Meanwhile, Apple’s managing to wipe the hard drive on my computer while trying to install a mere OS upgrade has me wondering if VW can really muster the tech talent needed to give 400,000 TDI diesels a DEF system transplant and OS “upgrade”. Apple’s problem seemed to be a network install system that wasn’t properly idiot proofed and poorly trained Apple Store “geniuses”. Heard similar stories of more botched repairs of motorcycles lately, including the Harley wrench who managed to fill the oil sump of an airhead right up to the airbox!

There are around 650 VW dealers in the U.S., that works out to about 600 cars per dealer to perform an all day (at least) recall job on. How many dealers have three spare mechanics and stalls just sittin’ around to do those 600 recalls in a year? Makes a buy out for some of the older cars more likely, ‘specially with a 2009 Jetta TDI having a KBB “book value” of under $4k. Give the customer $6k, export the TDI outside the US and do the easier software flash that’ll make it legal anywhere but north america… And with the strong demand for VW diesels around the world, it’ll damn near be a wash…

Course, they can’t have mine ’til I wear it out!