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Comment by adamnemecek | Hacker News Reader

It's punitive, it's supposed to be terrible.

Yeah, but I'd prefer the penalties did something useful, and weren't just a cash transfer to people who got lucky and bought cars from an unethical manufacturer.

> just a cash transfer to people who got lucky and bought cars from an unethical manufacturer.

They didn't "get lucky". They were lied to by the company and sold a car under false pretenses.

Edit: I had the fuel economy bit wrong, my mistake. I've removed that portion. Thanks @mikestew, @gnoway, and @GavinMcG for the correction.

This wasn't exactly a fuel economy issue, it was more of an emissions cheat. I get great economy out of my Golf - higher than advertised. I agree that if they'd done the right thing w/ emissions that economy might have been worse and the car not as attractive.

Did they have extra fuel expenses? My understanding is that VW bypassed emissions controls in order to maintain a high level of efficiency and performance. The environmental cost of that was externalized onto all of us.

The reason the cars got better fuel economy than competitors is because VW cheated on emissions. IOW, the deception wasn't in the economy numbers, but in how VW managed to pull that off.

They didn't "get lucky".

I agree that it's a little weird to say that they got lucky, but a pretty big hint that they actually did is that I wish I were a part of the settlement. It's not like anybody was actually harmed. These owners are getting a great deal.

This is a settlement with the owners of the cars, the Clean Air Act penalties haven't been announced yet. They will be significant.

Yeah, but I'd prefer the penalties did something useful

I think that sticking VW's head on a pike as a warning to others that may follow would qualify as "useful". The fact that owners are compensated for not getting what they thought they were buying can be viewed as a bonus.

Moving the cost-benefit analysis for breaking the law towards the obey-the-law column isn't useful?

I guess you could make that same argument about all law enforcement.

They aren't lucky. The value of their cars dropped as a result of VW's unethical decisions. VW needs compensate them for that loss.

Furthermore, if the owners weren't compensated, many of them would continue to drive these cars rather than sell them at a loss. The outcome would be worse for everyone who breathes air, not just the VW owners.

It's it also supposed to get the too-high-emissions vehicles off the road? It seems like letting people drive them around for two more years is counter productive to that goal.

They’d still be legal under the 2008 emissions regulations, just not under the newer ones.

There are plenty more cars on the road from even older times, with far worse emissions.

It's not counter productive, its just not super productive.

But I think the concerns are less about getting these specific cars off the road immediately, and more so ensuring that other manufacturers are scared away from trying to pull this shit again.

Exactly!!!

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