My Volkswagen diesel controversy is almost finished

After months of speculation, perspiration, and anticipation, I've finally received a final offer from Volkswagen on my 2012 Golf TDI.  I feel the first relief that it will be finished soon.

About a year ago, I filed for the Goodwill package in November.  I also filed for it in January, because it never arrived.  I never got the package, even though they said it had been sent.

I could swear that I sent the information about the car months ago.  I went back and forth about whether to receive the buy back or just select a repair for the emissions control.

It was more recently that they asked for the legal documents.  It seemed an eternity to get a response, even though it was supposedly a ten day window.  Thankfully, uploading photos of the documents speeded the response.

Today, I received the final offer letter.

It was necessary to print, sign, have it notarized, and send it back as a .pdf format file.  Once again, uploading will speed the process.

The next step seems to be the exchange of money and the car.  They are offering to electronically send the funds, which is quite a bonus.  It would have been quite a walk from the Volkswagen dealer to the bank and then, to look at cars.  Funds availability is my question.  Hopefully, they'll be available nearly as soon as they will have been received.

Update 2016.12.02: Got a notification to schedule an appointment to finalize documents.  There is no word of payment to me.

The first appointment was on the 17th of this month, which suggests to me that the buy back will happen ever further out, maybe in January.

Update 2016.12.17: Finished with the appointment very quickly.

The designated person from the dealership worked the software, took photos to confirm everything, and took my car and information.

There was no check or EFT, and being that it is Saturday, I guess I shouldn't expect anything until Monday.  After that, I will still have to wait 2-3 days for availability most likely.

Someone from the dealership was nice enough to drive me the 15 miles back to my city, since there is no public transportation between counties.

Volkswagen has taken receipt of my car, and I have nothing.  I just left a review on Yelp for the headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI.

Update 2016.12.19: This morning I was disappointed to not find an e-mail telling me that money was on the way.  I called the phone number related to the court settlement and the hard to understand woman was kind and reassuring, but she couldn't help much.  She told me that once I responded to the e-mail with my banking details, it would take about 24 hours for the money to be deposited.  Then, it would be 2-3 days for it to be available.  This didn't help my emotional state.

It arrived this afternoon, 27 minutes after the 5 p.m. EST this-will-be-processed-tomorrow deadline.   I might have money Thursday but I should have money Friday.  If it comes too late, Christmas Eve arrives, and the Egg Nog hits the fan.  Two days without a car has been enough.

Update 2016.12.20: It's finished.

When I checked this morning, the money was in the account.  It didn't say pending, but I wasn't 100% sure and I called the toll-free number to check.  The available balance included the money from Volkswagen.

I contacted the salesperson from Saturday and he picked me up and we finalized the transaction.  I now have a 2015 Hyundai Accent GS.  It's a step down, to be sure, but it's not a bad car.  It's just not the car I wanted as my final car.  I've been kicking myself for weeks, thinking that I should have bought an inexpensive used car and driven across the country, traded it when I bought a new, California-compatible car, and I'd still have that.  Oh, well.  It's done.

Volkswagen, who knew what?

I am directly affected by the diesel emissions controversy.  I am disappointed, not upset.

Many people have pointed out that the cars are pouring out 40 times the legal limit of emissions but I often pass cars and trucks from the 1960s, which are probably worse.  There are also boats, which don't seem to be restricted at all, and trucks have been given a virtual pass for years.  Even trucks in the 1990s pollute quite heavily, as I recall.

What is important to me is who knew that this software was in place.  Was the engineering team as far as the involvement went, or did it go from there all the way up to the CEO?

I know that the CEO wanted some incredible goals reached.  They were possible but at the cost, where they achievable?  I don't believe so.  If that was the case, wouldn't Mercedes-Benz be using the cheaper controls over Bluetec?

So, now, there are something like 11 million cars that are affected, including some that use gasoline.

Another question I have is how many other companies have cheated?  Considering how many companies tried to cheat safety goals, should we consider any company beyond suspicion?  I don't believe so.

I was sadly amused that former General Motors boss Bob Lutz made some nasty comments about Volkswagen on CNBC.  What got me most was that he said that GM never meant to kill people with their ignition switch design cheapening.  His tone told me that all those deaths were not even important to him.  That's just so CEO-like.

