This Car Is ILLEGAL

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Volkswagen is one of the largest car brands in the world. But in 2015, 3 college kids in West Virginia discovered something about their diesel cars that would change the company, and even change the American automotive landscape forever.
VW Emissions Aftereffects Study: iopscience.iop...
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#Volkswagen #dieselgate #tdi

[@albonfilms]

Thanks again to Manscaped for sponsoring today’s video! Get 20% Off + Free International Shipping + 2 Free Gifts with promo code “ALBON” at manscaped.com/ALBON What do you think about VW's punishment? Did they get off easy? Or was the EPA too hard on them?

[@albertojesusrodriguezcastr5266]

Hello

[@j.clark2381]

Superb presentation, and well researched as usual. VW absolutely deserved all the shame/penalties they received. There's a more sinister side to the dieselgate scandal. VW unethically used monkeys and humans during diesel engine emissions testing. Disgusting.

[@brandonpourmorady1494]

Just ordered one!

[@eqaazinuwa3125]

Vw messed up! Big time, and with the research on the probability of people dying earlier than expected, punishment was well deserved

[@manoj_91]

Bro please upload weekly

[@nerbs101]

Im really surprised they managed to criminally charge the CEO and top execs as usually it never gets blamed on a personal level.

[@joebloggs9941]

Germany has been making a mission of prosecuting evil - anything from WWII Nazi era to current day corporate fraud.

[@YusufGinnah]

That is the way the law in the EU is.

[@ManuelBarner]

they tried to blame it on some rogue engineers here in europe at the beginning of all of that - the EU and german gov didn't let them get away with it.

[@hefywefy5331]

The EU is actually competent in stuff like this unlike the US justice system

[@strike9716]

I guarantee you it's because they weren't one of the big 3 american brands.

[@tgmrsch]

You left out the bit where Mercedes made a deal to avoid any and all prosecution for their emissions cheating. The entire software trick can be traced back to Bosch. Almost everyone that used Bosch DME was able to use the software cheating. Most brands did, but they just didn't get targeted by the US government.

[@sbrader97]

Yeah vw was the 1st to get caught so they took the brunt of it but many brands in europe was found to be doing the same thing

[@DashDriver-z1r]

In uk there is a class action against Mercedes diesels and most manufacturers

[@timelwell7002]

Sure - but *Peugot/Citroen* (one of the largest manufacturers of diesel enginges worldwide) chose *not* to exploit the loophole left in the EU Emmissions Testing regimen, whereas VW decided to 'cheat' in this way, by exploiting this loophole. VW should not have remained undetected for so long. See my comment above.

[@chriskonte1909]

@@timelwell7002 Actually the Volkswagengroup just took the biggest L in America I feel like. Here in Europe FiatChrysler and PeugeotCitroen to this day, still get coverage from the the Italian and or French goverment, heck even Opel (ex. GM brand) and Mercedes as well as BMW cheated just not as much as VW did in the U.S. Other manufacturers are Chevrolet (smaller european models like the Cruze or the Captiva), Suzuki, Land Rover, Jaguar, MINI, Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Alfa Romeo, (Lancia I'm not so sure about since as far as I know they just used Fiats small 1.3 JTDm Diesel which passed the emission testing). I think only Honda and Toyota as well as Daihatsu didn't cheat on the emissions.

[@timelwell7002]

@@chriskonte1909 Could you please provide any evidence that Peugot/Citroen cheated in this way? If they did, my guess is that because they hardly ever export their cars to North America, the Yanks have not teste them.

[@drew8256]

This needs to happen in other industries. Like big Pharma and food processing companies.

[@paxhumana2015]

...and Big Pot, Big Booze, those people that lie about infomercials and pseudo-educational programming not being Satanic indoctrination on Saturday mornings...

[@ocpud2999]

The problem with big pharma and food processing companies is that government officials are in bed with them. To do this, it would basically put half the NIAID FDA, and CDC in prison. Not to mention Elected officials. So a slim chance it will ever happen. Big Pharma and food processing companies are heavily regulated and pay off officials to look the other way. This scandal is way bigger than VW ever was.

[@ggoddkkiller1342]

Im really glad WW got such a severe punishment but i only wish it was same for all companies. WW might have killed people with their scandal but you know which company killed people, hundreds of people with very similar cost saving scandal?? BOEING and they could get away with only 2.5 billion dollars only because they are an American company, if Airbus did exactly same thing that figure was at least 25 billion dollars...

[@boboutelama5748]

It happens in the pharmaceutical industry. You need certification to bring out a medicine. Some systems, in some countries, are corrupted, like in the USA, where the gains justifies the needs. But it was a political choice of those countries to make their top renowned institution, a living joke. Other countries have strict standard and will continue to apply them. Then, in term of punishments. Yes. There are problems with much too long procedures and trials happening decades after the scandals. But lets be honest with each other ? Would the lawsuit and punishments have been this swift with GM or Ford ? We all know what punishment GM received when they killed peoples with their faulty cars.

[@namegoeshere3838]

And politicians

[@Gabriel-vj1cf]

I think volkswagen unfairly took all the spotlight for this. Bmw and MB did the same thing. I also think the emission standards for those kinds of cars is unfair, You can have a giant diesel truck to daily drive to your job at burger king polluting a ton more than those other diesel cars. Nox emissions aside they cause a lot less atmosphere pollution.

[@Macintoshiba]

Right? Having Pickup trucks sold to regular run of the mill families (who don't use them commercially) not be subject to the same emissions regulations is just crazy.

[@Pancho4217]

@@Macintoshiba They are subject to emission regulations.The ones you see rolling coal have been modified to do that.Feds recently cracked down on companies sellings kits parts on amazon .Regs didn't kick in sooner because diesel fuel in US was so dirty low quality .Mercedes stopped selling filter trap equipped cars because they had so many failures ,customers demanding warranty work after buying poor quality fuel from truck stops , or using fuel oil to save a few cents.

[@alexandrufilip2899]

BMW? Then why did the X5 passed the test? MB maybe, but not BMW.

[@2005VolksWagenbeetle]

Am i illegal?

