Germany Tells Owners of Cheating Volkswagen Diesels to Get Their Cars Neutered or Hand Over the Registration

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Germany’s federal motor transport authority, die Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), told dieselgate holdouts that haven’t yet fixed their emissions-cheating cars to get them repaired or prepare to have their registration revoked. In fact, officials in Hamburg and Munich have already taken several Audi and VW vehicles off the road.

It’s no wonder there’s cold feet among the citizenry. Reports out of Germany last year revealed that engines returned from the fixes behaving like a person suffering from an incredibly traumatic experience. They just weren’t the same anymore. Some units saw up to a 10-percent decrease in performance and likely ended up with a less-beefy torque curve biased toward higher engine speeds. Fearing that the Volkswagen Group’s “emissions repair” could effectively neuter their car, those abstaining from the recall are now left with no recourse.

According to Automotive News and its German counterpart, Automobilwoche, the automaker gave VW customers a final ultimatum after repeated warnings.

“The recall [for affected VW diesel cars] is compulsory. Cars that are not fixed can eventually be taken out of service. Subject to the release date of the updates, the car owner has had about a year and a half. Plenty of time, to take part in the recall,” the KBA explained.

You’re probably thinking it’s no big deal and German citizens worried about their car can just get the buyback cash and purchase something else. Sadly, it’s not that simple. While the United States slapped Volkswagen with massive fines and forced it to compensate its customers in full, Europe did not. All the manufacturer has to do is fix the engines to bring them into compliance with emissions standards via (the removal of the contentious “defeat device”).

That basically amounts to customers having to hand over their fully functional automobile, only to get it back with less pep. The KBA claims roughly 95 percent of the 2.46 million affected vehicles in Germany underwent the fix since June of this year. Some 0.6 percent of the remaining cars earned a date with registering authorities following repeated warnings, lighting the fuse on their being taken off the road for noncompliance.

The KBA issued its final warnings at the start of summer, with most drivers heeding them. But reports of fixed European-spec VWs developing new issues persist. In the case of some 1.6-liter diesels, researchers claim the automaker reduced NOx emissions by upping CO2 emissions and lowering fuel economy. The result? More complaints of vehicles exhibiting rough idle and reduced power.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Daniel J I generally love colors outside of the normal white, black, or silver. The biggest issue we've had is Mazda tends not to put the colors we want with the trim or interior we want.
  • Daniel J If you believe what Elon says, he said on X that the plan is expand at current locations and make sure that the current chargers are being maintained. Like I said on the previous thread on this, they probably looked at the numbers and realized that new chargers in new places aren't cost effective.
  • Daniel J How is this different than a fully lifted truck? I see trucks rolling off the lot with the back lifted already, and then folks get the front lifted to match. Are there specific "metrics" at how high they can and can't be? The example shown has the truck's front lifted more than normal, but I've seen these around here where the backend is dropped and the front end is at a regular height.
  • Theflyersfan I think color is FINALLY starting to return to car lots. After what seems like over a lost decade of nothing but shades of gray, whites, and black, I'm seeing a lot more reds and blues creeping into luxury car lots. Except Audi and Volvo. They still have at least 6-8 shades of gray/silver. But they at least have a nice green. Honda and Acura seem to have a bunch of new colors. And all carmakers need to take a serious look at the shades of red seen at the Alfa Romeo lot and tell themselves they want that because that looks amazing.
  • Bd2 Well, it's no Sonata, nor does it have the panache of the Optima.
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