Breaking Down the Ongoing VW Dieselgate Scandal - Past Gas #20

In this one-parter, Nolan, Joe, and James lay out the story of the Volkswagen emissions scandal so far. There were billions of dollars in fines and hundreds of thousands of cars were bought back from customers. From VW’s realization that their cars couldn’t pass US emissions standards and their decision to cheat, to the downfall of the whole charade and the legal consequences, the story is absolutely crazy. Since this is still an ongoing story, we might revisit it in the future as developments continue to unfold.
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Donut Media brings you some of the craziest stories from all of automotive history in their new podcast "Past Gas!". Hosts James Pumphrey and Nolan Sykes walk you through incredible stories behind your favorite cars and manufacturers, like underground Japanese racing clubs, bitter racing rivalries and how some of your favorite classic cars came to be. Remember, it's about cars, not about farts.
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Donut Media is at the center of digital media for the next generation of automotive and motorsports enthusiasts. We are drivers, drifters, and car enthusiasts who love to tell stories.

[@aydanangus]

My dads friend had one of the recall cars. A few months after taking a trip from Michigan to west Virginia and back he sold it back to Vw and made about 3 or 4 grand.

[@tctruesdell6859]

Nice 👍

[@nathanseward8274]

"If you were a human you wouldn't be a billionaire" KZbin: yeah this is a good time to have an Amazon ad break

[@darrenswails]

What I sad way to think, I don't believe that all billionaires are bad, in fact there was a study that showed most billionaires have extreme amounts of integrity...

[@brentjones886]

@@darrenswails Wow. Just wow. How does that boot taste?

[@derekderekison3241]

@@brentjones886 how does Bernie Sanders back side taste?

[@kolinmartz]

@@darrenswails cute your sources. Also I wouldn’t say most billionaires have high integrity. I’d say it’s relatively the same spread as everyone else in the general population….. and a good bit of people in general just lack integrity.

[@jslack6483]

The opportunity cost is what gets me. With all the money tied up in r&d for the cheat code plus all the legal costs and restitution, they probably could have developed an engine that did exactly what it should have 10xs over.

[@12ARedSon]

James droppin' the truth about billionaires at the end of the podcast. Love it, as always!

[@manz7860]

Hes a bit cringey with his political views, but he was spot on that last bit and with the ford family

[@lukenobrains]

What about bill gates

[@LavendrHoney]

What happened to miracle whips and James on bumper to bumper and garage science

[@cancer_dancer]

James's heart attack i think it was,caused him to go off bumper to bumper for a little bit, i dont know about miracle whips

[@MachtPlays]

I know what happened to all, and you didn't even name the realest one, the highest power level rating in the Boost Creeps.. Bart.

[@HLPC_2]

Life happened. Not what you would know.

[@LavendrHoney]

Bart had a child, James needs rest on his heart that’s why if you watch his new videos his energy is way low. Idk if you came off as a douche bag on purpose or it came off like that. Either or idc donut gives off a lot of good content and would love to see some more of what they produce.

[@jamesstemmler7620]

Aaah nothing like good ol' Valvoline, the original "mortor" oil xD

[@nitroustommy]

Schaeffer's Since 1839

[@SuitedxACES]

Was that the original tag line?

[@jamesstemmler7620]

@@SuitedxACES they misspelled *motor* as *mortor* that was the joke lol

[@michaeljohnston6856]

That old couple in the fastball song ended their journey really close to me in hot springs ark

[@joshburke7176]

"ohhh stonks"

[@upsidedown4155]

Yes VAG messed up, no doubt just remember other non VAG manufacturers were doing the same "mod" aswell but as they didnt sell in the US they managed to skip under the radar, some vauxhall's were tested and found to do simular, and Vauxhall is (rather was) GM

[@alexvaquero6884]

Upside down also known as Opel :). Funny think about Opels here in Spain, we say the don’t steer ‘cause, surprise! They handle like shit generally

[@upsidedown4155]

@@alexvaquero6884 yeah never understood why they did that opel in europe and Ireland but vauxhall in the uk, always prefered the opel lightning emblem compaired to Vauxhalls griffin emblem lol

[@donschiffer7400]

Did Chevy ever do the diesel Cobalt? They talked about it and that was basically the Vauxhall...

