Just an observation to give perspective...
I'll be talking to friends and acquaintances and somehow the conversation turns to cars. Keeping in mind I proudly own two VWs: GTI MK7, and Touareg TDI. I say something about dieselgate and the TDI etc. Most people have no idea what I'm talking about. A few vaguely recall hearing something in the news about a VW recall or some problem but they pay no attention because hey they don't drive a VW. And meanwhile Honda & others are recalling hundreds of thousands (millions?) of cars equipped with killer Takata airbags. Or Toyota trucks & SUVs with frames rusting out prematurely.
We however sweat over every new VW news report and parse every word VW execs proclaim which might affect us. Which is natural since we're closer to the problem.
...
Not that they are the masses, but we were at two dealership this week, and both knew exactly what was going on. My mother-in-law has also been following it from the day that it broke with the 2.0's. At that time, the 3.0's were NOT in the scandal, and I assured her that all was well. Well, that didn't turn out so good for me. Now, she's asking all the time what we are going to do now that we are caught up in it as well. In the end, I think that people, at least subliminally, know more about this than we think.
A few posts back, VW indicates that they are stopping selling diesels in the US. That was the death nail for diesels in the US. The US was
finally getting over the whole diesels smoke, they stink, and are loud, and now all of that is gone. It's hard for the average consumer to consider a diesel when some of the new gassers are getting
close to the same fuel economy as their diesel cousins. That has to be the number one driver for consumers in cars. With SUV's, it's a different story, and it is tragic that now that horse is probably dead as well. Yeah, there are still some diesel SUV's out there, but I don't see them doing well, and the premium is just too high. And, you really almost need to have a reason to own a diesel SUV, like towing to make it worth it at this point. And, at this point, the only luxury diesel SUV's available in the US are the Jag F-Pace, Land Rover, and Jeep, if you're so inclined.
I LOVE DIESEL, but we are getting out as soon as the check is in hand. I know that I'm going to miss it, but it's replacement is no slouch either. Unfortunately, it won't pass many gas pumps...