I would not be surprised if GM, Ford, Chrysler, Fiat, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Honda, and others will be found to have cheated on emissions and fuel economy tests.  We only know from Volkswagen that their cheating was real.

Hopefully, this will push regulatory agencies to develop better ways to deal with everything.  Laziness is unacceptable.

As far as VW is being pushed, they have developed a Customer Goodwill Package to calm their customers:

Update 2015.12.01: Carbon Dioxide emissions are also being investigated.  As well, the fuel economy in Europe is supposedly 18% lower than stated.  I haven't seen exactly which vehicles, but that is somewhat more difficult to gauge, from my experience.

I believe my 1999 Golf GLS was supposed to get 30 at highway speeds and I was getting 35 mpg without air conditioning and 25 mpg with air conditioning.  This 2012 Golf TDI is rated at 42 and I've gotten a high of 48.8 mpg on a trip through the mountains.   However, when I'm aggressive, I usually get around 35.5 mpg--driving 80 to 90 mph does hurt fuel economy but California traffic rarely goes slowly--unless it's in the passing lane on state road 99.

I see plenty of news on the company and not that they're making progress on figuring out what to do, but more of it is petty--clickbait, if you will.

Oh, and supposedly CEO Martin Winterkorn knew a year before the situation became public--disappointing.

Update 2016.10.31: It's almost over.  In the next few weeks, they're supposed to start paying for the cars they're buying back.  In addition, the money that would go for fixing the emissions problem is added to the buy back price total.

I'm skeptical, as I never received the Goodwill package after two registrations.  It's time to put all this behind me.

Update 2016.11.18: I uploaded my documents to the Volkswagen diesel web site, and supposedly, they're in the process of determining my eligibility.  I'm wondering what more I need to prove.  I could swear that they should be kissing my behind for being patient with them.

I need this to end soon.  My life is ending but I still have to pay bills until I die.  Even though it says that they'll contact me within 10 days, it all feels quite uncertain.  That added to my not receiving the Goodwill package (plus my horrid health and lack of money) leaves me uncomfortable.

New Jersey to California in many, many instants

So, I sold my house, and I'm moving to California.

The main thing about this switch is that I'm giving up the east coast for the west coast.  I love Philly and New Jersey, and even when I'm not there, I'm within driving distance, but all that is changing.

I've done Orlando to Los Angeles in three 15 hour days.  It's possible, although crossing Texas itself was a 15 hour day.  I don't want to do that again, not really.  I don't really like to fly because you can't pull the plane over to take photos or eat somewhere special.

So, this time, I'm trying to take everything into consideration.

Actually, the closing on my house was the 6th of June, two Fridays ago.  I immediately drove to Manasquan, New Jersey where I rented a motel room for 6 days.  When I arrived on Saturday, the beach was packed.  I couldn't even park.  Sunday, the parking machines weren't accepting cards.  Monday, it stormed like crazy and it drizzled the rest of the week until I left on Friday.

I went to Orlando for Saturday and Sunday.  Sure, it's 1100 miles but that's not a big deal (except for Washington, DC traffic) if you'll never see it again.  I have a family of dear friends there.  They're probably the last people on earth I really want to see.  They were close when times were bad and they helped when I couldn't help myself.

After a really good weekend there, I went back to New Jersey for a couple of days.  I had something in the mail.  Then, I headed out, back to Pennsylvania, and I took a detour to Cumberland, Maryland, thinking that a Madonna of the Trail statue was there.  I was wrong.  It was at Bethesda, near DC, and I wasn't going there for anything.  However, the marker for the origin of the National Road was there.

I've traveled the National Road in all of the states where it exists, both as US Highway 40 and US Highway 66/I-40.  Plus, this gave me a bit of history to pass on to my followers on Instagram, who live along U.S. 40.

I took I-68 from Cumberland into West Virginia, and met I-79 from Western Pennsylvania, and that led me to I-64, which took me all over the place, but finally into Illinois to meet I-57, apparently US Highway 66's successor.

