VW TDI Settlement - buying a TDI now

corvette

Let's hope the buyback starts soon. I got the insurance premium for the JSW and it's more than the Murano!

Michaell

corvette said:

Let's hope the buyback starts soon. I got the insurance premium for the JSW and it's more than the Murano!

Cuts into your profit, eh?

qbrozen

I think mine went down about $20 on the year vs the caddy. 

Michaell

qbrozen said:

I think mine went down about $20 on the year vs the caddy. 

Yeah, but yours was a swap. For most of these folks, the TDI is an extra car bought purely to flip. Any dollar spent on insurance, maintenance or repairs is a dollar less of profit when you sell it back.

kyfdx

$55/mo. insurance for the Audi.

But, I save $0.06/mile in fuel, so if I drive it 1000 mi/mo., that's a $60/mo. savings.. So, it's a wash. (not counting wear and tear saved on my current vehicle).

So... there!

xwesx

Yeah, I dropped insurance on my Forester (comprehensive only) while I have the Passat in action. As soon as the snow flies, I will do the same for the Passat and put the Forester back to active, so the incremental cost should be fairly minor. Of course, this means that I cannot drive the car with the "parking insurance," but that was always the intent. If I was planning to keep the Passat longer than a few more months, I would have sold the Forester already.

corvette

Taking into account the multi-car discount I now get, it's a difference of $907/year to add the JSW, or about $75 per month. My next point of annoyance will be if the buybacks are delayed and I still have the thing on December 31, and have to pay property tax on it.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

I think mine went down about $20 on the year vs the caddy. 

Yeah, but yours was a swap. For most of these folks, the TDI is an extra car bought purely to flip. Any dollar spent on insurance, maintenance or repairs is a dollar less of profit when you sell it back.

If the sole purpose is profit, then don't insure it and don't drive it.

kyfdx

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

qbrozen said:

I think mine went down about $20 on the year vs the caddy. 

Yeah, but yours was a swap. For most of these folks, the TDI is an extra car bought purely to flip. Any dollar spent on insurance, maintenance or repairs is a dollar less of profit when you sell it back.

If the sole purpose is profit, then don't insure it and don't drive it.

You can't register the car and get a title in my state, without insuring it. At least liability coverage.

corvette

Yes, and you want comprehensive even if not driving it, in case a tree falls on it.

andres3

corvette said:

Yes, and you want comprehensive even if not driving it, in case a tree falls on it.

OR in case the cartel steals your car. A thief would be bad news.

qbrozen

corvette said:

Yes, and you want comprehensive even if not driving it, in case a tree falls on it.

Mine sits safe and cozy in my garage. If anything happens to it there, I believe homeowner's insurance kicks in(??).

corvette

qbrozen said:

corvette said:

Yes, and you want comprehensive even if not driving it, in case a tree falls on it.

Mine sits safe and cozy in my garage. If anything happens to it there, I believe homeowner's insurance kicks in(??).

Might want to ask your agent that question... Homeowners usually excludes damage to vehicles other than golf carts, mowers, etc. 

kyfdx

Yeah.. that seems doubtful that your homeowner's coverage would cover a vehicle that you purposefully left uninsured. Plus, @corvette knows all about legal stuff.

28firefighter

I'm keeping it insured with comprehensive coverage, just in case. I think it added $50/month to our insurance.

Granted, I also have to park it on the street...

andres3

Old school anti-theft tech is some of the best, put a "Club" on the Steering Wheel. That, combined with modern car built-in anti-theft features makes it pretty darn safe. It's not a high-value target.

xwesx

I was looking over the expense details for insurance on my cars today, and, for some odd reason, my company charges me more than twice for the Passat as the Forester. I should just park the silly thing today and not drive it again until I take it to Anchorage for the buyback.

Except, it is such a nice car to drive. I can't help myself. 530 miles on the trip meter today, and I'm almost down to a quarter tank. I want to fill it up before we leave for Oregon just so I can have an idea of local mileage. But, winter is coming, and I'm not sure the stations have switched to #1 yet. I doubt I'll run another tank through it, so I'll need to put some sort of stabilizer in there to keep it from gelling while it sits this winter.

henryn

Insurance costs me $95 per month for full coverage, and doesn't vary much with different cars or trucks. Houston, inside the loop, is not a safe place to be driving.

xwesx

Mine is more than twice that on the Passat (~$2,400/yr), and it does vary significantly from vehicle to vehicle (e.g., cost is ~$1,000 on 08 Forester and ~$1,500 on 10 Forester). That's just part of living in Alaska.

Of course, chosen coverages make a big difference, too. If I was on the bare minimums (by AK law), I would pay less.

kyfdx

Ouch..

I pay about $5000 for four vehicles, but a 1/3 of that is because I have a 22-yr-old male on my insurance. (driving a $6000 car).

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Ouch..

