LG Düsseldorf: Erneut positive Entscheidung zu 3-Liter-Motor

The Regional Court (LG) Düsseldorf sentenced Audi AG to pay damages in the amount of € 40,472 and to take back one Audi AG Avant 3.0 TDI (Judgment of 25.05.2022, Az. 16 O 345/20). The vehicle in question has a EA897 evo engine and was registered according to EU standard 6. The plaintiff (a foundation) purchased the Audi A6 Avant 3.0 l on November 24, 2017 for a net purchase price of € 47,305. The new car had a mileage of 0 km when it was purchased. At the time of the oral hearing, the vehicle had a mileage of 36,112 km.

The LG sees compensation for intentional immoral damage according to § 826 BGB combined with § 31 BGB As a given, Audi AG has, by placing the engine on the market with a manipulated engine control software implicitly deceived.

No retroactive contract conclusion due to software update

The programming of the control software with regard to AdBlue injection is provided with a function that is known as impermissible shutdown device in accordance with Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Regulation (EC) 715/207. The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has also classified the programming in this way. The control software reduces nitrogen emissions by injecting AdBlue accordingly. The system is then only switched off during normal operation.

The installation of such engine control software is also immoral, as it was carried out solely to deceive the KBA about compliance with the emission limits in the respective driving cycles in order to obtain type approval. Audi AG also accepted the harm to a large number of people, significant material damage and increased environmental damage.

According to the regional court, the plaintiff also suffered damage because the purchase burdened the plaintiff with an unwanted obligation. The vehicle is not usable as it is, as the type approval can be revoked at any time. The damage caused cannot be remedied by the subsequent possibility of a software update. This is because an immorally concluded contract through deception cannot lead to an intended conclusion of the contract through a later software update.

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