On a spring day in 2015, criminal lawyer Robyn Richardson was driving her Audi A3 down a Sydney freeway when she heard news that nearly made her slam on the brakes.
The radio was abuzz with reports that international car manufacturer Volkswagen had been accused by US authorities of cheating on emissions tests for thousands of its vehicles, including Audi and Skoda models that it makes.
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"My stomach just dropped and in that moment I felt entirely impotent, I felt completely deceived," Ms Richardson said.
"I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought I had got the next best thing to a hybrid."
Both Audi and its parent Volkswagen are subject to class actions filed on behalf of people who have bought one of the affected cars.
Ms Richardson, a criminal lawyer, is the lead plaintiff in the Maurice Blackburn class action against Audi. The law firm alleges on behalf of affected Audi drivers that the company misled and deceived customers.
It turned out her much-loved car was a "dirty diesel" as she puts it – one of 12,000 affected Audis in Australia that were impacted by the car company's alleged plan to rort emissions testing regimes by using software so the car appeared green in lab conditions but wasn't on the road.
Cold comfort
A spokesman for Audi Australia said the company had offered technical measures (or "fixes" as they are commonly known) to improve the vehicles' emissions performance to be in line with the promises it made on the sale of the vehicles.
But for Ms Richardson a fix is cold comfort.
"Here is the crux of it for me - I would have never purchased the vehicle," Ms Richardson says.
"I would have never purchased the vehicle knowing that they were lying and knowing that they were tricking everyone.
"They've lost me as a customer, I don't trust them."
ACCC action
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took action against Audi for misleading and deceptive conduct. The suit follows earlier action by the ACCC against Volkswagen.
Ms Richardson – who like many Audi drivers is affluent – said she joined the class action because it allowed her to participate in a larger claim against Audi that would hold the company to account for its alleged misleading and deceptive conduct.
"No individual could take these guys on," Ms Richardson said.
"These companies are just running this thing until they think the other side will give up. This wouldn't be running without the class action process in Australia."
Cases settle
On Friday, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements as part of a $US4.3 billion ($5.7 billion) settlement with the US Department of Justice over "dieselgate".
Other class actions in the US tied to the emissions scandal have also been settled.
However, the company has not made any admissions in Australia in its battles with the ACCC over similar allegations levelled here by the regulator.
A spokesman for Audi Australia said its customers were its highest priority.
"Audi is confident in the effectiveness of the technical measures, based on the experience of approximately 3 million customers worldwide, across the various Volkswagen Group brands, who have had the technical measures implemented to date," the spokesman said.
The spokesman also rejected allegations it was trying to stall the class action process, pointing out that the greater group was facing five complex class action suits in Australia.