Volkswagen , the car company renowned formaking kid strike each other(OK , and other hooey , too ) ,   is about to take a helluva hit itself after concord to a monumental closure in cases involving itswidespread discharge cheating scandal . Under the platter - break approximately$15 billion liquidation , the German automaker will reportedly pay US drivers more than $ 10 billion to remove the offending diesel fomite from the roadsandbillions more in fine to res publica and Union regulators , grant to areportbyBloomberg .

That ’s right , the biggest clump of that money will be spend on corrupt back the virtually 500,000 emissions - cheating vehicle currently on the road and financially recompense their driver , which mean there ’s a probability Volkswagen owes you at least $ 5,100 if you drive one of its automobile . Here ’s what you take to make love :

The affected models

Only owners of certain Volkswagen or Audi vehicle with 2.0 - cubic decimetre TDI engine are eligible to file a title under the small town . Here ’s the full inclination , per the settlement’sofficial internet site :

you may alsocheck your eligibilitywith your car ’s VIN issue .

The compensation

Under the settlement terms , Volkswagen will pay owners of the above vehiclesat least $ 5,100 and as much as $ 10,000(depending on eld and mileage )   in hard cash to compensate them for the lost economic value of their car . Even owners who sold their cars after the emissions cheating was exposed can claim the compensation , with one-half of the cash going to the original owner and one-half going to the current owner , according to areportbyFortune . Basically , owning a Volkswagen has never been so cool .

If you were rent one of the breach cars as of   September 18 , 2015 ( when Volkswagen admitted to the emission rig ) , you might be eligible to make a claim , too .

The buyback option

In improver to the cash payouts , hoi polloi who bought one of the cars prior to   September 18 , 2015 can opt for Volkswagen to corrupt the cars back at pre - scandal trade - in note value – from   $ 12,475 for a 2009 VW Jetta to $ 44,176 for a 2015 Audi A3 TDI Prestige , accord to theBloombergreport . So if you own the aforementioned Jetta and take both the cash compensation and the buyback pick , there ’s a chance you ’ll getat least$17,575 . You just have to resolve by May of 2018 .

The redemption option , though , is not required . or else , you’re able to wait for Volkswagen to amount up with a fix for the emissions issue that satisfies environmental requirements ( it has yet to do so and a mess could reduce locomotive engine execution ) or you’re able to keep driving your car as it is and merely not participate in the settlement at all . You just wo n’t get any cash with the latter option and will have to live with yourself for further polluting the environment .

Just commemorate , this could be your sound chance to take back that impulsive Beetle buy …

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Darren Brode / Shutterstock.com

Need more data ? lead over to thesettlement site .

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