The Federal Court has strengthened the position of VW customers in the lawsuit in the diesel scandal. In the case of the illegal defeat device one must start from a material defect. Diesel owners should know that now.
Friday, 22.02.2019
16:06 clock
Diesel buyers have been waiting for a long time for a fundamental verdict on their claims in the exhaust gas scandal. However, VW has again the important decision of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) prevented by a comparison with the diesel driver concerned. Nevertheless, the top judges have found a way to back the plaintiffs.
The Federal Supreme Court jumps plaintive Diesel buyers to the side and announces itself for the first time with a legal assessment to word. This so-called referral decision reflects the preliminary assessment of the Senate, but is not a verdict. Nevertheless, it sends a signal from it, says the BGH.
While consumer advocates evaluate the BGH statement as good news for the diesel drivers, VW is unimpressed. The car company emphasized that the considerations expressed in the referral decision are provisional that the Federal Court has not yet made a decision.
Nevertheless, a lot could change for VW customers now. SPIEGEL ONLINE gives the most important answers.
How did the Federal Court say?
For the first time, the Federal Court of Justice (BHG) has voteddiesel affair specifically related position. The German Supreme Court had announced in a so-called reference decision that the illegal shutdown device in millions of VW diesel engines is expected to be classified as a material defect. A new car with defeat device would be defective thereafter, the buyer would be entitled to a defect-free replacement.
What does this decision mean for the customers?
Although the referral decision is not a judgment but only a preliminary legal assessment, VW customers can benefit from it. Because of the decision go out a signal effect for the lower authorities, said BGH spokeswoman Dietlind Weinland. “It is to be expected that they will follow this provisional legal view.” As a result, the procedures in question could now be far more favorable to VW customers.
Why did the BGH for the first time make a statement?
The now published 19-page ruling served to prepare a hearing scheduled for 27 February. On this day should now be decided for the first time by the BGH on a lawsuit in connection with the diesel scandal. This appointment was canceled as a previous date by the Supreme Court, as the plaintive car buyer has now agreed with VW and the defendant dealership on a settlement.
The Federal Court of Justice as the highest German civil court nevertheless positioned itself for the first time in the legal dispute over the diesel scandal. The fact that the federal judges now express their current assessment in the present case, despite the withdrawal of the appeal, is a relatively unusual procedure. It can only be explained in such a way that the supreme judges considered it appropriate to comment on this, so that the other courts can also orient themselves without the verdict of the BGH on its legal opinion.
What does that mean for diesel owners who have already installed a software update?
This is not clear from the decision of the Supreme Court, as this refers to the now canceled negotiation, in which the customer had not yet installed a software update. Whether a material defect is remedied by the update therefore and the customer loses the claim for damages can not be taken from the decision of the BGH.
Are the chances of success now being raised for model claim actions by the Consumer Advice Center or Myright?
Yes, because even in these proceedings, the courts concerned should be guided by the statements of the BGH. The statement of the Federal Court of Justice has a signal effect for the model determination action against VW and is thereby “a really good message” for consumers, says the boss of the consumer center federation (vzbv), Klaus Mueller.
VW, however, interprets the decision of the BGH differently. Accordingly, no conclusions could be drawn from this for the chances of success of lawsuits against the Volkswagen AG, said the car company today in Wolfsburg.
What’s next?
The referral decision is now in the room, a verdict of the BGH, but this is not for the time being. The courts now know, however, how the BGH would have decided in such a case and can now follow the preliminary view of the BGH.