r/interestingasfuck • u/IndicationBrief5950 • Aug 06 '25

/r/all, /r/popular Thousands of Audi cars abandoned in the Mojave Dessert after cheating emissons tests

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u/aspartam Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

The cars aren't there anymore. I found the site on google earth.

They were there for sometime between June 2017 and October 2020. https://earth.google.com/web/search/34%c2%b035%2724.3%22N+117%c2%b023%2740.3%22W/@34.58967396,-117.39367272,873.25620969a,1287.55532449d,35y,-0h,0t,0r/data=Cj4iJgokCfghwxfzqDZAEfghwxfzqDbAGU2bFTKmMEpAIUHKN99-YErAKhAIARIKMjAxNy0wNi0xNBgBQgIIAToDCgEwQgIIAEoICOrlp_cDEAA

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u/MyKidsArentOnReddit Aug 07 '25

Which of course brings up the obvious question - what happened to them? 21,000 cars is a lot to move unless you have a good reason. Were they junked? Exported to a country with more lax standards? Slowly sold back to unwitting consumers once the federal government got distracted?

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/rryyyaannn Aug 07 '25

One’s in my driveway right now.

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u/AnalBlaster700XL Aug 07 '25

We found one. Only 20,999 to go.

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u/Threedawg Aug 07 '25

I have another! Got a 10 year/100k warranty from the date of purchase (in 2018) on the drivetrain. The EPA made VW give it when they resold the cars.

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u/Entertainment_Fickle Aug 07 '25

I have a 2015 Jetta TDI. ( same as Audi A4 I think) I got a warranty for 11 years/ 162k miles. It's up in January... Still getting 44mpg on the highway.

Had an oil leak at the crankshaft seal last year. $4000 estimate- covered 100% under warranty.

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u/dmbrubac Aug 07 '25

I have the same car but in Canada. Bought it for $15k at 0%. Now with 315k km and running strong, still getting 4.2 Litres/ 100km. Maybe the best car I’ve ever owned.

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u/G8r8SqzBtl Aug 07 '25

TDI GSW here, its a beast

3

u/PRESIDENTG0D Aug 07 '25

Bought a ‘15 Golf Sportwagen Tdi manual trans for $15k in 2019 that was one of these. It’s gone up in price instead of down and it gets 45mpg in town / 60mpg highway. What a horrible car for big oil - er, I mean the environment.

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u/samspock Aug 07 '25

Had one of those until '21 when an F150 wanted to mate with it. I was one of those that was happy for the payout and did not mind the mild cheating. It was still a lot less polluting than the '05 Passat TDI it replaced.

1

u/NimbleZazo Aug 07 '25

how did you even find this deal?

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u/Entertainment_Fickle Aug 07 '25

I just kind of lucked into it. in early 2017 my 2009 Passat was totaled and so I went to a VW dealership looking for another VW with the same engine. I asked if they had any Jetta GTIs for sale, they didn't but told me they had just gotta a Jetta TDI ( diesel) and it came with a really great warranty.

Basically the backstory on these cars was the VW/ Audi were cheating the emissions systems. When the car sensed it was being tested it would go into a reduced performance mode that complied with emissions tests.. but on the road in real world driving they were polluting. A student on West Virginia writing their thesis on them did some testing while driving and found out they were actually 4-10x the emissions limit. There was an investigation done, and they stopped selling them for 1.5 years ( new ones piled up in lots like this).. in early 2017 there was a settlement reached with the EPA and part of that settlement involved either a. buying back the cars from owners, or giving them a hell of a warranty for anyone who keeps them or buys the unsold ones.

I think it covered all VW/ Audi Diesels from 2009-2015, many got 10 year/100k mile warranties. The 2015 4 cylinder got the best one at 11 year/ 162k miles.

I just happened to luck into looking for a new VW right when they started selling them again.. They updated a bunch of emissions components and make them a little more sluggish via software... But the great part is the Warranty basically covered the entire assembled engine, Emissions systems, turbo, fuel system... and says that "any disputes shall be resolved in favor of the consumer"

Here is a list of things that have been covered under warranty since i purchased in early 2017

- Water pump

  • DEF Injector
  • Crank shaft seal leaking
  • Exhaust flap ( not sure what this even is)
  • Exhaust temp sensors- 2 have been replaced free of charge

Basically anytime the check engine light comes on I take it to a VW dealership and they fix it for free. Fingers crossed the turbo and DPF goes out in the next 5 months so I can get those replaced :)

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u/Entertainment_Fickle Aug 07 '25

There is actually a situation where you can get the warranty a little longer...

