— A VW Car-Net 3G sunset class action lawsuit alleges the Car-Net service stopped working when AT&T phased out 3G wireless technology.
With Volkswagen Car-Net not working, vehicle owners lost internet-enabled roadside emergency safety features.
In 2014, Volkswagen began offering its Car-Net connected services based on 3G-only telematic systems in a million of these vehicles.
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Passat
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Jetta
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Tiguan
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Beetle
- 2014-2017 Volkswagen EOS
- 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas
- 2018-2019 Volkswagen Arteon
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Golf, e-Golf, Golf R
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen GTI
- 2014-2019 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
- 2014-2018 Volkswagen CC
New York plaintiff Michael L. Raffo purchased a 2015 Volkswagen GTI equipped with 3G technology that is now allegedly useless, a problem caused not by wireless carriers but by automakers such as Volkswagen.
Lawsuit Alleges VW Knew Car-Net Would Become Obsolete
VW allegedly installed 3G telematics but failed to design a system capable of adapting to the next generation of wireless services.
According to the class action lawsuit, wireless carriers began planning their upgrades to 4G LTE in August 2009 and VW knew Car-Net would stop working once 3G wireless became obsolete.
The plaintiff asserts the VW vehicles were equipped with 3G telematics (modems) but by 2014 3G was already being replaced by 4G LTE.
Volkswagen owners were allegedly never warned their Car-Net would stop working and how the service was really only temporary because VW refused to design a system that could be upgraded.
"Defendants could have but chose not to design build or install telematics with downloadable software or physical spare parts which could allow the devices to continue to connect to wireless 'generations' following 3G. Defendants had the capability to retrofit its 3G telematics and did so once 3G became the prevalent technology, but refused to design the 3G telematics to be retrofitted." — VW 3G sunset lawsuit
The plaintiff contends Volkswagen could have manufactured the vehicles with the ability for Car-Net to be upgraded, but the automaker allegedly didn't do that because of the cost.
"Beginning February 22, 2022, AT&T, the wireless network provider for VW Car-Net, will discontinue its 3G wireless network. This means that the VW Car-Net telematics system on most 2014-2019 Volkswagen models will no longer function and the vehicle will no longer transmit or receive telematics data through the Car-Net system." — VW Car-Net website
The website goes on to say that depending on the vehicle model year, "Volkswagen has identified technical solutions that will continue to offer telematics services."
The VW Car-Net 3G sunset class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey: Michael L. Raffo v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Squitieri & Fearon, LLP.
The Volkswagen 3G sunset lawsuit joins other 3G sunset class actions against BMW, Ford and Porsche.