[@go2hell746]

YOU ARE UNDER ARREST HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!!

[@I_am_roblox_meme]

@@go2hell746You mean tiers?

[@I_am_roblox_meme]

WAIT OH NO

[@TaT1CaL]

Don't worry, bud

[@Johnnyynf]

Yes and it's a good thing

[@jimbrown5091]

I was an (off highway) diesel engine engineer when this scandal broke out. My coworkers and I laughed and laughed and this case became our go to engineering ethics case study for a few years until the Boeing 737 Max / MCAS disaster...

[@44_xiie_debrajbordoloi27]

What happened in the Boeing accident?

[@Sukkulents_]

‘373’

[@jimbrown5091]

@@Sukkulents_ sleepy....737...

[@specialopsdave]

​@@44_xiie_debrajbordoloi27 Software bug causing crashes. Airbus suffers from the problem of software-induced crashes too, but Boeings are sold on their ability to still fly when the computers fail, thanks to their physically connected flight controls. If fly-by-wire is used in Boeings, there is no reason to buy them over Airbus, which has better fuel efficiency, and it was revealed that 737MAX used a computer assist to make it fly like normal 737s, and upon failure... Boom.

[@lichswish]

@@44_xiie_debrajbordoloi27 Big bosses at Boeing rushed the plane to compete with new Airbus A320 NEO. So the newly added MCAS system caused fatal crashes due to some sensor malfunctions and shit. Just look it up it's such a clown show.

[@jmccarsnmore1025]

VW has enough money to quickly recover from it. They thought they were sneaky enough, and three college guys outsmarted them. Such is life!!

[@franic_scopes9165]

Sadly is life

[@filthyfrankblack4067]

Yet they still own to this day Pocshe Audi and Lambrogini. VW did loose anything and this was all according to plan.

[@Chris-dy1cb]

Meanwhile other companies stopped their diesels in NA because they didn’t want to get caught for doing the same thing.

[@russellhorsefield9199]

@@filthyfrankblack4067 you can add Bugatti to the list as well.

[@baronvonjo1929]

They do have a ton of debt. Like billions of dollars.

[@chitoon100]

I have a 2014 TDI Beetle Bug convertible 2.0....well I kept the car in 2020 agreed ...VW gave me $8000.00 and Bosch gave me another $880.00 + I received a 100,000 mile warranty on the Motor.....1st car I ever got paid to drive....75,000 still driving

[@300ZCorradoVR6Z]

Back in 2015 some independent engineers performed independents in Europe using a similarly specced Passat and the numbers they got 2.5x above the legal limit, not 40 times like reported in the US, then they performed the same test on an Opel Zafira and the results for that were above the reading range. Strangely, I didn't hear anything about this back home in the US.

[@danielho5635]

Good coverage. Some small and big details you forgot to mention. 1. VW's TDI engines met Euro 4 (2005-2008) specs but failed w/ Euro 5 (2009-2013). 2. Meeting Euro 5 requires DEF (urea) injection into the exhaust -- a total (expensive) rework of the exhaust system. 3. VW CEO Winterkorn had ambitions to beat Toyota to become the world's largest automaker. 4. Top management was pressuring the entire organization to keep up sales/profit margin targets. 5. Mid-level VW engineers came up with the software cheat, but approval had to go up the command chain. 6. It's a subject of debate how far up the VW Management (not Engineering) org the scandal went.

[@leocompany]

You don't need AdBlue injection to get Euro5 certification because it has nothing to do with the Injection system in the first place.

[@palirvin1871]

Those TDI engines are amazing.

[@bravofighter]

The sad part is, they were fantastic cars, got great mileage, and were loved by everyone. Cars already on the road are now selling for ENORMOUS sums.

[@sunbeam8866]

I wonder when the ban on new ICE vehicles goes into effect, will used ones be selling for enormous sums. But eventually, I expect a ban on used ICE vehicles anyway!

[@markg7030]

VW diesel cars are not on the road in the USA.

[@sunbeam8866]

@@markg7030 Really? Says who?

[@markg7030]

@@sunbeam8866 Watch the video again. All diesel cheating cars were bought back from US customers.

[@sunbeam8866]

@@markg7030 I did watch the video again. Your first statement 'VW diesel cars are not on the road in the USA" is incorrect. There are many pre-scandal VW diesels still on the road in the USA. Your second statement "All diesel cheating cars were bought back from US customers" is also incorrect. Volkswagen was required to buy those cars back from willing sellers. Then they offered a nominal amount to compensate US owners that wouldn't sell, for the diminished resale value of their cars. A number of US diesel enthusiasts chose not to sell their cars back to VW, and are still driving them.

[@IronmanLIIII0]

I'm a retired USA expat living in the Philippines now. I get tremendous fuel economy from the used 2001 Ford Ranger diesel I purchased last year. For a 20 something year old pickup truck it passed the mandatory tailpipe emissions test with flying colors it doesn't produce black smoke and has plenty of power for a 4 cyl diesel. I owned 2 US versions of the Ford Rangers prior to this one while still living in the states and only wish the diesel engine option was available then.

[@jjqq9456]

those USDM VW that was not sold in the US was shipped to the Philippines since we don’t really have a good emission standard. but due to our situation now diesels prices is equal with gas now

[@eaglechawks3933]

In 1981, my diesel Rabbit was getting over 40mpg on the highway while my Chevy was lucky to get 20mpg. I'd say burning half as much fuel per trip kind of makes up for the emissions difference.

[@theyjustwantyourmoney4539]

It's rare for corporate fraud to end up with hefty penalties and real jail sentences, this time even their high profile lawyers didn't have a leg to stand on. I really wish to see the same on securities fraud and white collar crime.

[@dfgpl]

Agreed, however I can't help but wonder, if EPA would hit as hard if the culprit was GM or any other American auto maker...