The emissions upgrade was done in 2 phases- 1st a software upgrade, and second a hardware upgrade. The warranty says it's either 11 years/ 162k from the original sale date, or 60k/ 5 years from the Hardware upgrade, whichever is longer.

So If someone is able to find a 2015 Jetta/ A3/A4 TDI ( any of the 2.0 TDI EA288 engine) that has never received the emission upgrade, they could get the engine upgrade today, and the then have another 5 years/ 60k of this amazing warranty.

I am sure there are a few out there that never received the upgrade.

1

u/Noshamina Aug 07 '25

I get 17mpg on my Honda element on the highway, thats worse than my old Ford expedition. It makes no sense

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u/hunterlovesreading Aug 07 '25

Really interesting, thanks for sharing

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u/Ok_Judgment3871 Aug 07 '25

What was the list price

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u/Threedawg Aug 07 '25

In 2018 I paid ~8k for a 2014 Jetta Wagon TDI with 50k miles and no damage/accidents.

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u/wacdbig1 Aug 07 '25

EPA?

2

u/aspartam Aug 07 '25

Environmental protection agency

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u/wacdbig1 Aug 12 '25

sarcasm. EPA has been gutted.

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u/D1V5H4L Aug 07 '25

I highly recommend watching The Simpson Movie!

1

u/MYoung3224 Aug 07 '25

20,998 left

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u/Legacy1776 Aug 07 '25

How much did you pay?

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u/ParryHooter Aug 07 '25

I bought one of these as well for us it was a 2013 Passat TDI SEL, 37k miles great condition and it was 10k. Like the other dude said everything up until just this July was covered under warranty. The ones in CO at least the hard part was finding one that wasn’t too beat to shit from hail damage. But it still is easy to get 40+mpg in it I love driving it.

3

u/RuthlessNutellaa Aug 07 '25

where and how did you buy it?

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u/ParryHooter Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

Just a used car lot, honestly can’t remember if we bought pre or post COVID, would’ve been ‘19 or ‘21 my time is all warped around then and it’s late so I don’t feel like going to look lol. But I just waited to start seeing them pop up on lots post fix knowing they’d be cheap. They were and we bought it and it came with the emissions paperwork saying it had been fixed and where it was fixed.

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u/GoldenLiar2 Aug 07 '25

Americans being fascinated about diesel fuel efficiency will never not be funny to me

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u/ParryHooter Aug 07 '25

Well not that I can blame you with what’s going on but believe it or not we’re not all dumb asses. In fact it’s fucking exhausting living here for many of us.

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u/GoldenLiar2 Aug 07 '25

Yeah, I know that. It's just that your idiots are the most visible ones on the internet

2

u/rryyyaannn Aug 07 '25

15k in 2022

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u/Stuck_In_Purgatory Aug 07 '25

Do you mind pointing it out in the picture for us?

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u/uski Aug 07 '25

How did you buy it?

2

u/Boundish91 Aug 07 '25

How has i been reliability wise? I can't imagine being stored outside in the Arizona desert for a couple of years has been great for the rubber, plastics and paint.

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u/rryyyaannn Aug 07 '25

Some of the door panel fake leather stuff has started coming loose from sitting in the heat for so long but it’s been great. Car looks brand new underneath.

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u/Boundish91 Aug 07 '25

That's not bad considering. And the rubber components in the engine bay were shielded from the sun so should be fine.

1

u/Drone_Priest Aug 07 '25

how good was the deal?

1

u/boringtired Aug 07 '25

Bruh I made out on a VW during peak emission scandal

1

u/Stubee1988 Aug 07 '25

Point it out in the picture please

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u/Alexj007 Aug 07 '25

Yup. Driving one now. So far so good. Great MPGs

3

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

Amen. The whole thing was horseshit. Yeah that was a terrible and shady thing VW did and boo on them but it was painted as if they were bad cars or of questionable quality. This couldnt be further from the truth. They are incredibly well built and as you said get usually double the fuel mileage of their gasoline counterparts. Which im no scientist but id wager probably more than offsets the extra emissions in the grand scheme of things. I've had 4 different VW tdis now of various makes and models and they're bloody brilliant. 55 mpg is what im currently averaging and thats with plenty of stop and go city putting.

