We went to a VW Dealership today

Today, I went to a VW dealership with one of the 482,000 VW owners who unknowingly purchased a “clean” diesel vehicle that was designed to get away with violating the law. I went there to encourage dealerships to join with VW customers and call on VW to give people their money back for these misleading vehicles.

Today, I went to a VW dealership with one of the 482,000 VW owners who unknowingly purchased a “clean” diesel vehicle that was designed to get away with violating the law. I went there to encourage dealerships to join with VW customers and call on VW to give people their money back for these misleading vehicles.

It’s unacceptable and outrageous that these vehicles had “defeat devices” that allowed the car to turn on emission controls during testing and turn them off during regular driving. When off, they could have released smog-forming pollutants 40 times the legal limit.

Dealerships didn’t make these cars or design the “defeat devices.” But they are the ones that sell the cars to you and me and therefore are positioned to communicate a strong message to VW – give people their money back.

Before resigning, the former CEO Martin Winterkorn promised Volkswagen would do “everything necessary” to undo the damage done by this fraud and deceit.

We think that VW should give people their money back – plain and simple.

That’s why we’re asking dealerships to join with their customers and send that message to VW headquarters. It’s a great opportunity to stand with their customers and show what “doing everything necessary” really means.

If you haven’t yet, sign our petition to VW – http://bit.ly/VWpenalties

And please contact us if you have a story to tell.

Authors

Danny Katz

Executive Director, CoPIRG

Danny has been the director of CoPIRG for over a decade. Danny co-authored a groundbreaking report on the state’s transit, walking and biking needs and is a co-author of the annual “State of Recycling” report. He also helped write a 2016 Denver initiative to create a public matching campaign finance program and led the early effort to eliminate predatory payday loans in Colorado. Danny serves on the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) Efficiency and Accountability Committee, CDOT's Transit and Rail Advisory Committee, RTD's Reimagine Advisory Committee, the Denver Moves Everyone Think Tank, and the I-70 Collaborative Effort. Danny lobbies federal, state and local elected officials on transportation electrification, multimodal transportation, zero waste, consumer protection and public health issues. He appears frequently in local media outlets and is active in a number of coalitions. He resides in Denver with his family, where he enjoys biking and skiing, the neighborhood food scene and raising chickens.