In message , at 11:45:13 on
Sat, 3 Oct 2015, Tim Streater remarked:

but only using cheat mode when being tested.

At the moment, but one possible (but I believe unlikely - it's going to
be an Adblue retrofit I suspect) outcome of the recall is to have the
vehicle in that mode permanently.

So no longer becomes a cheat?

If you wish to confuse the issue with questions like that, go ahead.

The car does, however, remain in the so-called "cheat mode",
permanently.

Meaning that there *is* some point to the recall - which is where we
came in.

Yes, there's undoubtedly some point in the recall, over and above
"something must be done - this is something - we must do it".

What appears to be still deeply mired in fog-of-war is what the recall
will actually modify.

There are two schools of thought

- new software configurations (such as being permanently in the
"I'm being tested" mode)

- retrofitting an AdBlue kit (which is mechanically[1] fairly
trivial because more recently supplied models of the exact same
vehicles, but with Euro6 engines, will have those fitted as
standard).

[1] But there's the loss of boot-space and the need to buy the fluid to
cope with. If VW don't want to compound the felony they'll offer free
top-ups to these vehicles, after all the raw material cost is virtually
zero, and the industry is currently scamming their customers by claiming
to need incredibly expensive plastic bottles to deliver it in.
--
Roland Perry