[@philosothink]

it happened because in America, Big Gasoline, outspends Big Diesel. With the exception of NOx and particulates, diesel is lower in all forms of emissions. it burns 25-35% more efficiently, and both are derived from crude oil. If you're consuming a smaller volume of petrol, it stands to reason there is a lower volume of pollution. Diesel engines also last about twice as long as gas engines, so car makers sell fewer cars over the years. That's the REAL reason they went after them. Market protectionism.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@philosothinkexactly

[@paddyodoors2757]

Anyone whos been remapping these for a long time will know VAG has been at this for decades. On the old vp pump engines (1997-) there's a spike in the timing map so extra timing is given at around 55-60mph. Timing increases economy but creates nox emissions. This is easily verifiable and was well discussed on ecu tuning forums back in the day.

[@brandonruhl4525]

the ol VE engines

[@rkan2]

The problem wasn't really this but the fact that VW was trying to cheap out on the emissions system by not adding an AdBlue system. Imo since EURO5 and the equivalent California NOx limits you cannot get to it with a massive passive exhaust filtering or adding AdBlue / urea...

[@Hamisxa]

@@rkan2 Yeah but EGR, DPF and Adblue systems cause damage to the engine, seems like they wanted to build a reliable car, emission limits are bs anyway made by people who get driven around in massive limos and flown around in private jets.

[@digitalparadigms]

Even my 92 cheated to some degree.

[@nightmarerex2035]

same elite scum that claim to want to "save the planet by killing 90% of the 99% that own 1%" are the SAME SCUM ELITE that OCCULTED tech away that would of made gas-o-line obsolite remember next time they say your a "Bad person" becuase dont drive an electric car, remind them how THEY made you too poor to afford one, and even if CAN afford one how the batteries are MORE DESTRUCTIVE on the envirement than a moder gas-o-line car or hell even and older one.

[@GT-Z-]

Now i know why we received in the recent years here in Morocco a huge batch of VW Golfs and Jettas with orange turning indicators. Everyone knew that those cars were from the US and they were well equipped and suspiciously cheap. Also compared to the fuel consumption we used to get from 2.0l tdi's with the same horsepower, those cars were consumming much more fuel. Ironically, morocco hosts annually a climat international event but at the same time diesel cars represents pretty much 90 percent of cars on road.

[@RepyZep]

He has enough money to get away, and outlive the rest of his life in comfort. I don't think he is too bothered.

[@mpiloz8016]

Hopefully he has it in cash then 😂

[@dddon513]

They must have known someone would figure it out eventually

[@FUnzzies1]

Cope

[@warnabrotha95YT]

He probably has enough money to give all the subscribers $1k

[@teeheeuwu2490]

@@warnabrotha95YT i think you mean 100k

[@tabchanzero8229]

A great example of how important it is to have _independent_ regulatory bodies. Imagine how much more of these scandals would emerge if there isn't any lobbying or conflict of interest. That is where the real focus should be.

[@RyanMonoxide]

I live near on of the giant fields of recalled VW’s. They have been sitting there in the field and nothing has been done with them for years. There is one person that sits in a booth at the only entrance to the field of cars and if you drive up and talk to them kindly asking what’s inside they say “I’m not allowed to talk about it and you have to leave or we have to call the police”. I’ve stopped by 3 times over the years and got basically the same quote all 3 times. You look it up on maps and the cars just sit there wasting away. They don’t even crush them or recycle them. They just sit.

[@alieffauzanrizky7202]

Love this kind of stories where a huge company do something bad and they got caught not by some official people, but some random dude. Just like the "spygate" story

[@olegmikhaylov7116]

"Exploited and burned to ash by yet another case of corporate greed" what a punchline!

[@christophermarshall5765]

The Mercedes diesels here in Australia during this time were tested using actual on road tests, & they passed. In fact, their V6 diesels sold here in Australia are very quiet, almost impossible to tell the difference between the diesel & petrol ones, unless you look at the fuel cap.

[@MaticTheProto]

Also Mercedes has diesel hybrids

[@christophermarshall5765]

@@MaticTheProto exactly. I've seen a couple of them.

[@techtips1064]

The American ones would have passed too if Californian wasn't so.... unrealistic.

[@christophermarshall5765]

@@techtips1064 I’m adding a very interesting point here. Not to argue. Mercedes tested hybrid diesel cars in the 1970’s. Not sure what model they used, but I remember them being aimed at the taxi industry in Berlin.

[@craigsheffield6546]

I was using used fry oil thrown away by restaurant's. I would then put it throught a personal filtering system so that it was back to it's original vegetable oil, and used it in modified diesel car engines. Works great.

[@guavaice1]

This is the best explanation of Dieselgate I've ever watched, props to Albon for making it so interesting

[@Rattlerjake1]

The one thing that isn't mentioned is that all of those recalled cars in the US were likely replaced by gasoline engine cars which are less efficient and more "polluting" than the diesels. The problem is that the EPA standards are NOT based on true science but on government mandates that are made to establish controls on car owners who will pay fees annually for emissions inspections.

[@stykytte]

This isn't even half the story. Bosch along with a bunch of other commercial and consumer vehicle manufacturers were the main culprits, VW was a scapegoat, and a bunch of people involved walked away very rich from insider trading on the stock market at the time.

[@UguisuAnko12]

I really do enjoy contents like this, Guff!! I've been watching your vids since "Here's why you can't afford" episodes!!! Anyways, I always looking forward for your future contents like this!!! And also, please do some documentaries of 24 hours of Le Mans endurance race if it's okay with you!! Surely that everybody would love that, and also touge racing. That's all and thanks once again!!! Keep on doing this man!!

[@ricardocuevas7815]

Honestly these episodes SHOULD BE LONGER! Albon is THAT good. Love the channel.

[@FervidWriter]

This is eye opening. I've been shopping around for a new vehicle lately and of course I strongly consider mileage, emissions, and cost. Now knowing that diesel has everything I want yet isn't available due to the fact that I live in the wrong place is heartbreaking. I only wish that the true could be known.

[@raynjpg]

Diesels are fucking awesome. Sadly, because of all these heavy, heavy laws on emissions, we can't use them to their full potential. Look at pickup trucks: the late 90's 12 Valve Cummins is capable of 22 mpg highway, and that's in a big ol' pickup truck. Nowadays, with all this DEF bullshit, you're never going to get nearly the same fuel economy out of a pickup, unless you do deletes and some illegal fuckery.

