USA: Owners return stripped-down cars to VW

As part of its cleansing drive post the infamous dieselgate emission scandal, Volkswagen is currently offering buybacks to around 5 lakh affected owners in the United States. According to the court order that has instructed the automaker to buyback affected cars, Volkswagen will need to pay for every affected 2.0-litre TDI engine car, provided it is 'operable', i.e. it can be driven under its own 2.0-litre TDI engine.

Exploiting this clause in the order, several VW owners are stripping down their cars prior to their buyback appointments. While some of these owners see it as an opportunity to mark their revenge against Volkswagen, for others it is just a way to make some quick money by selling off the stripped parts.

Several cases of owners returning stripped down VW cars have been reported on various portals. Some of them have been realistic and have just removed the aftermarket accessories they had installed post the purchase. However, there are a few disgruntled owners who have taken the word 'stripping down' quite seriously. A Golf TDI owner literally removed his car's front fascia, including the front bumper, grille and headlamps. The back-end was also messed up with a heavily dented tailgate, which the owner claims was a result of an accident. Interestingly, he was paid the full buyback amount without any issues.

This case appears to have given inspiration to many other owners, as soon after the aforementioned stripped down Golf was reported, another case came to light, though it was even more extreme than the earlier one. Joe Mayer, a car salesman, completely stripped off his 2010 Golf TDI ahead of his buyback appointment. He removed the car's doors, hood, front fenders, tailgate and bumpers. The interiors too were stripped down, including the seats, centre console, airbags and AC vents.

However, since this story got a lot of publicity on the internet, Volkswagen played it smart and contacted the owner and informed him that stripping down cars wasn't in the 'spirit of the buyback' and postponed his appointment. Meanwhile, the judge handling the dieselgate case has taken notice of these practices from VW owners and has warned them to not indulge in such deliberate parts stripping.

Source: Jalopnik