Dick Dasterdly

Volkswagen scandal: Seat admits manufacturing 700,000 cars with VW’s rigged engines | In English | EL PAÍS

700,000 dodgy motors have been sold in Spain including all Seat models.
Audis are also affected.

Sales of vehicles with rigged engines in Spain have been halted, so I imagine many customers will either be kept waiting or have the option of buying other brands.

Fred James

All diesel cars that left the factory since 1st September this year are Euro6 compliant - this applies to every manufacturer and they are not affected.

SEAT say there may be only 3000 new cars that were made before that date and are the old Euro5 models that have not yet been sold - these are the ones that they have withdrawn from sale.

Dick Dasterdly

It still leaves a hell of a lot stockpiled outside factories and at export and import depots throughout the world.
I think that 180,000 could be a realistic figure.
Cars aren't simply built to order, they can be waiting at various sites just waiting to be moved on or sold for a year and more.
A brief production line strike probably would not matter very much.
Not seen it recently as the protection is much better now, but a few years back it was not uncommon for new cars to show signs of rust when delivered to their new owners.

Fred James

SEAT said that the 3000 figure includes all cars that have not been sold to customers. The engine in question has been replaced in almost every affected VAG model by a brand new Euro6 compliant engine which has been available for over 12 months.

Casa Santo Estevo

Looks as if there are 2 threads on this subject now.http://britishexpats.com/forum/plaza...candal-865751/

Fred James

The other thread was closed as it went seriously off topic.

The same will happen to this thread if it goes off topic again.

Fredbargate

Fred,Bargate. Please find attached the official statement from VW regarding the EU6 engine in your new Golf.

bobd22

Thing is re previous comments and this letter it ignores the fact that VW and it's associated companies conned the public and authorities. What they do afterwards is really not the issue but the fact they did it and thought they could get away with it. They must now suffer any consequences of that action.

wilsman77

IMVHO this is all a storm in a tea cup. Buy VW AG shares if you have spare few quid as money to be made there. They will find a cheap fix (technology has moved on) they will just replace an ECU and Bobs your uncle. Lets face it if you own Audi or VW you love the car so much why would you ever part with it or not renew it when the time comes.........

bobd22

That is true but does not make what they did right in my opinion.

wilsman77

all under control:In the coming days, the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) details of affected cars will be released to retailers.In addition, a self-serve process for customers to check if their vehicle is affected will be set up.“Step by step, affected customers will be contacted, with details of a process to get their vehicles corrected in the near future. In the meantime, all vehicles are technically safe and roadworthy,” said a Volkswagen statement.“Customers with these vehicles will be kept informed over the coming weeks and months. All of the group brands affected will set up national websites to update customers on developments.”The specific numbers of vehicles in the UK affected per brand are as follows:Volkswagen passenger cars – 508,276 Audi – 393,450 Seat – 76,773 Skoda – 131,569 Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – 79,838

Fred James

I don't think anyone is going to dispute that and it will surely cost them dearly.

The whole situation is still very unclear. The letter from VAG does not make it clear whether the software is actually on the new Euro6 engines, it just points out that it would have no effect. The only engines that they have stated that are affected are the old Euro5 engines which are no longer in production.

We need to remember that this whole thing blew up in the US because VW were desperate to sell diesel cars there, but the emission rules were much higher there and they probably knew that the engines they had at that time would never make it through the test.

To put it in perspective, the Euro5 level of NOx that is allowed is 180mg. The new Euro6 level has gone down to 80mg, but in the US it has been 30mg for some time - clearly a difficult nut to crack which is why they frigged the ECU.

The new Euro6 engines should meet that standard without a change to the ECU and no one has suggested that they have had, or will have a problem with the new "clean" engines.

The big question that does not yet seem to have been answered, is whether the Euro5 engine would meet the old Euro5 levels without the ECU mod. There is no evidence so far that it would not. We will only find out when they remove the mod and retest the engines, but of course, the horse has already bolted as the new engines have now been introduced across the whole range. It may have been that because the EU and US testing procedures are completely different, that it works in the US, but is irrelevant in the EU.

As I said earlier, the situation is still very unclear. The only thing that is certain is that they were caught cheating and it will cost them a huge amount of money to sort out the mess.

olivefarmer

Will anyone go to Prison for this scandal?Why would you voluntarily take your car in to be modified at no cost to you? And would the mod affect the cars kpl or performance?

InVinoVeritas

There is something on the Seat international website now:-

SEAT - is your car affected

They have talked about adding a facility to check your chassis number to see if your car is affected. I have an 18-month old Seat with the EA189 engine but which is EU6 compliant so still have no idea if it's affected or not.

wilsman77

Why would you voluntarily take your car in to be modified at no cost to you?forgive me I dont understand your question, recalls are carried out when the car is due say a service or MOT.