European VW Customers Claim Their Vehicles Were Ruined After Diesel Fix

A number of European Volkswagen owners are claiming that their vehicles have been ruined after the German company’s diesel emissions fixes.

The Guardian reports that select VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda owners who’ve sent their vehicles back to VW to pass emissions standards have encountered a plethora of serious problems, causing many to question whether it is worth returning their vehicles to be fixed.

According to a thread on HonestJohn as well as one on Facebook, many owners have complained that their vehicles were working perfectly fine and that a number broke down after their dealership visits.

One owner, James Harrison, told The Guardian that his 2010 Golf 1.6 diesel had to undergo hardware changes to be fixed. However, he says that the vehicle now stalls intermittently and is often difficult to restart. Additionally, it goes into a so-called ‘regeneration mode’, where soot is collected in a filter and burnt off almost every time he uses the car, rather than just doing so a few times a year prior to the ‘fix’.

“I am concerned at the long-term impact this will have. If the car is regenerating every day, what will this do to the lifespan of the EGR [exhaust gas recirculation] valve and the rest of the exhaust system, which cost thousands to fix if they go wrong?” Harrison said.

According to a post on HonestJohn, Volkswagen AG has admitted that of the 480,000 fixes done so far, 3,600 complaints have been filed.

Despite what some believe, returning vehicles to VW for its software and hardware fixes isn’t mandatory. However, there are claims that the automaker has been automatically fixing vehicles without notifying owners when they are undergoing scheduled services.