That took me to I-55, and then, I-40 into Arkansas, which is where I am at the moment.  I'm photographing a newly-married couple in Oklahoma City, as a friendly, casual kind of photoshoot.  Hopefully, it will be good and not stressful and demanding.  (It worked relatively fine.)

After Oklahoma City, I just need to set the auto pilot controls and head to California.

It's somewhat amusing that I've had my 2012 VW Golf TDI about 1.5 years and put 32,000+ miles on it already.  It had 5000+ on it when I bought it as a demonstrator.  The computer is telling me that I have about 3000 miles until the next service is due, and I only had the previous one a couple of months ago.

Oh, and if you go 90 mph, you only get about 25 mpg, even though it's diesel-powered.

There are a couple of things on the way.  I'd like to stop at Plaza Cafe in Gallup, New Mexico (it may be 10 hours from Oklahoma City, an easy drive) for a nice breakfast, and there is place with a motel, restaurant, and filling station somewhere in the California desert--Roy's Motel or something like that.  It looks halfway abandoned but it should be interesting to photograph.  Apparently, the people who created Asphalt 8 used the design for something in their Nevada track.

I'm supposed to tell my singer/songwriter friend from Burbank, California when I've returned.  My buddy from San Jose knows that I'm going to be about 50 miles away, but I haven't heard from him lately.  The weird thing is that I don't know how to feel about starting fresh--really fresh.

Obviously, my time zone will change.  Work will change.  Food will change.  I need to have my car windows tinted to avoid the desert sun's effects.  I won't be close enough to San Jose to just pop over there, but it won't be an extreme drive.  Traffic will be heavy but there are trains during the week.  There is an alternative route with a bus to San Francisco that also uses BART trains.

I had to throw/give away a lot of things.  I'll probably be looking for them because something else will depend on them.  I will have done something wrong, and I really won't have time to care.  It will be a new life.

I look forward to the ability to attain and sustain...again.  I look forward to attacking goals and challenges with intellect and efficiency.  Most of all, I look forward to a peaceful life for the first time since I was a small child, for however long or little it will last.

Update 2014.06.27: Well, this is interesting.  I checked Twitter today, and my singer/songwriter friend is in New York City to perform as part of a group on various TV talk shows.  I'm guessing that he has been rather focused on that.  The buddy from the SF Bay Area is likely in the Galapagos Islands at the moment on a photographic adventure.

I made it from Barstow to Lathrop, along state roads 58 and 99, in about 5 hours, which is good, especially since traffic was a bit crazy at times with lane closures and stupidity.

Starting fresh will be interesting.  I'm close to 42,000 miles so I'll need to have my 40,000 service performed soon, even though it's not quite 10,000 miles since the 30,000 mile service, although that was only about 2 months ago.  I must have driven quite a lot.

Traffic in all states is interesting.  I'm always amazed at how many people like to inhabit the passing lane, no matter what.  It's interesting to see how few people use their mirrors.  When I first moved to Philly, the people sponsoring the aid trucks on the highway reminded people to use their mirrors.  I thought that this was ridiculous, but people did not look, which is shocking.  How do you determine where things are, if you're not looking?  (Of course, that reminds me of a co-worker who was parked in the parking garage, next to a post.  She slammed into the post 3 times when leaving work, if I remember correctly, and needed major work on the passenger-side door by the time she had finished.)

Driving along California's state roads is pretty good.  I suppose it all depends on how developed the state is.  Some states even have bad federally-funded roads.  Of course, dealing with mountains and canyons presents all sorts of interesting issues with proper road design and physics.  Good tires help a lot.  I didn't drive Pacheco Pass Highway today, but SR 99 presented some fun.

Update 2014.06.28: It's a pleasure to be able to not travel.  It's not as though I'm not going anywhere, but I'm limiting travel in order to look for houses.  Having a place to live is certainly more important than taking frivolous trips at this point.

Update 2014.06.30: Got some information today.  Even if you can pay a whole year of rent and the deposit, people don't want to rent to you, if you don't have a job.  That seems odd.  You'd think that they would be pleased to not have to think about where the next year's income would be.  Apparently, it is difficult to boot someone out in California, so the realtor's argument was "What do they do when you don't have money for the second year?"  I'm not even sure I would want to rent the same place for two years, regardless of money.  This is definitely a kink in the hose--there is nothing flowing.

