Will VW buy-back a stripped down Golf?

Affected vehicle owner Joe Mayer has decided that he would try to sell the car back to VW as part of their promised “buy-back” but strip down the vehicle first.

The story has led to a spate of questions about the validity of stripping down a vehicle due for a buy-back, and we’re aware that others may have already followed suit…

This is certainly an interesting story, and quite a conundrum in terms of how Volkswagen has responded!

Buy-backs

Part of the settlement offer in the U.S. includes buy-backs and repairs of the 2.0 litre “dirty diesels”. Lawyers leading the class action lawsuit have confirmed that most clients are intending to take up VW’s offer of repurchasing vehicles affected by the emissions scandal as opposed to waiting for a fix that’s still subject to regulator’s approval – known as a “buy-back”.

Even after a fix has been done, there remains the concern that the fix could adversely affect the vehicle’s performance, so the popularity of the buy-back is understandable.

Buy-back of a stripped VW Golf?

Mr Mayer is a client who reportedly decided to take up the buy-back offer. However, he took it upon himself to strip down his VW Golf before selling it back to the German manufacturer.

The man posted his story on Instagram (attached with a photo, for those of you who are interested) captioning: “well tomorrow the TDI goes back to VW. I kept a few souvenirs though…”

Mr Mayer has stripped the VW Golf’s doors, passenger seats, tail lights, radio system, car horn, and bonnet, leaving the bare bones for the German automaker. Jalopnik reports that Mr Mayer’s vehicle technically fits the criteria, as the vehicle is “operable” and runs fine.

“Operable” VW Golf

An hour before Mr Mayer was due for an appointment with the company, the VW dealership called him to say that his buy-back appointment had been postponed. This could’ve been for multiple reasons, but the most obvious reason that springs to mind is because the dealership may have heard about what he had done.

After reaching out to the dealership, Jalopnik reports that the representative said that the reason for postponing the appointment is because VW believes that dismantling the vehicle “wasn’t in the spirit of the buy-back”.

“…wasn’t in the spirit of the buy-back” is a good phrase to analyse. Are VW really in much of a position to argue about the “spirit” of things given this whole mess they are responsible for in the first place? It’s certainly a question that has got a lot of people thinking…

Mr Mayer points out that the actual buy-back letter received from VW said that, to be eligible for the buy-back, the vehicle must be “operable”, which is defined as “can be driven under its own 2.0 litre TDI engine power”.

Will VW accept a dismantled VW Golf?

The representative may be trying to bide the automaker some time so they can work out a feasible solution for both them and Mr Mayer. If VW accepts Mr Mayer’s vehicle in that state, what would stop others doing the same?

All jokes aside, VW may not actually accept the vehicle in the condition that Mr Mayer has left it in. Many spectators on Mr Mayer’s Instagram page wondered if the VW Group was going to pay for the dismantled car or if the automaker was going to deny him the remedial action. To date, the VW Group hasn’t taken any further action in relation to Mr Mayer’s vehicle.

His intentions were to make money from the spare parts, but the efforts of dismantling the vehicle may go to waste as VW may ask him to reinstall all the parts before they’ll pay him.

Two can play that game…

It’s reported that the automaker is “absolutely against bad-faith behaviour by consumers”. The cheek of that statement is quite unreal. If VW didn’t deceive customers to start with, they wouldn’t be in this position in the first place.

Here’s Mr Mayer’s Instagram, see for yoursef: https://www.instagram.com/p/BON-bX3jQ4b/