VW to Offer Owners $1,000 in Gift Cards
Detroit — Volkswagen is offering $1,000 in gift cards and vouchers as a goodwill gesture to owners of small diesel-powered cars involved in an emissions cheating scandal. The offer announced Monday goes to owners of 482,000 cars in the U.S., many who are angry at the company because they paid extra for the cars to be environmentally sensitive without losing peppy acceleration. VW is working on a fix for the cars, which are equipped...
Consumer Confidential: Duped VW Owners Wonder What Their Next Move Should Be
Paul Mason works for Pacific Forest Trust, a San Francisco nonprofit group focusing on environmental protection. He is, by his own admission, a tree-hugging kind of guy. That’s why Mason purchased a Volkswagen Golf TDI five years ago. He liked the idea that he’d be driving what VW touted as a “clean diesel” car, one that delivered more oomph than a Prius hybrid while keeping pollutants in check. Mason, 43, had no idea that the...
Wheels: 2015 Passat Is Safe, Reliable and Fuel Efficient
The Volkswagen Passat sedan, now in its eighth generation of service, is passe. You’ll note that I used the word “service” instead of “life” or “existence” in referring to the car’s age. That is because there is nothing passe about the Passat’s continued reliability, safety, durability and overall performance. That is especially true of the model driven for this week’s column, the 2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium, a diesel-powered,...
Nuts & Bolts: 2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium
Bottom line: The Volkswagen Passat, diesel or gasoline, is a car to consider seriously when shopping for a midsize family sedan. It effectively hits all of the marks —safety, comfort, fit-and-finish quality, utility and fuel efficiency. Ride, acceleration and handling: It gets good marks in all three. The car is highway-competent. It has guts climbing mountain roads. Head-turning quotient: It seriously reminds me of a convent or...
