Audi A3 with the EA 288 engine is falling in the exhaust scandal

The emissions scandal continues with vehicles of the brands VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda with the diesel engine EA 288. The Oldenburg Regional Court ruled on October 6, 2020 that Volkswagen AG had to pay damages to the buyer of an Audi A3 with the EA 288 engine for using an impermissible defeat device (Ref .: 1 O 939/20).

The EA 288 is the successor unit to the EA 189 diesel engine, which became famous due to the VW exhaust scandal. Inadmissible cut-off devices were apparently also used in this engine, which is used in VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda models with a displacement of up to 2 liters.

Before the LG Oldenburg it was about an Audi A3 2.0 TDI. The plaintiff had bought the vehicle with the EA 288 diesel engine in 2017 as a used car. When he was asked to update the software, he suspected that an inadmissible defeat device was being used in the vehicle. The plaintiff therefore asserted claims for damages and was successful.

The LG Oldenburg awarded him damages. In return for the return of the vehicle, he can request the reimbursement of the purchase price minus compensation for use for the kilometers driven.

“The judgment of the LG Oldenburg is not an isolated case. More and more courts are coming to the conclusion that an inadmissible defeat device is also being used with the EA 288 engine and that the buyers were deliberately damaged in an immoral manner, ”says lawyer Andreas Schwering from Hannover.

A few more examples of consumer-friendly decisions and conclusions to be taken regarding vehicles with the EA 288 engine:

• LG Wuppertal, March 15, 2019 (Ref .: 2 O 273/18)
• OLG Cologne, 12.09.2019 (Ref .: 15 U 234/18)
• OLG Cologne, September 19, 2020 (Ref .: 15 U 117/19)
• LG Baden-Baden, January 13th, 2020 (Ref .: 4 O 247/19)
• LG Munich, March 31, 2020, Ref .: 3 O 13321/19
• LG Heilbronn, 29.05.2020, Az .: Bi 6 O 257/19
• OLG Celle, 07/14/2020, Az .: 7 U 532/18
• LG Düsseldorf, 17.07.2020, Az .: 11 O 190/18
• LG Hagen, 11.08.2020, Az .: 3 O 134/19
• LG Darmstadt, 21.09.2020 Az .: 1 O 89/20

Schwering is convinced that the list of consumer-friendly judgments will continue to grow. Support comes from the ECJ Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston. In its much-noticed remarks on April 30, it made it clear that it considers defeat devices to be fundamentally inadmissible if they lead to higher emissions in real road traffic than in the test cycle. Exceptions are only permitted within very narrow limits and only for the direct protection of the engine, she explained.

Functions that are supposed to protect the engine from soiling in the long term, such as a thermal window for exhaust gas recirculation, are therefore not among the permissible exceptions. “Against this background, VW will find it difficult to convince the courts of the admissibility of the functions complained of,” said attorney Schwering.

–