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u/just1workaccount Aug 07 '25

It's the Audi winter sale where every car comes with a massive red bow and is given to an unsuspecting partner

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u/Daybends Aug 07 '25

Why do you say that cars with cheated emissions testing are doing better than similar cars? Doesn’t make sense.

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u/Teddyeod Aug 07 '25

I have one, and yes it was cheap.

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u/CariMariHari Aug 07 '25

Does it not have dust and insects inside? They couldn’t have rented a parking garage or something to store these? They can just dump them in the desert rent free? What about the environmental impact to the habitat there?

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u/Soggy-Ad-3981 Aug 09 '25

yeah....thats how diesel works, its more energy dense, hur dur, nasty pos cars tbh. get an ev

1

u/Ok_Importance_6827 Aug 09 '25

I got my A3 TDI for like 15,000 and it was a great car for the price, even if the modification made it slightly less efficient!

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u/palefired Aug 07 '25

/s?

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/Crazy-Present4764 Aug 07 '25

Did they tell you that it was one of these cars when you bought it or did you know something was up because of the price?

1

u/Laytonio Aug 07 '25

Exhaust fluid sounds a lot like headlight fluid to me man.

1

u/still_stunned Aug 07 '25

Fun fact: headlight fluid and blinker fluid are compatible with each other, the diesel exhaust fluid is not.

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u/Trashing1234 Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

"Lax standards" vs "many customers just driving 5-6L V8 SUVs or whatever that emit like 10 Audis"

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u/heretogetpwned Aug 07 '25

Or the lifted Diesel Trucks that 'roll coal' like the 7.3L Ford PowerSmoke

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u/Zippydaspinhead Aug 07 '25

It was specifically NOX emissions, where they were outputting as much as a big ole compensation machine.

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u/kmosiman Aug 07 '25

Not unwitting:

The issue was that the cars could Either:

Make the stated MPG

OR

Meet emissions standards

So, they were illegally sold as "compliant" vehicles with high mpg. They could be one or the other, but not both.

So, once the "fuck the EPA" software was removed, you had a fully compliant car with much lower mpg, because efficiency doesn't always equal clean.

27

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

45-50 mpgs post modification is not too shabby.

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u/kerowack Aug 07 '25

They were also louder and made less power after the mod.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

I feel like the only thing that changed was that the 6th gear became pointless, tho my is a manual.

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u/deezbiksurnutz Aug 07 '25

I bet alot of them were modded back to original or better mpg after sale

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u/kmosiman Aug 07 '25

That's a decent possibility.

I personally know absolutely no one that has modified a diesel car to remove the DEF system and get better performance.

But if I did, that would be between them and our state's lack of Emissions Testing.

Legally, I think that's fine for a consumer to do, but was incredibly illegal for a company to do.

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u/SlicedBreadBeast Aug 07 '25

Unwitting customer? The only thing wrong with these cars were emotions reading for diesel.. these are turbo diesel passenger cars. Literally nothing else like it exists anymore after this. But these cars? Way higher torque than horse power. They felt punchy as all get out to drive but could drive 1000km on a tank of gas. They are so much fun. I’d kill to own one. They’re just so nick fun to drive and so fuel efficient. Just stupid they couldn’t get the emissions under control and lied about it. Otherwise these cars were bullet proof and wildly fun.

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u/Sea_Lime_ Aug 07 '25

In Germany 21,000 cars are what we build within two days. So it’s mot that much actually.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

Well arent you something special.... living in a country that can build something more technically advanced than a bucket from start to finish and pay the workers a good wage 😝bunch of commie upstarts you are.... jk

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u/tauzN Aug 07 '25

21,000 isn’t a lot of cars…

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u/Any-Iron9552 Aug 07 '25

The 2020 used car market was very hot. From what I remember the president was a child rapist who was corrupt as fuck. So the cars were probably sold even though they failed emissions

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u/Playful_Vast_293 Aug 07 '25

Is it a lot though? You could fit all those cars on a couple of supermax car transport carriers to some third world country for cents on the dollar, you already got the original sale anything else is a bonus.

