Three weeks after news of the scandal first broke, Volkswagen's Australian division has broken its silence - confirming more than 90,000 cars sold here are affected.
The new car smell had barely worn off Graham Patrick's Skoda Yeti when he got some bad news.
His is one of 90,000 cars Australia-wide caught up in Volkswagen's so-called "cheat fleet".
"Very disappointed because VW has such a good global name. It's that aspect of the environmental emissions that's really of concern: that was one of the things we took into account when we made the purchase."
The company has admitted it installed software in up to 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide which allowed them to dodge pollution tests.
The NRMA's Peter Koury has criticised the company's Australian division for taking three weeks to give customers information about whether their cars are affected.
"Effectively we have had people's cars lying to them since 2009, and the very things they are lying about strike at the heart of the decision-making process when it comes to buying a car."
Affected models in Australia include almost 55,000 Volkswagen passenger cars, including some of the most popular diesel models.
Also affected are more than 17,000 Volkswagen commercial vehicles and more than 5,000 Skodas.
Subsidiary Audi says more than 14,000 of its cars are also affected.
The car maker has announced plans to begin repairs in January and finish by the end of next year.
However Matt Levey, from consumer group Choice, says the so-called "technical fix" may cause even more problems.
"By fixing the emissions performance of the car, the air pollution, it could actually mean the car performs less well. You might have a situation where consumers have actually bought these vehicles under a certain expectation of performance, of fuel efficiency, of the power of the vehicle, and that's no longer the case."
Andrew Watson, from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, says more than 1,000 Australians have already indicated they'd join a class action.
"A class action is almost inevitable. It beggars belief that Volkswagen got itself into this situation. But it adds insult to injury, having announced a recall, it's said nothing about compensation to affected vehicle owners."
With the company facing criticism over its slow response, SBS called Volkswagen Australia's public "recall information" line, and the call was placed in a queue for more than an hour.
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