[@joebloggs9941]

Diesel is absolutely hopeless as a fuel for a passenger car. Diesel for trucks, gasoline for people

[@parg60]

@@joebloggs9941 sadly, many states ruined it for the people

[@raynjpg]

@@joebloggs9941 looking at the other comments you've posted, you sound like a lunatic. have a great rest of your day

[@yuoregen8306]

@@joebloggs9941 what you mean hopeless. I drive my mercedes e220 cdi in silent comfort everyday. I can drive long distances with a fully loaded car and still have less than 0,9 ltr per 10 km

[@donaldboughton8686]

I have driven diesel cars, Peugeot and Ford, for years and have never had a car emitting such a cloud of smoke as the cars in the video.

[@georgebarnes8163]

some clowns turn the diesel injector pump pressure up to try to make their cars quicker, the end result is a lot of smoke and nothing else. My current 5 cylinder diesel engine has nearly 250 k miles on it and produces no smoke at all.

[@lolbenz]

theres gigantic fields of VWs now everywhere. They wont be sold anywhere, there is one in my relatively tiny hometown and they just stand there with the complete vehicle plus wheels attached.

[@moosecat]

If you lived through the 1970s and 1980s here in the States, you'd understand WHY diesel-powered cars have had a bad reputation. Aside from the extra cost of the car and fuel, and the lack of performance, the early GM diesels suffered catastrophic breakdowns. (Engine heads blowing off, crankshafts literally breaking in half, and other fun stuff guaranteed to leave you stranded at the roadside.)

[@PhysicsGamer]

They stay dangerous over time, too - even 40+ years later sometimes they just _go._ It's an impressive sight, especially with how much metal it flings everywhere.

[@christiangonzalezalfonso6823]

i used to be a VW tech here in Spain, even in my time working there (2019-2021), wich was way after the Dieselgate, the effects were clearly visible, tons of ¨software updates¨ on any TDI model from 2009 to 2015 and thats here in Europe, were they really didn't give the people that came up with this more than a slap on the wrist and telling to think what they did in the corner, the overall quality of the cars has gone down significantly too, the interior for example in the new MK8 Golfs feel and look like shit compared to the previous gens, which can only mean cost-cutting to manage the massive efects of the scandal. It is sad though, VW used to be a ver cool car company, that made interesting, funky, good quality cars at a decent price, but they have become a ghost of the former shelves. And to think they should've just taken what Mercedes had, I mean, is not like they have been doing diesel for like 80 years at that point and have demostrated the had it mastered or anything, you know

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

The 'upgrades' made those cars even worse. When my mom starts her car now, a thick plume of smoke escapes every time. VW is 💩.

[@petrlaskevic1948]

And those TDI cars drove best with the original software (personal experience)

[@stefanl5183]

@@andredeketeleastutecomplex The upgrades made the cars worse because politicians don't know anything about building good cars. The "upgrades" were to conform to standards written by politicians and they were stupid and unrealistic. The only thing politicians are experts at is lying to the public and creating crisis where it doesn't exist. That's why most of the laws they come up with are stupid and meaningless.

[@SamanthaGuttesen]

While we're talking about mpg, my previous Dacia Sandero 1.5 dci, was extremely efficient. Upto 800 miles on a 9 gallon tank. Happy days of motoring

[@jorgeu111]

a follow up on the cars VW had to buy back. They were allowed to sell them back to the public around 2018-2020 after a software update. I got a 2013 Beetle TDI and I am holding to it like its gold LOL

[@blaster-zy7xx]

I’m a Car guy and My friends and I knew about this from the testing results of the college investigation. We all wondered why it wasn’t a bigger story at the time. Well that eventually changed.

[@blaster-zy7xx]

@Hans-v6l As I understand it, VW programmed the cars to "know" when it was being tested for emissions. It did this by monitoring the wheel rotation using the traction control sensors. When only the driving wheels were turning, but the non-driving wheels were stationary (as done during EPA emission testing), the car would switch into a TEST mode where it would produce passing emissions numbers, but the power output of the engine was significantly reduced. The level of power reduction would be completely unacceptable to consumers. After the VW automobile passed the emission test, the car would roll off the test platform, the sensors would detect that the car is back on the road as normal, and the software would return the car to high power/high pollution mode. It as discovered by the University that ran pollution testing during actual driving conditions on the road. The results were so far off the published data that the university thought they were doing something wrong. But after much double checking their own measurement methodology and repeated testing, the University discovered the scam that VW had perpetrated.

[@Werewolfmage]

the tdi is still highly wanted in the Vw community. The mileage is insanely good and very tuneable. EPA is just Butthurt

[@LonLofgren]

The perfect example of a bad CEO nearly ruining a company. You know there had to be clear thinking voices saying, "Don't do this! It will end badly!" They probably got fired!

[@davidr1050]

My biggest question is HOW does the car know the difference between being on a dyno and being on the road? I can understand the computer "flipping" between tunes when the computer is plugged in, but is that how it was doing it or was there something else? IE: front wheels turning, rear wheels not? And where did all these cars go once they were taken off the road?

[@jamesg9932]

You nailed it, if I remember right they knew the car was on a Dyno because there was no signal from the rear anti-brake lock system. From the other comments, it appears VW sold some of the recalled cars to other parts of the world not having the same regulations.

[@flipflopthong2]

Around 20 years ago, Peugeot offered the best diesel engines for passenger cars in Australia. These days, a few Japanese and European cars offer a diesel option. Most diesels are now utes and commercial vehicles due to the extra torque afforded by diesel. I recently had a rental car - Ford Everest D with 2L bi-turbo engine - it performed like a V6 petrol engine.

[@BOOSTEDLCS1327]

My friend still owns one of the recall TDI and he just installed a bigger turbo and an AWD system still runs and drives reliable

[@thepostalteenager2206]

Bruh the TDI isnt the only problem here

[@KevinLau94]

As scooby doo enemies always say, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

[@neverseenbefore_5638]

The fact that they had the audacity to keep going after the initial discovery by the college students blows my mind.

[@divinehatred6021]

why wouldnt they? there was no actual harm from that, you brainwashed freak.

