Should You Sell Your Dieselgate Car?
VW is offering to buy back the cheating vehicles or offer restitution and a fix if you’d prefer to it. If your car was affected by the emissions scandal, is this the right time to sell?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of years, you’ve heard of the Volkswagen scandal where the German automaker cheated emissions on some of its diesel model cars. As a result there is a VW recall where VW is offering to buy back the cheating vehicles or offer restitution and a fix if you’d prefer to keep your car.
What are your options with your Volkswagen diesel vehicle?
So, should you keep the car and get some cash? Or sell it back to VW and go for something else? The decision is entirely up to you as a Diesel Gate car owner. The amount of money you get from selling your car back to VW, or having it repaired and then privately selling it evens out. It really comes down to principle.
How does the scandal impact your VW’s resale value?
Consider the 2013 Golf TDI, which VW is willing to buy back for $22,217, assuming it has the average amount of miles. As of last year, the Federal Highway Administration has deemed the average annual mileage is 13,476. That means if your TDI is from 2013, it should have almost 54,000 miles by now. Using our VW Diesel Settlement Refund and Buyback Calculator, the buyback would be about $24,400 or $6,000 for restitution after fixing it.
Sell your car with a free ad. No fees, no commission, no middleman.
The private party value of the same 2013 Golf TDI according to KBB is $13,078, so if we add that to the restitution of around $6,000 that gives us a bit more than $19,000, which is less than the calculted buyback amount. So for some people, that’s all they need to know. We suggest using our calculator to get the buyback estimate, however it is best to confirm the final buyback amount with your local VW dealer.
The other side of this is, maybe some people don’t want to support a car manufacturer that was willing to commit a scandal like diesel gate. Maybe they love their VW cars, and are happy to get the restitution? One thing people seem to be doing is buying the cheating diesel cars at low prices and then selling them back to VW, according to Jalopnik, but that hardly seems ethical.
The Decision Is Really Up To You
It depends on you and your principles, if whether or not you should keep your cheating Volkswagen. If you're looking to part ways with the car, then make sure you compare the buyback amount and market value of your vehicle. If the endgame is to be happy with your car, then do what it takes to make that happen.
The Instamotor TeamNot your typical used car salesman. Our team is here to provide honest and transparent advice about car buying and selling.