Colorado VW Owners Want Company To Buy Back Diesel Cars
DENVER (CBS4)- A German newspaper report by Sueddeutsche Zeitung says Volkswagen may buy back more than 100,000 of the polluting diesel cars sold in America. This comes after the company admitted installing computer programs to cheat on emissions tests.
A couple from Boulder vowed not to drive their Volkswagen diesel again after that, but this trip they are taking is different. They are driving it to VW headquarters to ask the company to buy it back.
Marcus Moensch told CBS 4's Rick Sallinger, "We feel very strongly there needs to be compensation for the individuals who purchased the VWs so they can purchase lower pollutant cars."
He earlier tried to return his car to a dealership, but they wouldn't take it even though the diesels had been advertised as clean.
Petitions have been gathered by consumer groups demanding the automaker to compensate car owners and the environment.
Danny Katz of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group, COPIRG, said, "If a company tricks their customers by putting all that pollution in the air they should come up with a plan to make up for all that pollution that's been put out there."
Mary Rafferty is one of those VW diesel owners who feels cheated.
"This car we can't sell it to anybody else so VW should be accountable to buy it back," said Rafferty.
The Justice Department has now sued VW for cheating on emissions tests and polluting the environment but some of the car owners feel its executives should be charged.
Elisabeth Caspari, Moensch's wife said, "It's causing deaths, fraudulent, there's no question it's criminal."
Now they hope to spread their message across the country en route to Washington.
Volkswagen has apologized to it diesel owners and those that lease the vehicles have each been given a $500 Visa gift card as a goodwill gesture.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.