[@Goose21995]

I bet if the company that decided to test vw tested ANY other manufacturers, they would find nearly the same results or other issues. There are unwritten rules and practices that most top chain companies all run by or else they would be left in the dust.

[@Vloog1006]

Also Harley Davidson was caught doing the same thing

[@_generation_youth_x28]

Love your podcasts, subscribed straight away and FULL notifications on, can’t wait to hear the next one

[@59missedcalls]

Love these podcasts, thank you guy very much!

[@SDZKProductions]

I own a BMW e39 525 diesel and its very reliable, and smooth, not all diesels are bad

[@fyrebat404]

#notalldiesels

[@wolfman1009]

Nobody said all diesels were bad ... literally nobody's

[@TheyCallMeMrMaybe]

Of course it wouldn't be expected to me. GM launched diesel variants of the Equinox and Terrain but they couldn't sell them thanks to Volkswagen's scandal. Fuel-efficient diesels lost almost all credibility in the market thanks to Volkswagen. The saving grace so far is the 1500 truck market in the U.S. releasing a bunch of eco-diesel engines.

[@fairlylocal7961]

Ur wrong, all diesels are bad

[@SDZKProductions]

@@fairlylocal7961 i don't think so, it is cheaper here in Europe, and its more economical, so why is it bad?

[@J.R.in_WV]

This was a cool episode. As a side note it has been contended that due to the extremely dirty process of mining lithium then making, using and disposing of the batteries in a Prius the Jetta tdi was still cleaner than the Prius. The truth is those tdi engines even without all the emissions devices working run extremely cleanly, producing almost no visible soot.

[@Dannydawson537]

Just came across you guys and I’ve gotta say really enjoyed your podcast great vibe great banter and humour much respect from the 🇬🇧 uk

[@joshburke7176]

When your really the only one who cares a lot about this podcast so ur always the first one here...

[@johnsheehy]

Heheh do you mean second

[@joshburke7176]

@@johnsheehy hehe

[@HazeGreyAndUnderway]

It's called stitcher radio, itunes, etc. A lot of people listen to the pod without the video...

[@flamcheeseful]

New vendetta to make this man not first because there is lots of support.

[@joshburke7176]

@@HazeGreyAndUnderway true, but i dont lol

[@Maintenancebay]

3:24 dude that was a perfect ringo impression 😂

[@Massproshops]

Great podcast you guys should“talk about the advantages of deleting efficiency items on vehicles”

[@zachh4256]

Do an episode on the Takata scandal! I have been withing since January 1st to hear NHTSA's decision on GM's FOURTH petition!!!

[@mr.bubles292]

Some sweet truth talking from papa James.

[@prod.mxmo_mk9]

As a Beatle fan and a Volkswagen fan I wanted to find a picture of the Beatles in Beetles instead I found a video and picture of John getting into a Mini Cooper Close Enough

[@Derm69]

Bought a 2013 Passat TDI SE May of 2020, love the car so much. Got 43 MPG on a road trip from STL to North Carolina. Got the car for around 10K, with around 30K miles on it. Thank you Dieselgate! 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@ryurc3033]

Tell ya what, I wish I could hang out with James, Nolan, and Doug .....just real ppl. Anyone who is a billionare is a piece of crap, or an emotionless robot. This spoke to me soooo much. Thank you for helping me keep my faith in humanity by being real.

[@chris-andrebrissett5208]

WTF WAS THAT OPENING. THIS IS WHY I LOVE YA'LL

[@MagicMoon2]

My sister had a VW Golf TDI and when this scandal was surfaced she was pissed.