[@YardDart63]

It happens more than most people realize, in more industries than just automotive. In law enforcement, groups of officers (or entire agencies, as is the case here in Louisiana) get caught doing something wrong but instead of cleaning up their act, they just take measures (like using radio encryption, lying on the radio if encryption isn't an option, using encrypted smartphone apps, deleting dashcam and bodycam footage, uninstalling the dashcams and GPS trackers from their police cars, pushing legislators to enact "safe zone" and anti-recording laws, etc.) to keep future misconduct under wraps.

[@paulstewart6293]

During the scandal, I was amused to hear that the upper management didn't know what had been going on. It was all because of some renegade engineers. Yeah.

[@honza3186]

These dieselgate cars are still on the road here in Czechia and I think most americans would be surprised just HOW MANY of them there are. And I understand why, they are reliable, fuel efficent and not so expensive to buy.

[@eduardoquirino8131]

When I was in my teens in the '60s here in the Philippines, most of the private cars were US V8 gas guzzlers. It was the age of Thunderbirds, Mustangs, Rivieras, Cadillacs and Imperials etc. But high octane gasoline only cost 28 Philippine cents per liter (about US 9 cents per liter). Only heavy trucks, buses, bulldozers and yachts used diesel powered engines. But diesel was about half the cost of gasoline. Why is it that today, the price of one liter of diesel is almost the same as gasoline? It costs much less to refine diesel, so the big refineries are making a huge killing.

[@LambdaZetaTeke]

Except it WASN'T a secret... I had a Volkswagon salesman in Huntsville, AL explain the software to defeat the test as a feature and a reason to buy the car years before the whole "scandal" broke. I called him crazy and told him if what he was telling me were true it would be illegal. So, imagine my shock when his sales pitch turned out to be true.

[@nolesy34]

How can people deliberately sell lies lucky our politicians are still hon- Oh wait

[@RexyRonin]

My dad really loves VWs. He still does. It's a shame that its modern legacy is being tarnished 😿

[@Unknown_Ooh]

Its historical legacy isnt that great either. Bias doesn't make a car good. I guarantee you know nothing about cars outside of what your parents own 😂.

[@derdoctor1895]

@@Unknown_Ooh VW is a great company with great cars

[@portman8909]

Just stick with petrol

[@bloxxed1]

You guys should do some Porsche based content, and how they became how they are today. Love the videos

[@independenttakpojez]

Easy, build cars, steal from tatra, make car for nazis, make cars, bancrupt, vw will save you with audi with porsche badges and you screwup option for yours engine, than make vw cars with your badges and some your cars.

[@ruediix]

It's worth noting that if they properly used these emission control override systems to only engage to boost scalability of the engine beyond what could be done with emission controls engaged, and properly disclosed their existence to regulators as a way to further boost efficiency while still reducing emissions during standard driving, it wouldn't have been an issue. However, they simply hid it, lied about it and tuned it for maximizing performance without care for emissions. Basically if they would sell it to regulators as a way to make the car dynamically self-balance the emission/scalability problem it would have sold to regulators as a plus, not as a cheat or a scandle. They certainly would have had to make the system be less aggressive in scaling back emission control systems, but it would likely still prove an effective way to squeeze more power out of a smaller engine. The biggest problem seemed to be how aggressive the system was engaging. It was disengaging many of the emission control functions in nearly every turn and quite a few other driving behaviors.

[@oskarzemcik1548]

It should be noted that the problem was not in the harmfulness of the new engines, because they were not worse than the older versions, which have worse emissions and can be operated without problems (which is quite funny). But in that they did not meet the new standards for new cars. From the point of view of producers, the new restrictions often seem unnecessarily strict and often practically unattainable....

[@yvindramberg9268]

Since I have worked in many industries in my engineering career spanning three decades, I can absolutely verify that the car industry is the branch that lies and cheat the most! And if you are trying to hold them sustanable, you get fired, thats why I always keep backup of all my proffesional work, I only thrust myself, easy as that!

[@DavidCastro-yo8rm]

To be honest - I had a 2012 Passat TDI and loved it! I loved it so much I kept it until VW would give me a 2015 TDI. Which I still have! I love the mileage and the range. No electric pos can beat it!!

[@tryhardgames1907]

I have 4 cars (together with my gf) 2 Diesels 2 petrols. My gf has a golf 5 1.9tdi and i still own my V10tdi phaeton i love it and i always will

[@jdogwin]

@@tryhardgames1907 yo you have a v10 Phaeton? respect.... I've been trying to snag a v10 Touareg for a fat minute but those Phaetons are something else.

[@tryhardgames1907]

@@jdogwin ye even here in germany they are rare af. And seeing one being tuned like mine is very rare. But the feeling is something different hope you find a v10tdi sooner or later it's a joy to drive

[@jdogwin]

@tryhardgames1907 oh man you are in Germany? So you guys have the sick q7 v12 tdi and the ultra fuel efficient a2 tdi

[@tryhardgames1907]

@@jdogwin yeah I am planning to buy one but I couldn't find any good v12 tdis but it's on the list of my need to have cars. I did drive one once when it came into the shop (I'm a car mechanic) the power of that beast is out of this world

[@johndo3930]

After 45 years of driving petrol cars . I Bought my first diesel pick up and I'm an convert. I love the power of that diesel engine whether its pulling a load or up a mountain it keeps on going smooth.

[@kayze009]

I own two Deisel vehicles and I love them both. I have 22 GMC Sierra 1500 with the 3.0l Duramax and I get around 31 MPG highway! I have an 08 Hummer that I had retrofitted with a 6.6l diesel and it went from 10.5 MPG with the 6.2l gas to 23 MPG, more than doubling its fuel capacity, plus it almost tripled the engine performance. Overall I'll never buy another gas engine again in my life.

[@Demun1649]

No mention of the amount of pollution pumped out by the American manufacturers. They were all underreporting their levels as well. The prosecution was an action taken at the orders of the big American manufacturers, who were worried at the inroads Volkswagen were making into the market in the USAsylum. The action was taken, not to stop pollution, but to interfere with sales.

