LONDON — A loyal Volkswagen owner for years, Jane Kelley was “shocked,” she says, by recent revelations that the German company had cheated on emissions tests in the United States.

Snug in Ms. Kelley’s garage in North London recently was a white 2013 Passat powered by a 2-liter diesel engine. The company says that as many as 11 million of its cars — Volkswagens, Audis, Skodas and SEATs with diesel engines — were equipped with software designed to fool emissions testers.

But as disturbed as she was to learn that Volkswagen had cheated, Ms. Kelley does not necessarily want anything done about it. “Are they going to take my car away and fiddle with the engine?” she said with a worried tone, as she served tea in her sunlit dining room.

As with at least some European diesel drivers, Ms. Kelley is in no hurry to abandon the car just because it may spew more noxious fumes than she originally thought. “I do feel that it is a very safe car,” she said. She also admires the acceleration of the turbocharged diesel, which she credits with helping her recently escape a potential hazard. “There was a guy weaving, maybe drunk, so I just shot by,” she recalled.