[@CSBastianyGaumnitz]

Nolan completely implicated himself for knowing corrupt officials that he himself absolutely takes advantage of. Nolan hangs out with criminals.

[@TheBrianFlanagan]

Nolan drives a Mustang, he’s obviously ran people over before.

[@GARBO96]

You guys also forgot that they did a calculation to estimate how much money they would lose in fines compared to how much money they would gain in revenue and that was the deciding factor to push them to actually do this

[@GARBO96]

I hate advertisements that bank on the fact that they're the first to do something. I don't care that Valvoline was the first to invent motor oil Tell me if they're the best right now

[@craigdixon4625]

I'm a mechanic in the UK and every car over 3 years old needs 12 month roadworthy check called an M.O.T I spend most of my days doing these, any 2008 onwards Diesel VAG product doesn't register on the emissions part of the test even the car's that have been supposedly modified post Dieselgate. Allot of modern Diesels don't but some will, they're all up to it but VW really took the piss

[@gummostump4217]

Yeah, hasn't FCA been under investigation for some time now for their own emissions? Maybe mazda, too?

[@porch2942]

i got one of the recalled cars at 1/3 of the original msrp, great car, already had 3k of warranty work done at this point, no questions asked. it's a 6-speed jetta sportwagen.

[@cyrilmatthew2995]

diesel?

[@billylongdick3192]

Diesel ?

[@cosmicjohn174]

I've always thought of VW as the Ford of German/European cars?? Just got a 2017 Jetta GLI waiting for it to ship from Alabama cant wait to see what its like.

[@709mash]

Look at you guys with the big V oil sponsorship. I'm proud of you guys!

[@keithmarks6145]

I bought a 2013 Golf TDI in 2019 with 55k miles on it. VW extended the warranty for the engine to 120k miles because of dieselgate. I had an issue with an intake manifold sensor and VW replaced the whole manifold without giving me the runaround... so there's some incentive to buying these vehicles.

[@highflya2709]

Damn, Pumphrey schooling us at the end, now lets see if he does any VAG videos from now on...

[@shellcracker18]

I still want a VW Diesel

[@ryandion9979]

Ill let you knownit is great

[@175dell]

My buddy was in the dealer buying a TDI the day they shut down sales. He got one of the last ones sold. He still has it to this day and loves it. He got it "fixed" but kept it. Sure it "polluted" more than the EPA wanted but it got better mileage that way. His MPG suffered a little bit after the fix. VW lied about their emissions but the EPA is strangely strict on small displacement diesels. Almost like they would rather someone drive a large displacement diesel with minimal emissions equipment polluting 4x more.

[@neilbrown82]

anybody who thinks electric cars are going green is a complete joke the amount of natural resources a text to one build an electric car and the batteries and also maintain and charge them take such a great toll on the environment

[@Poolboybob]

Just got hooked on the podcast hahaha. But my mom had a VW Passat that had to be recalled and honestly, if they didn’t depreciate so much, we would have kept it. It was an amazing car, very comfortable and has nice little tech luxuries, and drove very nice and felt like a very sturdy car that would keep us safe in an accident. Not to mention it would push 40-50MPG 😳 loved that car

[@taylors4243]

After that ridiculous last line, you should do a show on richard branson and virgin air.

[@manz7860]

Next oil change, I'm gonna go valvoline. I got the royal purps the other day

[@the_one_titan]

Volkswagon: 14 bIlLiOn Is NoT eNoUgH tO sToP uS US Government: Hold my Beer

[@the_one_titan]

@A real bisexual petrol-head Because us American car guys care!

[@davidbouey4022]

you guys need to show example pics of the thing you’re mentioning pleaseeee!!

[@derekford4515]

My dad almost bought a new diesel Jetta after we were impressed by it at the auto show. A few months later the dieselgate scandal came out.