[@brianlove6506]

Will you do a follow-up story on the other German diesel manufactures that were caught in the same scam?

[@SuperSaqer]

Like who?

[@Dexter037S4]

@@SuperSaqer It wasn't the Germans, but the Americans who cheated, with the diesel pickups

[@Jeff-cn9up]

Who would have thought a car company that started off so ethical and well (wink, wink) would have turned out to be the baddies, Hans!

[@MaticTheProto]

Unlike the American companies right? RIGHT?

[@resistanceisfutile]

@@MaticTheProto You may want to read a bit more history. @Jeff-cn9up is referring to Hitler, which is where VW got it's start.

[@idokwatcher2062]

@@resistanceisfutile Ford was hitler's biggest fan.

[@MaticTheProto]

@@resistanceisfutile no shit sherlock, I am German. And ford got a medal from Hitler

[@dild0sled]

​@@resistanceisfutile Germany at least took care of the Germans, contrast that with Dodge VS Ford, a law suit against Ford Motor Co. for raising wages. I'm pretty sure the USA and the USSR were the bad guys now that the dust has been settled for almost a century.

[@ToastedTater420]

Third edit: love the videos as a new car guy I love the educational aspect of your videos while still being entertaining and fun to watch. Keep up the good work!

[@albonfilms]

Thanks for watching!

[@ToastedTater420]

@@albonfilms Your reply made my day thank you 😊

[@JanusMikaelos]

The interesting thing is how deathly silent VWs competitors were during this scandal. Nobody tried to capitalize on this. My suspicion is others are doing similar crap, VW just was the one that got caught.

[@davidshettlesworth1442]

WOW! I had forgotten about this Diesel-Gate event. Thanks for a great video!

[@JMNTN]

I believe that vw got what they deserve but i can bet that if this was an American based car company that got caught doing this it wouldn't have come nearly this far.

[@jansabarth9466]

Americans can't build (real) cars.. 🤣

[@RZRBLAZ]

Albon awesome video representing exactly what happened in this fiasco. I have never truly heard it all put together so coherently, and was always puzzled as to exactly what happened step by step and how they got away with it for so long! Keep them coming, because no one covers the topics you present to KZbin’s audience!😊

[@PhatH74]

Great content, thank you. It’s sad that VW can get away with acts like this here in my home country South Africa. We have a massive VW on the east coast of our country, but I’m not aware of one TDi being recalled in South Africa. Please can you confirm this?

[@MrBlazednation]

As an MOT tester in the UK this has got me wondering how many more vehicle manufacturers are doing this, I remember after three years and these cars were due there MOT, every time I plugged in the OBD emissions plug, other warning lights would come on and then once unplugged and driven out of the garage they would disappear 🤔 but I have seen this happen on many others since, Renault, Citroen, Peugeot, Dacia, wondering if some time in the future we will see these also being found guilty of the emissions cheat.

[@clauskohler7560]

GM also had to recall it's Chevy Cruise, But the biggest hypocrisy is that the average American commuted to work around 1.5 hrs./day, while the US trucking industry that moves 80% of the goods around the country, is a non stop industry, poluting the environment far more than VW cars. The US auto industry (car mfg.) has been tanking for the last 3 decades against the Imports due to it's lack on efficiency and the VW group was leading the industry on this matter.

[@boahneelassmal]

While I disagree with VW tactics at all there's a few things that are insanely funny to me. The biggest of them being the US being so tough on VW. Now I'm not saying that's a bad thing, not at all. Despite rolling coal being illegal, it doesn't seem to be enforced with the same motivation. Light trucks are being subsidized which have a much higher consumption and much higher emissions than smaller cars that offer the same or more usable space than those tanks. The Chicken Tax from 1963 (!) remains in place only adding to the fact more space efficient delivery vans are extremely expensive to import thus fuelling US manufacturer's light truck sales further Anything built in North America is car centric causing even more emissions. Unfortunately, looking at the big picture this feels very bitter of hypocrisy.

[@stefanl5183]

Remember most of these government agencies are staffed by lobbyist. I'm guessing it's no accident that these EPA regulations were tougher for diesel cars, since the big car companies in the US weren't making diesels. I'd be willing bet this was all rooted in that. Big government is inherently corrupt, and the rules are often written to pick winners and losers by people who have conflicting interest, and at the end of the day, it's passed off to the naive masses as "government protecting you."

[@danakr7p907]

Other companies have done the same. I was once told "You did not see that" when a manager ripped up a printout showing a failed test result. He then typed something into the test terminal and the unit under test passed. The Bottom line should not always be the driving force.

[@buffcode]

When I was in sanitation I had my job threatened at least twice by reporting companies for out of temp floor coolers, backroom coolers, etc. Funny thing is, they didn't control my job, contractors baby!

[@hunterdombrowski4393]

I love this channel, I've learned more about cars/car culture here than anywhere else. Keep if up Guf!

[@beavejolly2348]

I have zero sympathy for Volkswagen. in 2017 I got a 2008 Touareg from an auction missing only the key FOB. the dealership refused to do anything besides sell me a $300 dollar laser cut key/FOB after proof of ownership and would not program the key to the car at any cost. After being unable to do a thing with this car I sold it to a junk yard for 500 dollars because I did not have thousands of dollars to purchase diagnostic and key programming computers/equipment nor any straight forward information on how to do it myself... Good riddance VW and your terrible customer service (Manhattan Beach VW) LOVED THIS VIDEO!!!

[@thepostalteenager2206]

That was an official vw dealership?

[@2mgxx]

VCDS is a VAG OBD2 diagnostic and programming software. it is 200 dollars usd for the registration cable, the software is free, and you can program a key FOB and diagnose engine problems with it.

[@superromangaming]

The 2009 or 2008 Mercedes-Benz GL that I grew up with was a diesel. I loved that car, it lasted 13 years and now is in the hands of someone else. I have so many good memories in that car and one thing that stood out was definitely the tvs in the middle row of the car with the dvd player in the middle. I also remember helping my dad do maintenance on it in our garage back in the day. It was an amazing car and it’s a shame diesel got ruined by VW.