I pay about $5000 for four vehicles, but a 1/3 of that is because I have a 22-yr-old male on my insurance. (driving a $6000 car).

And, yours is "ouch" to me. For two cars, I'm around $2100-2200 a year (waiting for the new statement from the insurer regarding the Jetta).

corvette

I took an extended highway trip--lots of construction, stop & go, tried to go about 70 MPH when I could. Finally cracked 40 MPG. Trip computer showed a little over 41.

xwesx

corvette said:

I took an extended highway trip--lots of construction, stop & go, tried to go about 70 MPH when I could. Finally cracked 40 MPG. Trip computer showed a little over 41.

You're doing it wrong!

qbrozen

My trip computer has been 10-12% optimistic. 

On the insurance thing, I have full coverage AND I took out the gap insurance from Toyota Financial. I did, after all, roll in a big nut from the caddy, so I wanted to be safe in case it gets totalled before the buyback.

breld

We're at about $95/month on the JSW for insurance (same coverage as the rest of our cars, which may be overkill).

I may drive it today just to get it out - it's been sitting in our work garage for awhile now. Wife still prefers her little MINI (is that redundant?), and I'm loving the SQ5.

Another couple weeks or so, and we should get an idea of what % we should get regarding the "unclaimed" seller restitution. Any guesses on what percentage of that pool will go unclaimed? I'm thinking around 15%, though I'd love it to be higher, obviously.

xwesx

breld said:

We're at about $95/month on the JSW for insurance (same coverage as the rest of our cars, which may be overkill).

I may drive it today just to get it out - it's been sitting in our work garage for awhile now. Wife still prefers her little MINI (is that redundant?), and I'm loving the SQ5.

Another couple weeks or so, and we should get an idea of what % we should get regarding the "unclaimed" seller restitution. Any guesses on what percentage of that pool will go unclaimed? I'm thinking around 15%, though I'd love it to be higher, obviously.

I suspect it will be closer to 30%; I think it depends considerably on how well VW canvassed that owner group.

stickguy

When is the earliest you people are supposed to be able to sell these back?

henryn

Theoretically, if everything goes according to plan, earliest possible sell-back date is November 1, 2016.

breld

Yup - November 1st is the current estimated date, but like others have said, I'm assuming the program will be delayed for one reason or another.

I thought I read somewhere that VW has 90 days to actually make the payment - not sure if that means you could end up waiting 90 days from the time you bring the car in to receive payment? I may be wrong about that, and obviously hope I am.

Michaell

breld said:

Yup - November 1st is the current estimated date, but like others have said, I'm assuming the program will be delayed for one reason or another.

I thought I read somewhere that VW has 90 days to actually make the payment - not sure if that means you could end up waiting 90 days from the time you bring the car in to receive payment? I may be wrong about that, and obviously hope I am.

I certainly don't see you getting a check the moment you drop your car off at the dealer .. VW will have to process the paperwork, so figure 3-6 weeks.

xwesx

Michaell said:

I certainly don't see you getting a check the moment you drop your car off at the dealer .. VW will have to process the paperwork, so figure 3-6 weeks.

I do. There's no way that they're going to get my car while I'm still on the hook for the bill. When they have the paperwork ready, I'll have the car ready.

xwesx

A point of curiosity: I'm considering getting winter wheels/tires for the car. Did anyone read that there would be an issue with buyback if the car has the non-original wheels on it? I wouldn't imagine so, given the level of customization that people do to their cars (and most did not buy just to sell back), but I wanted to check.

I don't want to get winter gear for the car and then have to put the non-winter stuff back on before driving 350 miles (most likely in the dead of winter).

Michaell

xwesx said:

Michaell said:

I certainly don't see you getting a check the moment you drop your car off at the dealer .. VW will have to process the paperwork, so figure 3-6 weeks.

I do. There's no way that they're going to get my car while I'm still on the hook for the bill. When they have the paperwork ready, I'll have the car ready.

Do you expect to trade the car for a check at the dealer?

corvette

No, I don't think winter wheels/tires would be an issue. But, I'd put the worse set of tires on the car when it went back to VW and sell the better set to someone. 

28firefighter

The way the settlement is currently worded, once final approval is given by the Court, VW has 14 days to start the buybacks.

Further, payment will be made via EFT within 2-3 business days of the buyback unless an adjustment needs to be made to the final settlement due to mileage.

xwesx

Michaell said:

Do you expect to trade the car for a check at the dealer?

No, but nearly so. A few business days is fine.... a few weeks? Nope!

Well, I'm looking at a used set, but looks like tires are pretty decent. I would probably make back my initial cost either way. I'm just a little nervous about leaving the all-seasons on it and having to drive a FWD car 350 miles over what can often be highly precarious roads during the winter. I just don't want to get there and have them say, "I'm sorry, but these aren't VW wheels. No deal!"

qbrozen

The only rule they set forth is that the car move under its own power, so I'm pretty sure the wheels mean nothing. 

nyccarguy

Is your closest VW dealer 350 miles away?

kyfdx

That's right... 3 days for EFT.

