The record $15.3 billion settlement in the Volkswagen diesel-emissions cheating scandal will affect nearly 30,000 vehicles sold in Illinois, as well as thousands of owners who went from brand loyalists to betrayed.

Some owners can’t wait to sell their cars back to VW, ending a nightmare that turned their beloved and peppy “clean diesel” cars into a source of driveway shame. Others have mixed feelings after years of good if illicit performance and are mulling a modification option, but worry their cars will never be the same after going under the knife.

“I don’t know what the fix is going to be,” said Jamie Dihiansan, 41, a graphic designer from Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood on the North Side, who owns a 2013 VW Golf TDI.

“The thing I love about the TDI is it’s fun to drive — there’s a lot of torque and pickup,” he said. “That’s why I’m thinking buyback.”

Volkswagen admitted that its 2009-15 TDI diesel cars were programmed to cheat emissions testing protocols. The $14.7 billion settlement with consumers and federal agencies, announced Tuesday, is the biggest payout by an automaker in U.S. history. Volkswagen will also pay $600 million to settle with 44 states, including Illinois.

The German automaker will spend about $10 billion to offer buybacks or lease terminations for nearly 500,000 2.0-liter diesel cars sold in the U.S., using retail valuations from September 2015 — before the emissions scandal became public. In addition, the company will spend $4.7 billion to combat pollution and invest in green vehicle technology.

Affected VW owners will receive between $5,100 and $10,000 in compensation, according to the Federal Trade Commission, in addition to the buyback or emissions fix by the automaker.

The payout in Illinois could be more than $275 million, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Tuesday. That total includes $28.9 million for violations of Illinois’ Consumer Fraud Act, $97 million through a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency, and $150 million in consumer restitution.

“Volkswagen deliberately defrauded its consumers and polluted our environment while promoting its cars as clean diesel vehicles,” Madigan said in a news release. “This settlement is the result of the company’s deliberate misconduct and egregious corporate consumer fraud.”

In September, Peter Haralovich became one of the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed against Volkswagen in federal court in Chicago over the emission scandal, and plans to take the buyback.

Haralovich, 67, a Chicago and Indiana resident, owns a 2010 Jetta TDI Cup edition, a special race-inspired performance model. He bought the car for about $28,000 from Gurley-Leep Volkswagen near South Bend, Ind.

A former VW mechanic, Haralovich said he has owned about a dozen of the manufacturer’s cars over the years. While he is pleased with the settlement, he recently switched allegiances to another German automaker in the wake of the emissions scandal.

“I’m angry at Volkswagen, and so I just bought a BMW,” he said.

He nonetheless believes the settlement represents a good faith effort to make things right, enough so that he may come back to the brand some day. But wary of a compromise in performance and fuel efficiency with the fix, he is ready to turn his VW in for the buyback “sooner rather than later.”

David Mann, 40, a software engineer from Evanston, owns a well-traveled 2010 Jetta SportWagen TDI with nearly 130,000 miles on it. His wife, Danielle Maglinte, logged many of those miles while selling speech-generating devices across northern Illinois.

They bought the car for about $33,000 from Autobarn Volkswagen in Evanston.

VW to pay over $15.3 billion in settlement

German automaker Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay more than $15.3 billion in a settlement with U.S. regulators over pollution caused by its diesel vehicles, according to a source briefed on the matter. (Reuters)

German automaker Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay more than $15.3 billion in a settlement with U.S. regulators over pollution caused by its diesel vehicles, according to a source briefed on the matter. (Reuters)

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German automaker Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay more than $15.3 billion in a settlement with U.S. regulators over pollution caused by its diesel vehicles, according to a source briefed on the matter. (Reuters)

German automaker Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay more than $15.3 billion in a settlement with U.S. regulators over pollution caused by its diesel vehicles, according to a source briefed on the matter. (Reuters)

“We knew we were going to be putting a ton of miles on it, so fuel efficiency and low emissions were two of the things we looked at,” Mann said.

Mann said the car was purchased with the best of intentions, but as the cheating scandal unfolded, it became something of an embarrassment. He said other VW diesel owners that used to talk about their diesel cars with pride, now avoid talking about the dirty secret that has led to the emissions scandal.

“It’s kind of a silent shame, I guess,” he said.

He plans to take the buyback and “just wants to be rid” of the VW, which now sits mostly idle in the driveway since his wife returned to school. While they considered doing without a car entirely, he said they will likely buy another car from a different automaker, something with “verifiably low emissions.”

Mann, who joined a class action suit against VW, said the buyback settlement may make him whole, but he felt there should have been more restitution for the environmental damage done.

“I feel like the harm that was done to me is probably addressed adequately by this package,” he said. “Was the harm to the planet addressed? I’m not so convinced.”

Dihiansan paid about $30,000 for his 2013 Golf TDI, which now has about 26,000 miles on it. He said he is happy with the settlement offer, which is more than he thought it would be. He is ready to turn the car in through the buyback — if his wife concurs.

His other vehicle is a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has been recalled for a flawed shifter at the center of a number of accident investigations, including the recent death of “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin.

Despite his bad luck at choosing cars, Dihiansan may be looking to turn his buyback money into a new one, with a familiar nameplate.

“I might actually just get another Volkswagen, which is kind of ironic,” he said.