I'd also like to say that it has been an amazing opportunity to see so much of the U.S.A., even if much of it was done at 70 mph.  As a child, I had been across the country several times, in a 1960 VW Beetle, imported from Germany to Japan, then taken with us to the U.S.A.  My adoptive dad drove us from San Jose, California to Richmond, Indiana across many different roads, prior to the Interstate Highway System that exists today.   Obviously, we didn't take that Beetle 70 mph, but it made it through the snow when vehicles from Buick and Mercury were on the side of the road, spinning their tires.

I only wish that I had a GoPro or other such camera to record a lot of where I went.  It might have even made an interesting time lapse recording.

I've noticed one thing being here in Northern California, especially with the temperature being quite high, and rather excessive stop-and-go traffic flow, my miles per gallon have often dropped just below 30 around town.  I never had that experience in the past, even in summer.  Then again, it was 106 degrees F today and I've had the air conditioning on almost all the time the car is running.  I don't sit at stop lights all that long, but it seems as though I sit at more stop lights--there is no extended flow.  They are very efficient at moving cars from any direction.

One year with diesel

No, I'm not talking about Vin Diesel.  I'm talking about Volkswagen Golf TDI Clean Diesel.

This time last year, I'd been having all sorts of issues with a 13 year old VW Golf GLS that I bought with fewer than 50 miles.  It wasn't a paragon of reliability at any time, but spending US$500-$1000 nearly every month was difficult.

I searched for several cars and the dealership which serviced my car had two 2012 Golf TDIs in stock at a discount since the 2013 models had been available for months.

Switching to diesel wasn't a huge problem.  I knew enough that I wouldn't put gasoline in the tank.  Apparently, some TDI owners aren't that aware and VW had a couple of safety precautions that they used to help remind people.  My only issue was finding the diesel pump, as it wasn't always out in the open.  At one station, it was in the back, in the dark.  Their price was lower, I guess, because it wasn't for the faint of heart to fill up.  Many times, I've had to search for the diesel pump but a few stations mark it nicely.  It's always amusing how many customers will pass the gasoline-only pump to use the combined gasoline-diesel pump to get gasoline.  I love waiting.  I love sarcasm more.

Finding stations with diesel has been an issue.  While I was traveling, I would have loved to use Waze to help me there, but it doesn't allow me to customize it for the type of fuel, but then, neither does Scout.  If I'm in unfamiliar territory, it's easier to have GasBuddy at the ready and switch to that, and it already knows that I'm looking for diesel fuel.

The price of gasoline has swung madly through the year, while diesel fuel has stayed within 40 cents, never being very cheap at US$3.899, though US$4.299 seems rather expensive.  In my world, when I'm getting over 40 miles per gallon, I suppose it doesn't matter, but during the winter months, I may have trouble reaching 30 mpg because of warming up and moving slowly, staying in lower gears.  I've seen just higher than 50 mpg, which is rather a bit higher than the 42 mpg stated.  On my trip to Philly, I had 48.8 mpg, if I recall correctly, giving me a range of 664 miles.

Since I got the car just past 5500 miles, the first free maintenance had been finished.  I took it for the 10,000 mile maintenance at the same dealer where I bought it.  However, for 20,000 miles, I was between California and Ohio, so when I stopped in Arkansas, I had the service there.  The mechanic botched the service, pinching the fuel filter.  I had a huge leak.  The next day, they took care of it, but the mechanic refused to reimburse me the fuel, even though he was given a voucher to do so.  My next service will certainly not be there, especially since it's 12 dry hours from home.

The car really hasn't given me a cause for concern.  If I look back at the first 30,000 miles of other VWs, I had a vapor lock problem with the 1985 GTI, plus a bent wheel.  The 1986 GTI had a missing weld and a bent wheel and both front brake rotors had to be replaced.  The 1990 Corrado had a bent wheel but it was quite a bit more reliable.  The 1999 Golf GLS had 30 or so trips to the dealer for the power window regulator clips, plus an appetite for daytime running lights, and various electrical problems including the central locking system.

