It’s here: Volkswagen offering buybacks, compensation to diesel owners

General details were announced today about a plan from car manufacturing giant Volkswagen to car buyers in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen vehicles were affected by the scandal, more than 480,000 in all. Owners will have the option of having the automaker buy the vehicles back or have them fixed by Volkswagen. Senior United States District Judge Charles Breyer did not provide an actual cash amount, but he added that the deal would include “substantial compensation.”

Apparently, many details are still being worked out. This leaves many wondering what is going to happen next in terms of repair, in terms of compensation, and in terms of timing. What this announcement does say is that the general terms have been arrived at.

According to the reports, Volkswagen will be called on to set aside funds for green automotive technologies in addition to a fund designated for corrective efforts to address the pollution that never should have been emitted.

Some $1 billion dollars will be set aside for the owners and the repair tasks. If you’re curious about the Volkswagen deal and you have one of the 482,000 Volkswagens affected by the deal, here is your easy cheesy guide to determine if your vehicle is one of the targets. All 2-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine vehicle owners can choose repairs or buybacks, including those with leased vehicles. The models include the VW Jetta, Golf and Passat models dating to the 2009 model year.

However, there is still no agreement regarding the 90,000 vehicles or so belonging to Audi and Porsche owners also affected. Those 3-liter, six-cylinder motors also were part of this chicanery, but those owners will just have to wait.

At the end of the day, Volkswagen must be relieved to be able to move on as soon as possible, although the damages have been estimated by some to be over 30 Billion dollars.