Volkswagen must upgrade diesel models, says former MLA Ramona Jennex

A former Nova Scotia cabinet minister says she is "extremely unsettled" by Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal that broke over the weekend, having racked up 210,000 kilometres on her 2010 Jetta.

Ramona Jennex served as the New DemocratMLA for Kings South and held several ministerial positions between 2009 and 2013. She says she feels duped now that Volkswagen has revealed it misled the industry and public about how much of an impact their diesel models have on the environment.

"I'm actually still extremely unsettled and I'm trying to find out what's going on," said Jennex.

"I can't say I'm angry. I'm still stunned I hate using that word but it's such an unsettling feeling to find out that you bought something that is absolutely opposite of what you thought you were driving."

Jennex bought the car in November 2009. She used it for work and personal use, she says, because she'd be travelling around Nova Scotia a lot for her new government job.

"I researched the ones that were the best for the environment and I had a choice between a Prius and going back with my Volkswagen diesel. And I chose the VW diesel, the clean diesel because that was the one that was best for emissions. I was told that."

'The value is totally gone'

Volkswagen's CEO Martin Winterkorn recently admitted that around 11 million cars worldwide have software pre-installed designed to fudge the amount of diesel emissions they produce. With some models, actual emissions were as high as 40 times the allowable pollution limits, despite having passed official emissions tests.

The company announced Winterkorn would step down on Wednesday.

At this point, Jennex is hoping Volkswagen officials will be in touch with diesel car owners.

"I would like to have it upgraded to make sure that the emissions are lower. If not, I feel I'm driving something that's not what I thought I was driving. They have to come good with fixing the cars, or I feel that they should take the car back.

"I actually think my car the value is totally gone."

Jennex, who lives in Coldbrook, N.S., says she has to continue driving it because it's her only car.

"I live in a rural community. I don't have access where I live to transit. I would have to drive to get to the public transportation system that we have here in the Valley."

The German automaker said it will set aside 6.5 billion euros ($9.6 billion Cdn) in its current quarter to deal with repairs and other service issues related to the recall.