By KATY SAVAGE
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Rep. Tom Bock, D-Chester, doesn’t own a Volkswagen, but as a Subaru driver, he was impressed by a VW he rode in.
“It was quiet. It was snappy. They seemed like good cars,” he said.
He didn’t know at the time that the car was cheating emission standards.
At least 3,000 Vermonters will be eligible to receive $1,000 in restitution as part of Vermont’s $6.5 million settlement agreement with Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche for violating the state’s clean air act.
Consumers will receive $2.9 million. The other $3.6 million will go to the state’s general fund.
“Vermont has a long, proud tradition of ag gressively enforcing our Consumer Protection Act when it matters most to Vermonters,” said Vermont Public Protection Division Chief Chris Curtis.
This money is in addition to more than $4.2 million the state received earlier for violations to the state’s environmental laws. The state also earlier received a $18.7-million mitigation fund.
Vermont and Arizona are the only states where consumers are receiving this type of restitution.
“I think this is another great step in the process of making Vermont and Vermonters whole from the nefarious activity of Volkswagen” said Agency of Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Peter Walke.
The settlement is for 2.0 and 3.0 liter VW, Audi, and Porsche diesel vehicles from years 2009 to 2016 sold and leased in Vermont. Those drivers who crossed the border to purchase a vehicle in New Hampshire will still be eligible for the $1,000 restitution as long as the vehicles were owned and registered in the Vermont on or before Sept. 18, 2015 for 2.0 liter vehicles or Nov. 2, 2015 for 3.0 liter vehicles.
About 590,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. were affected when the company falsely advertised that the cars were greener despite the fact that they had devices on them to cheat emission testing.
VW pleaded guilty to three criminal felony counts and agreed to pay a $2.8 criminal penalty in addition to $1.5 billion in civil resolutions in January 2017.
Allen Brooks, chief of the New Hampshire Environmental Protection Bureau, said New Hampshire owners of VW, Audi and Porsche had an option to participate in a buyback program as a result of the scandal. They also had an option of receiving up to $10,000 in cash restitution based on a formula using age and miles on the cars. Lessees had a similar option.
Vermont has the second highest per-capita ownership of VW, Audi, and Porsche in the country behind Oregon.
Auto Connection, LLC owner BJ Thurber in Springfield, Vermont said Volkswagen is one of his more popular cars.
“They get excellent gas mileage – despite the things getting switched,” he said. “They seem like a pretty decent little car.”
Precision Valley Auto Sales owner Scott Ballard used to work as a mechanic for VW before opening his used car dealership in Springfield. He was skeptical of the claims against the vehicles.
“[The emissions] were off so little, it’s unbelievable,” said Ballard.
The scandal doesn’t concern him. Ballard just bought a 2007 diesel Volkswagen with 100,000 miles he plans to sell at his shop.
“They’re not a bad car,” Ballard said.
While some aren’t concerned, others who currently own and those who used to own VW vehicles felt defrauded.
Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, owned a VW beetle in the 1970s.
“I loved it,” he said. “I think what Volkswagen did was despicable.”
An independent third-party administrator will be hired within the next 30 days to identify Vermonters who are eligible for the restitution program. A notice will go out to consumers who purchased vehicles and they will then have 90 days to get their claims in.
Those who participated in the previous national buyback program are still eligible to receive the $1,000 restitution.
The computers on the turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines were programmed to turn on the emission controls only in response to emissions testing.
The automobiles therefore met nitrogen oxides standards during testing, but emitted up to 40 times the legal levels during regular driving.
In the United States approximately 500,000 cars with these engines were sold between 2009 and 2015. Worldwide the number was close to 11 million.
In 2014 a study commissioned by the California Air Resources Board included road testing of emissions and detected the discrepancy between those emissions and emissions measured during inspections.
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