So will a current owner be able to decline the "improvements" and continue to use a dealer for service?

A friend of mine has one, and he's always saying he can't believe the mileage.
He's not to concerned but he doesn't want the car repaired. He would like to leave it as is. I don't think it will pass an emission test any time soon.

I'm thinking it'll soon be a good time to buy one.

Well, all your posts have been about lead-acid batteries and Prius uses a totally different chemistry. If we really stopped using batteries you wouldn't be able to use a computer to post on a message board about how we shouldn't use batteries, so that's kind of a problem for you.[/QUOTE]

I'm not using a battery.. And I've seen equal quantities of ni-cad, nimh, lithium, all piled up together. It's staggering how many batteries are tossed, hearing aids, cell phones, you name it. Pretty much worse than plastic bags at this point.

If your thing is killing the world with tons of toxic chemicals then it seems you're on the right track. It's damned irresponsible, and a terrible source for stored energy.

I know a guy, an ex subordinate of mine who bought one for the reduced carbon footprint. He also owned a home with passive solar heating (solar community). His TDI is not parked...

If you're using a computer you're using a battery. They've all got them.

I am guessing not. And in some states you will not be able to license the vehicle unless you have evidence that the car has been reprogrammed.

Perhaps we need a battery recycling thread....

When does he plan to sue Pasadena?

You forgot Subaru, or is that only lesbian hippies?

If the cars passed state standards for diesel emissions, they don't have a leg to stand on....

Which they all do, which is a whole different racket.

The state will take the position that they expected the cars to meet EPA standards.

And how many here recycle their electronics?
Almost every product today has them.

I did not know this:
Alkaline Batteries Do Need to be Recycled
It appears the reality is this: Alkaline batteries do not contain as many toxic components as I had thought. They do, however contain metals like nickel, cobalt, zinc, manganese, and silver. At this time there are no real cost effective methods available to recover these metals.
(If there was a good purpose for public-service prison labor, this would be it. IMO.)

Scott made a good point about the dearth of reprocessing.
A re-manufactered AL soda can requires something like 1/10th the energy to create from scratch IIRC.

World's Richest Self-Made Woman: A Paper Recycling Entrepreneur : TreeHugger
Remarkably, Ms Zhang, after starting up Nine Dragons Paper just a few years ago, has become "the world's richest self-made woman, surpassing US talk show host Oprah Winfrey and J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author". Now here's the "kicker" as we say in the US. "Ms Zhang's listed company, of which she owns 72 per cent, buys scrap paper from the US and processes it in China for sale".

Those batteries are waiting to be recycled. Most Pb batteries ARE recycled. The going rate for scrap Pb batteries is 25 cents a pound at the collection facility. They turn around and sell them at a profit to recyclers. There is a fortune in lead in that photo and it's not going to just sit there. Recycling a Pb battery is a lot cheaper than smelting lead from ore.

It's not even on the radar. The state isn't going to take any position, we don't have emissions testing for diesels.

The city attorney in Houston is putting on a political dog and pony show.

Say what you want, but the prices for TDI's haven't crashed on EBay. No wave of people dumping their cars.

Don't know why they would. I suspect, like me, most people bought TDIs for gas mileage not to be "green". There may be a very small number of people who are so "ashamed" of their TDI now that they wish they had a prius but even "green" people will find a way to live with shame of it all when money is involved.

I filled up yesterday and averaged 45mpg. I couldn't be happier with the car. I'll back out any "fix" and plan to drive the crap out of it,

For the most part, won't the impact of a "fix" determine what happens to the value of TDI's?

still drivin the touareg TDI

Still gettin' a chuckle outta the "hippie/beatnik" reference/thing.

Cheers
JB

I think this problem will result in some states changing their policy. I don't believe all sates will give the cars a free pass. This is unprecedented, I would not rule anything out just yet.