Abgasskandal - Autoherstellern droht neue Klagewelle!

With very few exceptions, there are no legal defeat devices in connection with exhaust gas purification.

Clear words from the European Court of Justice in a ruling dated December 17, 2020. What the automotive industry has been telling us for years as an excuse for installing such defeat devices, namely that they are supposedly necessary to protect the engine and are therefore permissible or legal, has been nothing more than another attempt to conceal or downplay another fraud against the end customer.

ECJ puts the car industry under pressure

Let's be clear about the magnitude of this decision. What does it mean for us who drive and have bought a car?

Manufacturers such as VW, AUDI, Seat, Skoda, Daimler etc. have installed defeat devices in almost every car. Regardless of whether it is diesel or petrol! The entire industry manipulates with defeat devices. The so-called thermal window, which regulates the exhaust gas purification depending on the outside temperature, is particularly noteworthy here. The thermal window is particularly explosive because it has now been declared an illegal defeat device by the highest court, and is installed under the code name of the so-called software update in diesels in which other illegal defeat devices had already been discovered and which were recalled on a large scale in the diesel emissions scandal.

That means the whole game starts all over again! The car industry is facing the biggest wave of recalls of all time! Well, in this case it probably won't hit the wrong people. Because the quibbling over words in recent years has made it clear that here too, the company was systematically at work, without - as always - being aware of any guilt. That didn't work with the operating mode changeover switch-off device that first became known in the emissions scandal, but it at least kept courts and plaintiffs waiting for years until the Federal Court of Justice finally spoke its mind on May 25, 2020, ruled in favor of consumers and awarded damages. But the ones who suffer most are again those who drive a car with this switch-off device, the end users. They are the ones who have the hassle and the rush.

ECJ rules thermal windows as illegal - almost all vehicles are affected - What you can do now!

Buyers of a vehicle with an engine that has an illegal switch-off device can sue for the rescission of the purchase contract. This means that the purchase price paid for the vehicle is demanded back and the vehicle is returned to the manufacturer. In this case, you only have to deduct what is known as compensation for use. This is a monetary deduction for the kilometers that you have used the vehicle yourself, usually an amount of just a few cents per kilometer.

Vehicles with such a switch-off device were not eligible for approval and should therefore not have been registered for road traffic, which is why buyers are also threatened with driving bans or immobilization. Our lawyers therefore advise you to act now!

The ECJ ruling can also give rise to new claims for damages for all those whose claims are supposedly time-barred according to the BGH ruling or who only bought a diesel vehicle after September 2015. Get advice from our lawyers!