VW To Pay $1.25B To Buy Back, Fix Cars With Emissions-Cheating ‘Defeat Devices’

And just like that, Volkswagen’s years-long “Dieselgate” scandal is nearing a conclusion as the carmaker has finally reached an agreement with federal regulators to fix and compensate owners of 78,000 3-liter diesel engine vehicles equipped with so-called defeat devices. 

The Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement that will see Volkswagen and defeat device supplier Bosch return more than $1.25 billion (in the form of repairs and buybacks) to owners of affected 3-liter diesels.

Wednesday’s settlement [PDF] resolves the FTC’s March lawsuit that accused the carmaker of deceiving consumers with its advertising camping used to promote supposedly “clean diesel” vehicles.

Under the settlement – just the latest on VW’s tab that already includes a $15 billion agreement – owners of nearly 20,000 VW, Audi, and Porsche from model year 2009 to 2012 will be able to sell their car back to the automaker for between $26,000 and $58,000 depending on model, mileage, and trim.

Additionally, owners of approximately 58,000 model year 2013 to 2016 VW, Audi, and Porsche V6 vehicles will have their cars repaired to being them into compliance with emissions standards. These owners will also receive monetary compensation, ranging from $8,500 to $17,600 depending on vehicle.

However, the unspecified modification must first be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. If a fix is not approved, the company will buyback the vehicles, bringing the total value of the settlement to $4 billion.

People who leased an affected vehicle are also eligible for compensation and modifications or repairs, the FTC says. Additionally, certain owners who sold their TDI vehicles after the Volkswagen defeat device issue became public are also eligible for compensation.

With the new settlement, VW says that all U.S.-based owners of vehicles with defeat devices will have a resolution.

“We will continue to work to earn back the trust of all our stakeholders and thank our customers and dealers for their continued patience as this process moves forward,” Hinrich J. Woebcken, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., said in a statement.