About a half million cars and 18 million bucks.
The Volkswagen diesel buyback program is massive.
Now some like Christina Mencuccini say, so are the delays.
Six months after Christina bought her seventh Jetta, she got word the government sued VW for falsely claiming its diesel cars had low levels of emissions.
Christina could either get a fix, or a buyback. She decided on the buyback so she could use the money to buy another VW. With restitution and car value, she'd get about $28,000.
But, Christina says she's been back and forth with the company. She says she's sent the same documents over and over. Finally they were accepted. But, she says the earliest they can examine her car and buy it back, is March.
Christina's concerned she won't get the full buyback amount, because it was based on 25,000 miles. That was months ago. "I'm over 26,000 miles and I still have a good seven weeks ahead of me," she said.
In a statement to us, Volkswagen wasn't clear on whether owners would be penalized for delays:
"Here is language on mileage taken directly from the long-form notice (Court filing.) There is an adjustment for mileage based on allowance of 12,500 miles/year. Therefore, this could adjust the payment if there is significant difference from the date entered but this is based on the average, not based on per miles driven.
Your Vehicle Value will include any mileage adjustment, according to the NADA September 2015 Guidebook with an annual mileage allowance of 12,500, for your car's mileage on the date it is brought into a dealership for a Buyback / Lease Termination or an Approved Emissions Modification."
And about the delays, Volkswagen says:
"Overall, we are encouraged by the customer response to the 2.0L TDI settlement program and the exceptional participation rate so far. As of January 14th, Volkswagen had extended more than 266,000 offers to affected customers and by the end of January, we expect to have processed approximately 96,000 buybacks and lease terminations. This program is unprecedented in terms of its size and scope and we have hired approximately 1,300, contract employees to help accommodate demand. We know that there have been some issues along the way and our teams have been working tirelessly to make necessary adjustments and continually improve the process."
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