[@oneobjective5448]

It's insane that they thought they could get away with this. So short sighted

[@Comakino]

Not hard to understand when you know that the industry literally murdered the inventor of the Diesel engine 100 years earlier and got away with it. He wanted to run diesel engines on vegetable oil.

[@honza3186]

So short sighted yet it took 7 long years to anyone notice it lol.

[@mattheweburns]

Growing up in 1995, my best friends, mom had a diesel Passat with a manual transmission. It changed everything I thought about diesels, it revved higher than I thought, and had lots of power seemed very reliable, and the smell… Something about the smell of that German leather interior mixed with diesel fumes was intoxicating in a good way. I thought this was the antithesis of what it meant to be European, which was of course, much better as the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, we hills European standards on a pedestal

[@tednicholl7025]

That's nuts! The greed and almighty dollar over human life is just sickening. Another very informative watch, well done!

[@YTRulesFromNM]

Yeah, and I don't like what VW did either.

[@karryhane]

Who cares. Fuk the environment

[@stefanl5183]

Every time there's a lightning bolt, oxides of nitrogen are generated. There's no evidence that nitrogen oxides ever killed anyone. In fact, it's accepted as scientific fact that the creation of nitrogen oxides is what originally made life begin. Oxides of nitrogen eventually make amino acids and amino acids make proteins, and proteins are the building blocks of life.

[@tahaak]

Every auto manufacturer did a similar thing but VW got busted and got all that media coverage. I think it‘s unfair to blame VW only.

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

As a Dane I have driven Diesel cars since 1978 and my now, most likely last diesel (as 75) is a Peugeot 208HDI. In the seventies I had several BMWs, 2002 and 320 and this last is faster and about as powerful from from its small 1500 cc engine, and definitely much more economical!! It is cleaned as a similar truck with AdBlue and may drive anywhere. I'm past 25 km a liter/diesel from most full tanks.

[@dubkidzz]

whatever.. i will take tdi anyway

[@AlDim000]

Great video, but you missed the part where other European manufacturers were found to use similar defeat devices, but got away with it after VW took the hit. Meanwhile I remember how Mazda kept going on about bringing some diesel cars to North America a decade ago, but kept delaying them as they seemed to have issues meeting regulatory requirements alongside their performance targets. At least they were honest in facing the inherent problem of these cars. It is also worth mentioning that even diesels which meet emissions requirements and have all the necessary equipment periodically purge all the accumulated garbage out of their DPFs, etc by running at massively lower efficiency and heating up the exhaust tystem to basically burn it all off. This also means they have massive spikes in harmful emissions at the time (usually happens during highway trips with exhaust temps already high, but if you don't go on the highway much and mostly do short distance city driving, it'll happen regardless while making the car way less efficient for a period of time). Otherwise the service life of the average DPF would be unacceptably low. In the end diesel tech is just bad and needs to go. It is slightly more efficient than burning gasoline, about even for greenhouse gas emissions, but also massively more harmful in terms of environmental pollution and health impacts.

[@MiguelGarcia-vj7oo]

It's all bad for the environment..... Going electric is no better..... Mining releases heavy metals and will increase child labor in Africa.......

[@mjouwbuis]

Yeah, he shoud have at least mentioned Bosch, who are a major supplier for VW and others. Mazda went a very interesting way with their Diesel technology, with some of their gasoline engines even having higher compression than their Diesel engines. Apparently they got the NOx problems that could result from that, under control in their gasoline engines. Also, while I don't know of any manufcacturer who currently does, particulates can be dealth with much more efficiently. So I would not say the technology is inherently dead. Though it's possible that development will slowly come to a halt when overtaken by other, possibly better, technologies of which we don't know all of the problems yet. Never bet on one horse when it comes to environment.

[@lcofficial3084]

Great video as always, keep up the great work

[@alext8828]

Great video. Additional fact about diesels that viewers might not know. They're used underground in coal mining operations and their exhaust is made perfectly clean by certain technology.

[@budthecyborg4575]

Volkswagon is the hero of this story. They produced the most efficient cars ever made, un-modified 2010 era Volkswagons are the best car you can own.

[@SeattleMK2GLI]

Very good story telling as usual. I'm curious why you didn't touch on how this resulted in the discovery of other manufacturers doing the same thing?

[@jean-philippethomas1607]

Only VW/Audi cheated that way. (by disabling the NOx filtering system in real world conditions) As said in the video, the BMW X5 passed the emissions test. One can argue that all manufacturers try to make their results look better, but it's not comparable to what VW did.

[@Dexter037S4]

@@jean-philippethomas1607 Uhh, no. GM Cheated in the same way, Ford Cheated in the same way and Stellantis cheated in the same way (at least with the Trucks), that's just scratching the surface.

[@jean-philippethomas1607]

@@Dexter037S4 Can you provide me a link that explains the cheating method they used ? I'm from France and I'm not familiar with the tricks they used on the US market. In Europe, only VW/Audi went as far a disabling the filtering system. Other brands played with the operating temps of the NOx filter. It's not comparable.

[@TheLastCrankers]

@@Dexter037S4 yeah, but they're american cars on american market, they cannot possibly do that to your own people, can you? ;)

[@kcgunesq]

I'm old enough to remember when car makers could make cars that consumers wanted. That's all VW did here.

[@JSMCPN]

Truth. It's not really "cheating" when the govt emissions regulations are impossible to reconcile with the real-world. If the only choices are to cheat or go out of business, most any company will cheat.

[@imaluigi9708]

I remember buying into all the positive claims and thinking my next car would be a Volkswagen diesel when I found out they were lying to us. So scandalous and sad.

[@divinehatred6021]

its okay that they were lying, at least their cars were good. However, the eco-activists bring nothing but chaos and destruction into societies.

[@grizzlygrizzle]

Postmodernism and deconstructionism have led to a severe erosion of reverence for truth across Western culture. This scandal is a relatively minor example. The censored and flawed science centered on a certain disease and its "cures" is a recent example. The censored and flawed science about the "weather" goes back for decades. These cases have led to serious infringements on people's quality of life and perhaps millions of unnecessary deaths. And the net of lies broadens when one considers the performance of the mainstream media, social media moderators, and politicians whose policies of censorship, propaganda, restrictions on movement, corruption, and show trials. And then there are NGOs and universities spewing so-called "critical" theory. There's a lot of politics involved in the current establishment culture of untruth. The sad part is that many educated people are onboard with the culture of lies. Lots of intellectual over-confidence out there.

