Lawsuits Could Force VW To Buy Back Vehicles

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 that for seven years VW marketed four-cylinder diesel Golfs, Jettas, Beetles, and Passats as clean alternatives to gas engines, knowing all along that 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 that VW was considering compensating owners for the lost value of their cars. He also said that 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 in early-October in Los Angeles, seeking full restitution for owners of nearly 70,000 affected cars in California.

In a somewhat unique approach, 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 that 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.

"Our clients don’t want to wait a year. They don’t want to be driving a dirty car," Berman says.

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.

Volkswagen wouldn’t comment on pending lawsuits.

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