The only serious problem I've had with it is that it's all grown up.  I found myself driving 90 mph when it felt like 65 mph with the 1999.  It is very stable, though not flawless.  The electrically-powered steering took some acclimation, but it's quite reasonable, and I don't have Asphalt 8 (video game) moments with it.

You might ask why I'm already over 20,000 miles.  I took a trip from here to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, plus a trip to San Jose, California.  Those totaled 1884 and 5702 miles respectively.  Obviously, that's not a lot of the travel.  The rest is rather local within the tri-state area.  In fact, January 31st and February 1st, I was in southern Ohio photographing three basketball games.  The trip is about 4 hours each way.  I'm getting an average of about 10 mpg better than the 1999 Golf GLS, which is a good improvement.  If I could drive more slowly on the highway and avoid little towns on the state roads, I'd do better.  (I'm just past a total of 30,000 miles, meaning that I've added nearly 25,000.  The MFI shows that I have another 2000 miles until the final free service.)

This was also my first car with an automatic gearbox.  Yes, they had a manual available but between white and red, I chose red--and the better discount on the demonstrator.  I might do it differently given the choice again.  For some reason, I was completely uncomfortable with the transmission during the test drive.  I suppose that shouldn't be surprising.  Every Volkswagen I've had, the gear change was radically different in feel and it took a while to acclimate myself.  Not only that, but the clutch was usually different also.  I didn't want to be troubled with gearbox and/or clutch problems.

One thing is still certain.  The car was certified as meeting ULEV II standards, so I can move to California without giving up the car, and that's a plus.  It also means that it's not polluting as much as the old car, nor does it have a load of batteries to be recycled as a hybrid or fully electrically-driven vehicle would have.  I can be concerned about the environment without being an activist.

Am I in love with my car on Valentine's Day?  Not exactly, but I am satisfied.  It's all dressed in red--maybe I should take it for a car wash.

Update 2014.05.06: I took my car for its 30,000 mile service a week ago Monday.  I made an appointment, but they were so quick with it that I'd almost think that they didn't do anything.  Supposedly, the change the oil and filter, rotate the tires, and other maintenance-type things.  I suspect that they changed the fuel filter again, since the disaster at the previous VW dealer in Arkansas and my 20,000 mile service.

I'm heading toward California once the sale of my house is complete.  While I was uncertain at the time I bought the car, I'm glad I settled on this certain model because it is a 50-states certified model.  It's just too bad it's not much bigger in the back.  I'm still not sure how I got to Florida in my 1985 Mazda RX-7 with my Japanese futon in the back and various things crammed in the front.  I know that I had many things crammed into my 1999 Golf GLS when I moved up here.  That Jetta Sportwagen looked like a winner but I bet it doesn't have all that much extra room.

Update 2015.11.24: At just over 80,000 miles, I've been busy.

When I sold my house in June 2014, I took a trip to New Jersey, to stay at the shore several days.  It rained most of those days.  As I wouldn't be on the east coast again, most likely, I took a weekend trip to Orlando to visit friends.  That was 1100 miles each way.  Returning to New Jersey, I had a nice day, picked up my things and started for California.

How did I put on 40,000 miles in just over a year, especially when I drove a lot of short trips?  I really don't know.  I'm about 70 miles from San Jose, California and I go there often.  I've been to San Diego once, on one tank with some to spare.  I've been to Orange County a couple of times.  It is a big state.  I haven't got as much fuel economy as I might have.  90 miles per hour is too easily achieved.  Still, 35 miles per gallon and change is good.  If I told it down to 60 mph, I'd see 42 mpg, probably, but traffic doesn't work that way in general.

The car has been good.  Despite the emissions scandal, I still like the car.  I'm disappointed in the company, but I suspect that they're not the only company to cheat.  Apparently, Renault is being investigated at the moment, but it's difficult to believe that any company has not cheated.

 I haven't had any major repairs, though the windshield had to be replaced once.  About two weeks after having tint installed on the rear windows and colorless film on the front windows and windshield, a pebble propelled at the windshield started a crack that took over half of the glass.  It couldn't have happened before the extra cost film, could it have?

As the year is ending soon, I'm wondering about so many things.  Hopefully, the car will continue to be good, even after VW makes their modifications to the emissions control hardware and software.  I don't need a car that coughs and sputters.