[@sonnylatchstring]

After hearing all this I ask myself, what was the problem? Does anyone here in the US driving a RAM or other giant pickup diesel worry about the environment?

[@brianthibaudeau8081]

Funny enough the shop I used to go to found the differing conditions when they tried tuning some diesels, as they couldn't get dyno tuning to work, since the car behaved entirely differently. After a bunch of frustration, they ended up just street tuning them.

[@sully7898]

I wouldn’t be surprised if other automakers got away with even bigger crimes 😪

[@michaelbenardo5695]

I remember in 73 or 74, Chrysler-built cars were found to be out of compliance. It was discovered because somebody felt that emissions-controlled engine couldn't perform as good as these did, and when tested, their hunch was right. I don't remember if Chrysler did something on purpose or not. There was no catalytic converter yet, but there was EGR, lean jetting, and retarded ignition timing.

[@brandonruhl4525]

they did.

[@nathanscharf5116]

I knew it had something to do with the ECU tuning like 7 minutes in. This is the first time I’ve heard the whole story

[@davidbrookman96]

It's much more complicated than that. Yes, the ECU tuning changed after the emission trials. But - the main issue for VW's that had DEF units was that the DEF would be exhausted between oil changes. So VW shut off the introduction of DEF asap. We got DEF that lasted until the next oil change, in exchange for much higher and illegal NOx emissions.

[@nathanscharf5116]

@@davidbrookman96 wow I did not know that either. I don’t drive a diesel car but I’m not against them of course. How long should the DEF fluid last on average if the car was normal??

[@wtl2247]

There was no noticeable change in atmospheric NO2 ppm after the recall was enacted. That means the VW NO2 levels were not contributing in a measurable way to atmospheric levels. The EPA decided to arbitrarily tighten NO2 levels before this all happened to criminalize certain company products. They specified the required tests for certification and not other speed or circuit tests ( eg the mpg test). The company complied with the stated test conditions and passed. Every vehicle will have different mpg, CO2, NO2, etc, etc at different loads and fuel ratios. The emissions when a gasoline car is under max acceleration from a stop are off the charts. If you use 'jack rabbit' starts you won't get the sticker mpg estimate either. The additional mgp's achieved with their software design worked out to lower the NO2 per mile because less fuel is burned per mile. The EPA flew into a blind rage that their new arbitrary rules were worked around. Not one person can be found that was harmed by the diesel NO2 performance dodge, only the EPA sanctimonious egos.

[@lordjohnwharfin5397]

The main reason Americans don't buy diesels goes back to GM in the '70s and '80s. They made a couple of models with diesel engines, but rather than downscale one of their truck engines they adapted them from gasoline engines. The problem was they didn't fully account for the much higher compression of a diesel engine, and they didn't include a water separator, so the engines had a tendency to blow up. Add to that they were smoky and you needed a calendar to measure their 0-60 time, which was downright dangerous when merging onto a highway, and they didn't last long.

[@bradmclaughlin9023]

One question that is always overlooked is why aren't the diesels in Europe and the UK allowed in the US?

[@EPC]

"We are sorry... we got caught" - Volkswagen.

[@NenadTrajkovic]

VW,Mercedes Benz,BMW,Fiat and PSA (Peugeot/Citroën) still have the best diesel engines that can be installed in a passenger car regardless of the affairs. The exhaust gas emissions required by the states are insanely low with the sole aim of destroying internal combustion engines.

[@arrjay2410]

I had a 99 Diesel Bug I bought used in the early 2000s. The previous owner had not maintained it well (... and honestly I didn't know how to either) and I inherited a number of problems including a tendency for the battery to die if it wasn't started at least once a week (I went on a trip without my car and came back to a dead battery). Eventually the cooling system failed and the engine ceased up. All this happened well before the emissions scandal hit.

[@goclunker]

That’s user error. You blew the cooling system and continued to drive. Funny, i’ve blown cooling systems and all those cars are still running fine. I didn’t drive with no coolant…

[@ikeplosngmyutubeacnt]

This is a great example of why we can't have nice things. The EPA is just the worst. Imagine how much more efficient cars could be

[@chrissmith2114]

The Japanese fell out with European car makers when Japanese warned them that 'as far as emissions are concerned, diesel is a dead end technology'... The problem was there was too much concern about pretty harmless CO2 and not enough concern about horrible nitrous oxides and cancer causing particulates.. Diesel fuel is actually 15% denser than gasoline' which goes some way to explaining the extra mileage.

[@ryelor123]

"when the world fround out...", no, wasn't it a community college that found out when they tried to do an emissions test but the kids didn't do everything in the right order or something?

[@neptun2810]

I'm still surprised that they got away with it for so long. We had a Diesel Car and changed it for a petrol car years before the scandal started, because it was pretty obvious to us that something was wrong and would become publicly known in a few years. If you have even the slightest knowledge of car technology, you know that a Diesel Car just can't be cleaner than a petrol car, because it is using a heavier type of oil. It’s basically like using heavy oil, the stuff that ships use and can’t use in the harbour because they’d poison everyone near them, and then tell people that it’s super clean.

[@justso1823]

I remember everyone hyped up diesel's at my work saying soon all petrol cars were getting banned because of emissions.

[@FWBeck]

My VW Sharan was part of the recall, but it included only a software update which erased the scandalous cheat mode and made the vehicle compliant both on the stand and on the road. The only observed impact was a significant increase in the AdBlue DEF consumption, which was offset by VW covering AdBlue fill-ups for free for all recalled cars. This report makes it sound like customers turned in all their TDI cars while the recall was really just a 15-minute garage visit. I agree that heads had to roll for this fraud, but there's no reason VW would need to buy back the affected cars, other than to offset the consumer's loss from depreciation due to a sharp drop in demand for used TDI cars.