with their cheat cars, the regualtory authorities will demand they be brought up to standards and if that means performance suffers and/or suddenly owners are having to cop Adblue additive and they sense resale/trade-in prices will suffer then they'll naturally demand compensation from VW on top of the fines. All in all it's a disaster not just for VW owners directly affected but diesels altogether. That's where I think 'peak diesel' is a very apt descriptor here.
