VW owners having trouble selling after scandal: lawyer

New Zealanders stung by Volkswagen's global emissions scandal are having trouble trading in second-hand vehicles. Photo / Michael Sohn

New Zealanders stung by Volkswagen's global emissions scandal are having trouble trading in second-hand vehicles, says a lawyer organising legal action against the brand.

Volkswagen's independently owned local franchise is waiting for confirmation that remedial measures proposed in Europe for diesel vehicles fitted with emission-cheating software will not reduce their performance or fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, it says it is prepared to help VW owners unable to sell second-hand vehicles to rival franchises at fair prices to obtain better deals through its own network.

Volkswagen AG in Germany, which in September admitted up to 11 million vehicles worldwide had been fitted with software designed to suppress smog-inducing nitrogen oxide emissions during air testing, says technical remedies for a rollout across 28 European countries have been "ratified" by Berlin's Federal Motor Transport Authority.

But it has yet to obtain final confirmation that these will meet its objective of maintaining fuel efficiency and engine performance, saying they have to be measured across all affected diesel models.

They include a half-hour software upgrade for 2-litre models such as Tiguan SUVs - of which New Zealand has 2222 affected by the scandal - and the fitting of a mesh "flow transformer" to 1.6-litre vehicles including Golfs and Polos.

The smaller cars will also require software updates, but VW expects both technical remedies to take under an hour, with a recall likely to run through next year in Europe.

A rollout schedule has yet to be indicated for affected owners of around 9000 VW, Audi and Skoda vehicles in this country, but VW New Zealand head Tom Ruddenklau is confident a local recall will be completed in that time.

"Technically, they [VW AG] have found a solution to the emissions issue, which is a software update or a little piece of plastic in the inlet side of the engine on the 1.6-litre models," he said yesterday.

"But what we are waiting on is ensuring that the performance of the vehicle is not altered through implementation of the fix."

Wellington lawyer Edward Cox, who says a "substantial" but undisclosed number of affected owners have registered with his firm for a potential class action against Volkswagen, wants any fix to be assessed by an independent agency in New Zealand to ensure no harm to vehicle performance.

"If it's true, it's fantastic, but where is the independent proof to New Zealand owners that this will work?" he said.

"Why should New Zealand owners be asked to trust Volkswagen a second time?"