Volkswagen ordered to compensate car owner in Dieselgate lawsuit

Car maker Volkswagen has been ordered to pay €3,000 in damages to the Dutch owner of a diesel Golf TDI by judges in Haarlem, because the car had been fitted with software which disguised how polluting it was.

The court ruled the man paid too much for the diesel car, which he bought in 2010, and which was not as environmentally friendly as he had thought.

Volkswagen admitted in 2015 that it had sold some 11 million cars worldwide which had been fitted with software which let them appear to be less polluting than they actually were in laboratory tests.

The Haarlem case, one of several ongoing in the Netherlands at the moment, was brought by mass claims foundation Stichting Volkswagen Group Diesel Efficiency (VGDES) and the consumers association Consumentenbond.

This case had aimed to force Volkswagen to buy back the software by paying the price the claimant had handed over for the vehicle but the court did not agree. Instead, the judge calculated the actual damage the car owner had suffered.

Nevertheless, the ruling is an ‘important first step’ and will allow other Volkswagen owners to make a similar claim, lawyer Jurjen Lemstra told reporters.

In 2021, a Dutch court ruled that everyone who had bought a diesel Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda which had been fitted with the software was entitled to compensation. That case was brought by Stichting Car Claim, a dedicated foundation set up by lawyers and members of motoring organisations including the ANWB.

Volkswagen is appealing against that decision, arguing that drivers have not suffered any financial damage because their cars were more polluting than they thought. Volkswagen is also considering appealing in this case.