[@thatonedude5237]

I'm not sure why but I feel surprisingly compelled to switch to Valvoline.

[@stareater1870]

Ha, "The Way" by Fastball reference at 22:47. Pretty sure I got my first lapdance to that song. No joke, about a year and a half ago. Had it Shazam'd, lmao. Went to the gym, then a bar, then Whataburger, then to the strip club. And that song I will forever associate with that. Great memory.

[@RCDisiac]

Up until the pontiac silverdome was demolished a couple years ago Volkswagen had stored 9000 models in the parking lot of the silverdome.... sad to see the silverdome get demolished but I'm just as sad to think that 9000 cars were also demolished along with it...byw congrats on the DIRT 5 action. Very happy to see u guys in a simulator

[@chirpic132]

the hidden gem of youtube

[@MachtPlays]

lol Let Joe do ALL the ads from now on, he does the best ones.

[@TheDestinedOne123]

End of the day , what I heard is car companies can’t meet emissions standards and I ask if they are too high since there are companies like CAT that quit making road versions to get around the emissions. And 1000 people a day from bad emissions? Just hearing that sounds stretched like all statistics. Going to have to look into that

[@GT0wned1]

I had a TDI Jetta. I used it as a delivery/work car/daily driver. i put like 70K miles on it in 3 years. I took the recall and sold my car back in full. I still owed like 12K on it. and they paid me out like 23K for it. My biggest reason for trading it was because i didnt want to get into an accident and then insurance say its worth nothing and be SOL. I love/hate that i did it. i Miss my 42MPG on avg. i could easily hit like 630 miles per tank sometimes.

[@Bobsofax64]

The most insane thing for me (German chemical engineer) was that it was rather transparent. If you simply do the formula to reduce nitrogen oxide (NO2 + 2 NH3 + 1/2 O2 -> 3/2 N2 + 3 H2O) it's clear that you need a lot of anhydrous ammonia to pull this off. Which couldn't be just simply refilled during service intervals, but would've to be refilled at gas stations. Trucks with Adblue had been running for a while. They simply did this shit to not further inconvenience the drivers and to keep their cars attractive and easy to use. Which is insane, IMO.

[@19Freddie]

I hope James becomes a billionaire someday so we can see how he works with it.

[@codiematuszak1718]

is no one going to comment on the pizza plant shirt? Easter egg for Disney

[@althornes8805]

This was released in January on spotify but 16 hours ago on yt, I'm confused

[@jackvanepps7301]

I don't think they care about they're yt audience even though it's there biggest audience

[@althornes8805]

@@jackvanepps7301 personally I only listen to podcasts, but most people watch podcasts. So yea it doesn't make any sence.

[@jackvanepps7301]

@@althornes8805 like for hi lo they put on Facebook. Facebook is super obsolete and video is not a good platform

[@althornes8805]

@@jackvanepps7301 I had no idea😂

[@faraziqbal188]

Was anyone else just waiting for James to say “This is everything you need to know to get up to speed on Dieselgate”?

[@MrBlake1249]

I have a 2012 tdi sport wagon and I LOVE it

[@coryernewein]

Don't build your city in a valley...sim city 101 hahaha

[@jacobb6774]

You guys reuploaded the same podcast twice in a row I need to know more about Bruce McLaren!!!!!!!

[@kooooons]

There have been reports about Martin Winterkorn being a very intimidating leader. Actively trying to make people too afraid of mistakes for them to happen. If mistakes WOULD happen to you, they would lead to literal shaming sessions with multiple of your bosses screaming at you. In a work environment like that, people tend to keep their mouth shut when they notice something fishy.

