V-6 TDIs Still In Limbo

2016 Porsche Cayenne Diesel (Credit: © Porsche)

While everyone’s celebrating VW’s buyback solution to the TDI problem, they might be forgetting it only applies to some of the Dieselgate vehicles. Almost 100,000 Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches are in limbo because the 3.0-liter TDI hasn’t been mentioned in the plan.

If you think that doesn’t sound too bad, consider this: that’s almost one out of every four TDIs that were part of the whole scandal. It’s a big deal that at the moment is almost being glossed over. Affected models include the VW Touareg TDI; Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5 and Q7 TDIs; plus the Porsche Cayenne Diesel.

In all honesty, the 3.0-liter TDIs are only polluting nine times more than legally allowed in the United States, not up to 35 times like the 2.0-liter TDIs. But the vehicles are still polluting way more than they should, so there needs to be a solution.

Volkswagen at first left all the 3.0-liter TDI owners out in the cold on its Goodwill Program, or the gift cards and extended coverage that was a controversial move to appease TDI owners. Some took the omission as an outright snub.

A finalized version of the TDI buyback program will be presented by Volkswagen on June 21. There’s no word if that would include the 3.0-liter engines. No doubt the EPA hasn’t forgotten about these vehicles, so a solution should be coming, even if it takes a few more months.