diesel scandal
An Audi owner from Baden-Württemberg complained and hoped for money from Volkswagen.
(Photo: dpa)
Diesel plaintiffs who went to court too late can only hope for money from Volkswagen when it comes to a newly purchased VW. In the case of cars from other group brands such as Audi, the prerequisites for so-called residual damages do not exist, as the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled on Thursday. According to an earlier judgment from Karlsruhe, used car buyers generally have no right to this. (Az. VII ZR 422/21)
Residual damages may be due to diesel owners whose claims for damages are justified but have already become statute-barred. For this, however, VW must – according to the wording in the law – have “obtained something” through the tortious act. VW had supplied Audi with the scandalous EA189 engine and is generally liable to buyers for this. According to the BGH, VW did not have an economic advantage from the later sale of the cars. That would be a basic requirement for the payment of residual damages. According to VW, the decision can be transferred to a good 1,000 ongoing procedures.
In this case, an Audi owner from Baden-Württemberg is now left empty-handed. She should have sued by the end of 2019 at the latest, but only did so in 2020. Other claims are out of the question.
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