[@S42069]

CARB doesn't seem to understand how diesel engines operate. Their restrictions are unreasonable, and I don't blame VW for doing what they did. Rather than restricting the engines themselves, we should be implementing more biofuels. Big oil has so much to do with this. We can have long-lasting, economical clean diesel-powered vehicles, rather than petroleum and lithium-powered vehicles that only make a certain few some more money, while the planet suffers. In California, we have Propel HPR- a renewable diesel from the pump, safe for all diesel engines, at a comparable price to petroleum-based diesel. A lot of these TDIs that were bought from owners are available for sale again, with the "fix", at a super low price, because of this scandal tarnishing the name of TDI.

[@nicolasbrown9907]

What's mortor oil? Nice typo on the valvoline ad lol

[@DonutPodcasts]

It's spelled "moRtor oil" according to Nolan's pronunciation 🙈

[@scotts7907]

I got my own axe to grind with VW. 3 words. Timing chain tensioner! Now my Tiguan is pulled apart in my garage with bent intake valves.

[@BogeyTheBear]

20:02 ...and that electric car charging network is as well-maintained and reliable as one would expect from what is essentially a corporate community service sentence.

[@sergrm3221]

Great content! 🤘🏾🤙🏾

[@patrick383ironworker]

Love my 2012 Jetta Tdi, Kerma tune was all it needed

[@jalderink]

They should have said, Dieselgate: Ga-laga-laga-laga-laga!

[@_generation_youth_x28]

Are you still posting on the podcast streaming services?

[@virgilproductions]

I had a 2016 Passat SEL TDI and had it bought back from VW. I loved that car and diesel gate ruined it....we got good money back but I really loved that car. Now I have a 2000 TDI Beatle I can run biofuel in :)

[@tridakilla8212]

this chanel deserves more subs dudeee !!!!!

[@VINCENT-2002]

In Europa almost everyone drives diesel cars

[@jeremylivingston4402]

I removed the dieselgate emissions equipment from my 2013 Jetta TDI turned it and now get better than 41 a gallon (even beating on it ) has 70 more horsepower and almost a hundred added foot pounds of torque win-win..

[@matthunter4826]

Aren’t you gonna do a Wheelhouse episode on the Dieselgate scandal?

[@matthunter4826]

The Dieselgate talk starts at 12:08. Feel free to skip ahead everyone.

[@johnwarnerrox]

What are the chances of getting these podcasts plugged through Pandora?

[@deadishelf2054]

Does anyone else get reminded of T.J. Miller in Deadpool by Joe?

[@henry6312]

With all this virus crap going around, we are going to need these.

[@dakotabennett2980]

Next time to need a topic you did a (almost) complete history of rap cars on wheelhouse I would like to hear the complete

[@chrismcdonald4572]

Fast pitch was a good idea!!!! I watched it die...

[@BogeyTheBear]

32:53 Someone once pointed out that if a corporation was somehow made into an actual flesh-and-blood human being, that person would be diagnosed as a full-blown sociopath. Stakeholding is a form of sociopathy-- its entire purpose is to insulate those who own the company from the liability of that company's sins. When the company is committed to doing anything and everything to maximize profit for stakeholders, and the stakeholders' only concern is a return on investment, it turns the corporation into a malevolent sociopath that doesn't care how society gets harmed by their actions.

[@jrcrafter309]

We all love in a yellow Jetta too, a yellow Jetta too.

[@ElSascho]

I dont want to sound mean, but i think this podcast thing is perfect with pinky and the brain. No need for anybody else

[@ac1143]

Bought a VW GLI while that was going down. Dealer was getting desperate.

[@S42069]

Diesel for life! I have a TDI, and have had 3. They are amazing cars.

[@somervillearron]

ive had many early tdis but i wouldnt touch one after they started putting dpfs on them

[@Hubjeep]

Are you guys at least 6' apart??

[@cayennenaturetrails8953]

LoL !!! I thought the same !! :)

[@everythingbloopers7598]

Did you guys know, I'm the best host on Donut media. I lied or did I. We may never know.