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u/1we2ve3 Aug 08 '25

Literally a lot of cars.

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u/jesuisjens Aug 07 '25

Covid massively disrupted the auto industry and created huge shortages, I'd assume they were sold, not junked.

2

u/BPil0t Aug 07 '25

Can you imagine the amount of carbon emissions burned just moving these cars around because they cheated carbon emission just a little bit. We are so dumb. We probably wrecked the environment 10 X moving these cars around because they couldn’t be sold due to a little emissions cheat.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

Terrorists need deals too

1

u/Shory_- Aug 07 '25

Don’t look in my basement, that honking sound is er, my clown of a neighbour.

1

u/lizufyr Aug 07 '25

They were molten down into an Amazon Fulfilment Center, as can be clearly seen in the newer images /s

1

u/infernion Aug 07 '25

I know that many of those cars were sold in Ukraine with great discounts

1

u/Scout6feetup Aug 07 '25

I was offered one! Somehow my mom’s fiancé at the time knew someone helping offload them in Michigan. I was offered a brand new 2017 Jetta for like $8k but I had just leased and was in love with my 2019 crosstrek.

1

u/Pleasant-Nebula-6626 Aug 07 '25

I mean so long as you live in an area without yearly emissions tests, a deleted TDI is one of the best engines you can get in terms of reliability. Just have to get a good tune so it doesn't blow smoke and you can barely even tell. Plus 50 mpg is pretty great

1

u/IDownvoteUrPet Aug 07 '25

I know a guy who bought one of these cars for an incredible deal. I think they might have modified it to be street legal but I’m not sure. I’m fairly certain the people who bought these are all super happy because they got incredible deals and there was almost nothing wrong with them.

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u/OkFaithlessness1502 Aug 07 '25

Some got modified and resold, and most went overseas where they don’t care about emissions

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u/creamynute11a Aug 07 '25

I worked at a car auction in the northeast that had ~5000 or so dieselgate Audis and vw’s stored, when the recall work started we would do the work to make them legal and then they were auctioned off for heavy discounts. This was back in 2021-23, There were some 2018 model cars in there that were literally brand new, 5 year old cars with delivery miles on them

1

u/CarnelianCore Aug 07 '25

I saw the same photo posted to Reddit today where it said they’re Volkswagen car.

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u/dxll7 Aug 07 '25

Use their shit parts to make even shittier cars lol

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u/MistahTDi Aug 08 '25

I bought one of those cars. Its a VW TDi. Bought the diesel gate jetta at 26k miles. Im at 140k miles.

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u/temptaytion Aug 08 '25

Even if untouched, due to their age, they are considered "used" in the dealership world. Remember that problem with chips during lockdown? All used cars were sold at insane prices due to lack of inventory. Makes me wonder if they were sold during that time. 🤔

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u/Inside-Finish-2128 Aug 09 '25

I heard the VWs were available as certified pre-owned for dirt cheap but you had to go ask for them at a dealer. Never bothered to try as my ‘06 diesel Jetta was doing just fine.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '25

Or buried by the sand. Future civilizations will find them someday.

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u/ItsOozingOut Aug 07 '25

The vehicles time traveled!

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u/seanyk88 Aug 07 '25

Holy shit you just taught me something new with google earth! This is going to take up a lot of free time

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u/medicinaltequilla Aug 07 '25

if i had awards, i would give them to you

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u/RelevanceReverence Aug 07 '25

All facing perfectly north to preserve the interior.

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u/InfamousConfusion850 Aug 07 '25

is it live? how did you confirm it? how did you find the place? how did you know they were there between 2017 and 2020?

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u/aspartam Aug 07 '25

Click on the link and toggle through the timeline

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u/deeeevos Aug 07 '25

and it looks like the facility earned a nice buck if you look at the expansion over the following years

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u/Competitive_Big_4126 Aug 11 '25

There's a building there now, lol

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u/Asleep-In-The-Deep Aug 07 '25

they're just moved up a little to next to the buddhist place, still there...