Lawsuit could force VW to buy back cars, lawyer says
Volkswagen almost inevitably will have to compensate owners of diesel cars equipped with emissions- rigging software. Some legal experts say the automaker could be forced to buy back the cars altogether.
Many of the more than 200 lawsuits filed in the past few weeks allege for seven years VW marketed four- cylinder diesel Golfs, Jettas, Beetles and Passats as clean alternatives to gas, knowing all along the cars were spewing pollution that far exceeded legal limits.
In September, Volkswagen admitted to rigging emissions tests in the U. S. Earlier this month, Michael Horn, the head of its U. S. operations, told a congressional panel VW was considering compensating owners for the lost value of their cars.
He also said it could take from one to two years to fix all the affected cars.
Seattle lawyer Steve Berman seized on that time frame when he sued VW last week in Los Angeles, seeking full restitution for owners of nearly 70,000 affected cars in California.
Berman is seeking to get his clients their money back under California laws requiring automakers to guarantee emissions control parts for up to seven years or 70,000 miles. His lawsuit says VW can’t promptly make its diesels comply with the warranty, so under a different statute it “shall either promptly replace the new motor vehicle or promptly make restitution to the buyer.”
The Environmental Protection Agency has said the VW diesels emit 10 times to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide.
The plaintiffs make the case that the cars can’t be driven legally since they violate pollution standards, says University of Southern California law professor Greg Keating, who specializes in consumer fraud cases. Even though the EPA says the cars can legally stay on the roads, eventually states with pollution tests will force owners to comply with the law, he says.
“They can’t give me the car that they told me I was buying, and they’re forcing me to inflict environmental harm and be out of compliance with California law because of the wrong they committed,” plaintiffs can argue, says Keating.
While Berman’s lawsuit covers only cars in California, the consumer fraud argument could be made successfully nationwide, according to Keating.
Most likely, Volkswagen will settle by paying customers to avoid a drawn- out process that keeps the scandal in the news.
Last month, Volkswagen admitted 482,000 cars in the U. S. have software that programs them to cheat on emissions tests.
The 482,000 cars are worth an average of US$ 14,466, ranging from $ 8,409 for a 2009 Jetta to $ 21,474 for a 2015 Passat, according to Kelley Blue Book.
At the average resale value, VW could be forced to pay more than $ 6.9 billion to repurchase the cars.
That amount would cover most of the $ 7.3 billion VW has set aside for the scandal.
“It’s really enormous for VW to have to buy these things back,” Keating says. “But maybe they will have to.”