Never take a wooden nickel.
Or a “credit card” from VW.
Reportedly, the under-siege automaker is going to send out prepaid credit cards ( ) to people who own one of the diesel-powered models VW adjusted to “cheat” government emissions tests.
But the catch is that you have to bring the car in to a VW dealer in order to “validate” the card.
The card – the lure of cash, that is – is kind of like the piece of cheese you place on the business end of a mousetrap. Both serve the same purpose.
In the case of the card, the whole object is not to give VW owners “free” money – or to regain their confidence.10
It is to get their hands on the cars.
To “fix” them.
That is, to reprogram them. So that they perform less well (i.e., not as much power/performance, reduced fuel economy).
But they will be in compliance with EPA’s insane emissions control fatwas.
They will emit a fraction of a percent less of this or that – and it will appease the EPA.
For now.
But you – the owner – may not be happy with the way your car runs after it is “fixed.”
It will be interesting to see what happens to the goodwill of VW owners when they find their cars don’t run as well, having been “fixed.” When they notice a drop in fuel efficiency, especially.
This will be interesting on multiple levels, not just the customer level.
VW owners could reasonably claim they’ve been defrauded. Few probably care much about their car emitting a fraction of a percent more of an unseen gas that has caused no tangible harm to any actual person (EPA “projects” – that is, it confects – that about 60 theoretical – but not actual – “victims” will die from asthma attacks and so on as a result of the fraction of a percent increase in emissions). But they will probably care very much if they notice their car’s mileage is now say 3 MPG less than it was prior to having been “fixed.”
Diesel owners are probably the sort next-most-interested in the fuel efficiency of their vehicle after hybrid owners. It’s, you know, the main reason for buying a diesel-powered car.
How pissed off are they going to be?
