No Buyback: 2013–2016 Audi, Porsche, VW Diesel SUVs Have A Fix

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have given their nod of approval to a fix for TDI diesel versions of some Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen SUVs from the 2013 through 2016 model years.

Specifically, the remedy affects the 2013–2014 Volkswagen Touareg, 2013–2014 Porsche Cayenne, and 2015 Audi Q7, all with the so-called Generation 2.1 version of the 3.0-liter TDI V-6. They’ll get both a software upgrade and a hardware fix, while 2015–2016 Touareg and Cayenne models (with the Generation 2.2 engine) will get only software changes.

It has been a long time coming. California had rejected an earlier plan to fix the V-6 diesels, deeming it “incomplete and deficient in a number of areas.” With the decision coming down to the wire (October 23 was the court-negotiated decision extension date for those models), it had been looking as if the brands might have to buy back the SUVs. Winning approval of the fix saves the VW Group from that burden—and an estimated cost of potentially $1 billion for buying back the 38,745 SUVs.

Owners who opt for the fix still additionally receive roughly $8500 to $17,500. And the company had already agreed to buy back nearly 20,000 vehicles with the Generation 1 version of that engine, covering the 2009 to 2012 model years.

According to a letter posted by the EPA, the two agencies examined the software, analyzed test data, considered durability, and looked at onboard diagnostics as part of a multi-month evaluation of the proposed fixes. Both changes bring the engines within the standard to which they were originally certified, the EPA verified to Bloomberg.

It should move much more quickly from here. The automaker is required to notify owners within 10 days. The repairs—not yet detailed on the hardware side—will be done free of charge at the dealership.

The automaker still doesn’t have an approved fix for some of its affected vehicles, such as 24,000 Audi passenger-car models (A6, A7, A8, and Q5) with the Generation 2 engine and 2012–2014 Passat models with the 2.0-liter TDI and manual transmission. But with these SUVs headed to reform school, the company has cleared a major hurdle toward putting the (not so) Clean Diesel era behind it.

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