From what I read, it only had to move under it's own diesel power on June 28th. If the engine craps out on you after that date, you are still covered.

I get the feeling that if the car qualifies and you qualify with a valid title, they won't care what is wrong or missing from the vehicle.

@breld Also, will be curious to see if us latecomers actually get part of that unclaimed money. Getting an extra $1000 would be a real bonus.

corvette

I had continuing ed classes today. I protested one of the classes and sat in the JSW with the engine running for the whole hour, charging my laptop on the 120V outlet. The A/C doesn't do a good job when the engine is at idle and the sun is beating down. ~35 MPG for the trip.

28firefighter

corvette said:

I had continuing ed classes today. I protested one of the classes and sat in the JSW with the engine running for the whole hour, charging my laptop on the 120V outlet. The A/C doesn't do a good job when the engine is at idle and the sun is beating down. ~35 MPG for the trip.

Noticed the A3 A/C isn't particularly good either. However, I've always found A/C to be one of the weaker points of Audi and VW products. 

andres3

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

I had continuing ed classes today. I protested one of the classes and sat in the JSW with the engine running for the whole hour, charging my laptop on the 120V outlet. The A/C doesn't do a good job when the engine is at idle and the sun is beating down. ~35 MPG for the trip.

Noticed the A3 A/C isn't particularly good either. However, I've always found A/C to be one of the weaker points of Audi and VW products. 

The A3 AC was slightly undersized; worked good up to about 90 degrees outside. The S4 AC worked fine into the 100's though. The TTS has much less volume of air inside the cabin than the A3 sportback, and works fine too.

Michaell

andres3 said:

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

I had continuing ed classes today. I protested one of the classes and sat in the JSW with the engine running for the whole hour, charging my laptop on the 120V outlet. The A/C doesn't do a good job when the engine is at idle and the sun is beating down. ~35 MPG for the trip.

Noticed the A3 A/C isn't particularly good either. However, I've always found A/C to be one of the weaker points of Audi and VW products. 

The A3 AC was slightly undersized; worked good up to about 90 degrees outside. The S4 AC worked fine into the 100's though. The TTS has much less volume of air inside the cabin than the A3 sportback, and works fine too.

Temps have been in the upper 80's here lately; the AC in my new Jetta seems to be working just fine.

xwesx

Well, I took a look at those wheels tonight, and there were a couple of fitment issues that I wanted to research before I committed to them. The folks who had them said that they were leaving in a week (moving to Arizona after retiring), so they really, really wanted them gone. I protested, as I had nothing to offer tonight, and the lady said I was doing them a favor by saving a trip to the transfer site in the next few days.

So, I have the wheels (whether I can get them to fit or not remains to be seen). Curious, how things work out.

I then stopped to fill the car for the first time since three weeks ago when I arrived in town: Just shy of 42 mpg on entirely local driving.

kyfdx

My A3 A/C is a little weak, as well. Good weather coming up, though!

henryn

The A/C in my '13 Passat TDI seems quite good. When I first bought it, we were still hitting 98 or 99 in the afternoons, and I never had a complaint.

qbrozen

No problems with the JSW. I crank it on max cooling, fan speed 3, and usually have to turn it down about midway through my 25 min commute. And this is a black/black car with leather and glass roof in 95 degree weather.

henryn

I just spotted this over on the Dieselgate forum at TDIClub.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=466779

Since I have a Volvo on order (not yet completed the transaction), I got an email offering an "Exclusive Offer for You" from Volvo. It lists all the 2.0 TDI vehicles from VW and Audi as eligible.


"Complimentary Safe + Secure Coverage Plan is available for the lease or purchase of any 2016 or 2017 Volvo (excludes Polestar Vehicles) for eligible conquest customers that currently own or lease the vehicles included in the Volkswagen Emissions Recall. Complimentary Safe + Secure includes 5 year/50,000 mile warranty, whichever comes first, 5 year/50,000 mile scheduled maintenance, whichever comes first, 5 year/50,000 mile wear-and-tear coverage excluding tires, whichever comes first, and 5 year roadside assistance. Offer valid September 1, 2016 through January 2, 2017."

The standard warranty is 4 years/50k so this adds a year it appears (have not seen any small print), plus adds the maintenance and wear and tear. Can't complain.

Not a particularly impressive offer, but I do expect this to be the precursor, the first of many.

stickguy

well, they offer that kind of conquest bonus for lots of makes (and they aren't the only brand that does). But smart to target a group you know is going to be in the market real soon!

corvette

Started driving my Murano again today. Sorry to anyone who has newfound enthusiasm for the TDI, but it feels like a Lexus in comparison to the JSW TDI. If I had gotten a Passat, I'd be more apt to want to hold on to it.