Now is the time to note the current values of the VW turbodiesels that will be subject to the recall to see how all of that directly affects prices.
I've randomly chosen the 2015 2.0L TDI SEL sedan with the DSG, in "Good" used condition with about 14K miles on it to focus on. A car like that is worth $19,230 right now from a private party, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Brand new from a dealer, that same car would go for around $27,763. Holy moley that's awful depreciation; that's nearly a $10K loss just for driving it around a year.
To compare it to another maker's model, a used 2015 Honda Accord EX-L sedan with 14K miles on it is worth $21,113 private party KBB at the time of this writing. By the way, the 4-cylinder EX-L gets 31 combined mpg and the TDI gets 36 combined mpg. You could always buy an Accord Hybrid if you needed better mileage, which gets 47 combined mpg. MSRP on the gas-powered Honda was around $25K and add about $1K for the hybrid.
Drive the Japanese sedan and lose around $4K or in the same time period and mileage drive the German and lose...ugh. There's something desperately wrong with that picture; pay a premium for a "premium" car and lose oodles of value every minute and mile you pilot it down the road. And then there's the maintenance. Why do people buy German cars?!? Yes, they're nice to look at and the interiors are well designed. But are they that much better? No, they are not. They just aren't.
Let's check back in a couple of months to see how the crackdown has affected the KBB used car value of the TDI. Should be interesting, to say the least.
Photo: Wikipedia
What Lindamood and the JKC staff have to say on the current state of things:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jeanknowscars.com/car-life/soapbox/dieselgate-update/
It is funny that it is this emission-cheating that has caused folks to shy away from diesels. The European health community has been trying to get folks to wake up to their health hazards for a few years. But European governments have been so deep into German-driven diesel subsidies that they just looked the other way:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/22/the-rise-diesel-in-europe-impact-on-health-pollution
Interesting links, folks! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAdd the VW V6 diesel installed in the VW, Audi and Porsche SUVs and A8 to the list. Goooo German! And those drivers paid extra for the privilege....
ReplyDeletehttps://www.yahoo.com/autos/epa-finds-audi-porsche-and-more-vw-diesels-faked-185452277.html