Under the terms of the deal, VW will set aside $10 million to buy back its vehicles with the defeat devices from consumers.
Additionally, VW must spend $2.7 billion to mitigate the effects of the emissions from cars equipped the so-called defeat devices, and $2 billion over the next 10 years in projects that support the increased use of zero emission vehicles.
Starting in mid-November, Some 475,000 owners of affected VW and Audi 2.0L diesel vehicles will be able to seek buybacks of their cars or have them fixed. Additionally, most plaintiffs will receive payments of $5,100 to $10,000 who bought their cars before last September. About 336,000 car owners have registered for benefits under the settlement and only 3,300 have opted out, according to court papers signed by Judge Breyer.
Of note, 3.0 liter six-cylinder diesel vehicles equipped with the defeat devices are not included in this settlement. VW said it is still working toward a resolution with owners of those vehicles.
The multidistrict litigation is In re: Volkswagen "Clean Diesel" Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, case number 3:15-md-02672, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.