VW Mess

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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#46 Post by M Penta »

Nice job.

I missed that last dip, but did pull the trigger this AM. Bought back the shares a bit higher then where I sold. I plan to hold longer term, but will probably step out before next ER (been burned too many times at earnings, even if they were good). These shares in a Roth so no worries about tax burden.

I do also wonder when we hear about fines.

Good luck to you.


Now for something related to my TDI:

I bought it over 1200 miles away. On my trip home I was thrilled to get close to 700 miles out of a full tank of fuel, which was close to 50 MPG.

I had a GPS which always stated about 3-4 MPH slower then the speedo. I eventually replaced tires from OEM size to +1 size, and now the speedo and odo are dead nuts. The car now gets approx 600 miles per tank, or closer to 42 mpg under the same conditions/temperatures. During normal driving I am hard pressed to get 550 miles per tank. Bottom line it means that the actual distance travelled is not as great, as confirmed by GPS.

I know I am being a bit critical here, but I can't help but wonder if that speedo error was slightly intentional for a 2-3 MPG increase in efficiency (not that I really care, still very good mileage).

All this is out the window now anyway, since it is now chipped with PP520 nozzles.

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Adam Wright
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Re: VW Mess

#47 Post by Adam Wright »

My grandfather taught me when you buy stock, buy companies you believe in and buy and hold. I believe in VW and will hold.
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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#48 Post by M Penta »

I hope that is still true, but it ain't Grand Dad's market anymore. I am extrememly cautious with individual stocks, but agree that buying and holding VW will likely pay off long term (which is what I plan to do). Nothing wrong with taking profit after a big move either, so easy to give it all back....

I also bought some for Wifes IRA right when it hit the fan. She said just leave it and forget about it, and her complete lack of watching/trading her account has been a winning strategy.

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Adam Wright
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Re: VW Mess

#49 Post by Adam Wright »

Turns out VW is now saying only 36,000 cars are affected, not 800,000, the shares are up 6% today and my stock is up 30% from when I bought it.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/vw-co2-ma ... nance.html
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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#50 Post by M Penta »

Nice! I'm not up quite that much, but doing fine. It has been a very resilient stock, see you at 40!

M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#51 Post by M Penta »

Here comes the lawsuits we were waiting for, no surprise really. Gave back 10% in a couple of days, still holding long term.

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Adam Wright
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Re: VW Mess

#52 Post by Adam Wright »

Luckily when you are up 30%, you can give 10% back.
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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#53 Post by M Penta »

True, lets just hope we don't give it all back (and then some).

I'm with you though, just hold long term and forget about it. We will see 40+ eventually.

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Adam Wright
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Re: VW Mess

#54 Post by Adam Wright »

M Penta wrote:True, lets just hope we don't give it all back (and then some).

I'm with you though, just hold long term and forget about it. We will see 40+ eventually.
I saw 40 a year ago, don't remind me...
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C J Murray
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Re: VW Mess

#55 Post by C J Murray »

Did anybody read the Bob Lutz column in last month's Road and Track? His opinion is that the culture at VW was dictated by Ferdinand Piech and that Piech ruled in a reign of terror where engineers were told to develop a cheap clean diesel and failure was not an option so they cheated to keep their jobs. It is best to read it yourself to get the exact tone. I still have respect for the man if only for the development of the 911R. Funny though how he was in conflict with the other Porsche family members that caused his ouster whereafter he made it his life's work to take over Porsche. What a bio he has!
'57 Speedster
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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#56 Post by M Penta »

Interesting, I'll check it out. I have a lot of respect for Bob Lutz, particularly for his efforts with the Opel Manta (he was ahead of his time unfortunately).

I just finished reading some disturbing articles about how US (and others) will want to make an example out of VW. I decided to sell most of my stock, which will have to wait until tomorrow since it does not trade after hours. Yep, the new round of negative hype got to me, and I don't want to give back any more profits. I'll take my chances on a better entry.

Oh well, we knew the lawsuits were coming.

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Adam Wright
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Re: VW Mess

#57 Post by Adam Wright »

I feel the US will make an example of VW in the court of public opinion, lots of bluster and soap boxes, but in the end they will work the fines down to a reasonable level, long after this is off the front pages.
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Dennis ODonnell
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Re: VW Mess

#58 Post by Dennis ODonnell »

An example to who? Any business which doesn't fear the EPA?

The Justice Dept says 600,000 cars "...breach the public trust, endanger public health and disadvantage competitors." VW says less than 10% of that. CARB says "people will die!" Really? People will die? Toyota and Ford were put at a competitive disadvantage? How long, a week? DOJ says $3750 for the fine but VW must pay $37,500 interest on the penalties per car. The public has faith in that kind of heavyhandedness?

More overreaching regulatory BS.

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Jim Alton
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Re: VW Mess

#59 Post by Jim Alton »

C J Murray wrote:Did anybody read the Bob Lutz column in last month's Road and Track? His opinion is that the culture at VW was dictated by Ferdinand Piech and that Piech ruled in a reign of terror where engineers were told to develop a cheap clean diesel and failure was not an option so they cheated to keep their jobs. It is best to read it yourself to get the exact tone. I still have respect for the man if only for the development of the 911R. Funny though how he was in conflict with the other Porsche family members that caused his ouster whereafter he made it his life's work to take over Porsche. What a bio he has!
That's similar to the textbook ethics violation in aerospace and defense. There was a contractor building inertial platforms and the contract required vibration testing. The contractor's shake table wasn't able to produce the required vibration range but "higher ups" made it clear to the test engineer that he had to conduct the tests with the existing gear. He felt he had no choice but to cheat.

As a result, defense contractors are required to have "ethics hotlines" to report such abuses. The theory is that employees don't want to cheat.
 
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M Penta
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Re: VW Mess

#60 Post by M Penta »

C J Murray wrote:Did anybody read the Bob Lutz column in last month's Road and Track? His opinion is that the culture at VW was dictated by Ferdinand Piech and that Piech ruled in a reign of terror where engineers were told to develop a cheap clean diesel and failure was not an option so they cheated to keep their jobs. It is best to read it yourself to get the exact tone. I still have respect for the man if only for the development of the 911R. Funny though how he was in conflict with the other Porsche family members that caused his ouster whereafter he made it his life's work to take over Porsche. What a bio he has!

Interesting reference to the MK4 body panel fit, and how Piech threatened his staff to make it happen. Lutz is probably right in that he tried something similar with the emissions mess. Piech sounds like quite an **&^&%, and if it was ultimately his directive, I hope they yank him out of his cushy retirement and toss him in Jail. But then again, I have a hard time believing one man can have so much influence, certainly there will be others to blame.

Either way, it was a premeditated act that will cause a lot of hardship to VW and Germany as well. I have family in Germany who are very upset over this, they seem to take this very personally.

Looks like Audi pulled the "truth in engineering " campaign....

It'll blow over eventually, but hard to say how long this will tarnish the brand. BTW, I did decide to take my profits on the stock this afternoon, despite the timely PR's on electric minivans. I'll stand back and watch for a while.

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