More than 200,000 Volkswagen and Audi TDI owners have registered to participate in the settlement program and most of them have chosen the buyback option, says lead plaintiff’s attorney Elizabeth Cabraser.

TDI owners have the choice of selling their cars back to VW AG for their pre-scandal value plus compensation, or receiving a free fix (should one be made available) plus compensation.

Cabraser didn’t give a specific breakdown of how many owners chose the buyback, but that’s still a high rate of engagement for a settlement that was only given preliminary approval about a month ago. According to Deborah Hensler, a law professor at Stanford who spoke to Automotive news , that’s a “huge number in a relatively short period of time.”

Buying the cars back is the more expensive option for Volkswagen AG, but the automaker believes it can come up with a relatively inexpensive solution for these engines to get emissions back to within legal limits without adversely affecting fuel economy or performance.

Cabraser admitted that drivers may have a change of heart if a government-approved fix can be found, reports Automotive News.

While nearly half of the 475,000 TDI owners in the US have registered for settlement about 235 have actually opted out.

If you're a TDI owner and haven't yet registered or have any questions about the settlement, visit  vwcourtsettlement.com  for more information.

[ source: Automotive News ]