Owners of Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche diesels may soon be offered a fix for their cars via a software update.
At the moment, Volkswagen has no plans to buy back the roughly 85,000 affected cars with the larger 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6, unlike what it reportedly will do for vehicles with 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinders. Instead, states Automotive News, a software update will remedy the suspect “auxiliary emission-control devices” that allow excessive emissions following a cold start. A new catalytic converter may also be installed. (See the full list of affected vehicles here.)
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Despite the Environmental Protection Agency citing VW with a second violation for these vehicles in November, just weeks after initially citing the company for 482,000 cars with 2.0-liter engines that allowed excessive emissions, VW has continually denied that there was a deliberate defect with the larger engines. The company said in November that “no software has been installed in the 3.0-liter V-6 diesel power units to alter emissions characteristics in a forbidden manner.” The EPA and VW have not reached a final agreement or agreed upon an exact fix for any of the half-million-plus cars under scrutiny.
Clifford Atiyeh is a reporter and photographer for Car and Driver, specializing in business, government, and litigation news. He is president of the New England Motor Press Association and committed to saving both manuals and old Volvos.