[@M3PH11]

6:27 I say this to every car with an ls engine in it

[@robertsokoloski3820]

You should have a T shirt with the Donut logo printed in a stain blocker so when ghe T shirt gets Stained the donut logo appears on the shirt. My favorite band Gwar makes shirts that say Gwar in white letters after rest of shirt is covered in fake blood an stuff.🤘😎

[@Jonas-bl4cz]

In Denmark diesel is being phased out politically, with extra road tax being added on diesel cars. I can't help but wonder if dieselgate had a thing to do with it, or at least sped it up. It's a shame, I like the torque you can get from diesel engines.

[@MXMTBJASPER]

I own a 2012 or 13 VW Jetta and it’s all messed up

[@jtru8077]

California could also try less people that helps lower emissions too

[@carsonac4163]

Is that a Macbook rebadged as a Dell?

[@S42069]

Mortor.

[@kolinmartz]

No wonder they got away with it for so long. Nobody’s tuning vw diesels for power and the only time they see a dyno is during emissions testing. Lol

[@11ellswray]

I have that same pizza planet shirt 😎

[@Kevin24Seven]

Who else got a VW ad during this?

[@ThrasherDBS]

I did a research essay in high school in 2011 about alternatives to hybrids (high school me realllyyyy hated the Prius) and I remember citing the claims that diesels were as fuel efficient and clean as hybrids. Kind of funny to me in retrospect, now that the claim fell apart at the seams only a few years after.

[@Eagle_Beak]

Wow, I didn't know James had such shitty socialist opinions 32:51

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Frankly this kind of thing kills any chance of me owning a VW car. That kind of manipulation isn’t new, but here its so big.

[@kurtismain597]

I have a pickup with an Oldsmobile 5.7 diesel

[@dudeybagz]

@joe, you wouldn’t be caught dead in a diesel? Tut tut tut. My car is a 2.8 litre Cummins powered 4x4. Your car may go fast, my car goes anywhere

[@arnoldkul3827]

The Golf still is a big seller "here in the U.S" just not the Diesel one :D haha

[@syxepop]

Jetta sells far better Stateside (like 5x), which is why there's still no confirmation of a Mk. 8 Golf, besides the GTi and R variants, while there are Mk. 7.5 Jettas from base T-1.4's to the GLi. Even the Mk. 7 eGolf never sold well, while the iD3 (count it as the Golf replacement) won't be sold Stateside, instead going for the iD4, a Golf Cross replacement.

[@syxepop]

A real bisexual petrol-head - OK, LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT... I've used to work in a (Nissan) car dealer for 22+ years and I can pretty much tell what sells and what not in my market. The tendency of preference on crossover SUV's (BTW, Subaru Outback is a CROSSOVER SUV, not a station wagon /estate, since both its' platform is raised and has standard AWD; try the Buick Regal / OVX Insignia TourX w/o AWD for that) was because of the "false sense of security" a RAISED PLATFORM (on both crossover and true SUV's) gives, even if it'll never go much further off-road than a gravel path. ...and that is spreading through Europe as well (check BMW or Merc's domestic lineup in Europe, now having CROSSOVER SUV's in EVERY SIZE NICHE, a few not even offered in US). Drivers in USDM (to a lesser degree in other American Hemisphere countries) have preferred for decades the privacy of a trunk / boot over the flexibility of a foldable / expandable cargo area in a hatchback. THAT'S HOW THE MARKET GOES and manufacturers that have to plan 5-7 years in advance have to "go with the flow" or "be canned", like a salmon fish... VW since 1976 (after they discontinued building Vintage Beetles in "West" Germany) have had troubles selling ANYTHING in the States, since they're considered NOT MAINSTREAM and never "conformed to the norm" until very recently. It doesn't help that is a FOREIGN MANUFACTURER (even for their NoAm-made offerings) WHOSE RELIABILITY IS NOT SO GOOD OVERALL (DieselGate not withstanding). That's where VW stands Stateside, not luxury, not mainstream and not reliable...