Two Volkswagen car owners filed separate federal class action lawsuits in Chicago and Newark on Tuesday alleging the company misled them into buying a "green" car that was actually rigged to evade emission standards.
The lawsuits were filed after the federal Environmental Protection Agency accused the company Friday for equipping some of its cars with a device designed to release less pollutants when undergoing emissions testing.
Micah Dorn, in Chicago, and Ari Levin, in Newark, are lead plaintiffs in the two civil suits against Volkswagen accusing the company of deceptive business practices that have left a financial burden on the two car owners.
"The whole purpose was for him to have the car for a long time and that it wouldn't pollute," Jay Rice, an attorney with Nagel Rice Law Firm, who is representing Levin, told BuzzFeed News. "The value of the car has gone completely downhill. Who is going to buy it?"
The Environmental Protection Agency and California sent the company a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act last week after it discovered the company had rigged certain diesel car models between 2008 and 2015 with sophisticated software designed to bypass emissions standards. The so-called "defeat device" controls the car's emissions only during lab tests and then turns down those controls during normal driving. As a result, the cars emit nitrogen oxides at up to 40 times the federal standard, according to the EPA.
Dorn, who bought a new 2013 Volkswagen Jetta, says he didn't get the "green" car he "bargained for due to the false statement and/or fraudulent misrepresentation of Volkswagen," according to the lawsuit.
Levin, a 32-year old New York City resident, told BuzzFeed News he researched green car options before he settled on a 2010 Jetta. He was living in Los Angeles at the time and was won over by Volkswagen's clean diesel system, which could lower harmful emissions without compromising the car's performance. He paid $51,000 for the car, but now says he "overpaid."
"I feel like I was lied to outright," he told BuzzFeed News. "Every reason I bought the car was based on this fraud - the good milage, the good torque, the efficiency. Ultimately none of it was true."
The two lawsuits are just part of the international clamor over the EPA's discovery of the devices designed to defeat standards tests.
The Department of Justice said Tuesday it was investigating, the AP reported. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Tuesday his office is leading an investigation into the device along with other state attorneys general.
The South Korean government also said Tuesday it would begin an investigation into Volkswagen's diesel cars and test up to 5,000 Volkswagen Jetta and Golf cars and Audi A3s made between 2014 and 2015, the BBC reported. Germany, Volkswagen's home country, also said it would investigate possible faulty emissions tests in Europe and urged the company to resolve the controversy, according to Reuters.
Volkswagen's CEO said he ordered an "external investigation" to review the issue on Sunday. Board chairman Martin Winterkorn said in a statement that the board is taking the EPA's accusations "very seriously" and personally apologized for breaking "the trust of our customers and the public."
Some 11 million vehicles worldwide could be equipped with the software, said Volkswagen in a statement Tuesday. The notice affects about 482,000 diesel cars sold in the U.S. alone including Volkswagen Jetta (model years 2009–2015), Volkswagen Beetle (model years 2009–2015), Audi A3 (model years 2009–2015), Volkswagen Golf (model years 2009–2015), and Volkswagen Passat (model years 2014–2015).
The company can face civil penalties of up to $18 billion if the car is found to be in noncompliance after the EPA's investigation.
Volkswagen did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuits.
