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Ready to make your VW diesel street legal?

When you’re buying a new car, all you’re thinking about is the road — how you can’t wait to get out there and drive.

But sometimes we have to take a break from the fun and handle some business.

If you own a 2.0-liter Volkswagen or Audi diesel vehicle, that time is just around the corner.

Yesterday Volkswagen announced they received preliminary approval for their settlement plan in a class action lawsuit brought by private plaintiffs over last years’ diesel emissions scandal. The court is expected to grant final approval October 18.

Nearly 475,000 WV Beetle, Golf, Jetta, Passat, and Audi A3 owners and lessees will be offered two choices: They can send the car for a free emissions modification that will be approved by the Environmental protection agency and the California Air Resources Board, or they can simply sell their cars back. With either choice, owners will also receive a cash payment. And since those cash payments are projected to range from $5,100 to $10,000, you’ll have plenty of money to take a road trip in your new or newly modified car.

Buybacks will begin shortly after the plan is formally approved in October. Volkswagen is still working on the modifications for all five diesel vehicles, and will begin offering them to owners after approval from CARB and the EPA.

Find out exactly what you may be eligible for here, a site set up by Volkswagen and Audi to help owners navigate the settlement.

So take a break, sell or modify your VW, then get back to your regularly scheduled cruising.

Carolyn Briggs

I grew up on the road. As a child, my family took regular trips from Wisconsin to both coasts. That's how I've seen most of this country — through the window of a car. Years later, I still feel that excitement when I toss my bags in the trunk and get behind the wheel. That's how seeing something new always begins. I've scaled mountains, dived with sharks, and stepped to the very edge of the Grand Canyon, all because I spent hours in a car. This site combines my passion for the road with my actual talent — communication and journalism. In college I rose to the position of managing editor for The Badger Herald, the largest independent student newspaper in the country at the time. I spent a year after graduating in social media marketing before moving off the grid to explore the wild beauty of West Virginia.