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US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

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Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't just 100K trucks. I drive a 2013 VW diesel, and this year the warranty covered an EGR and a DPF, which is exactly the kind of thing deletes remove from the vehicle. That's about $6K in work on a vehicle I paid $14K for a couple of years ago. Next time, when it is out of warranty, should I take the car to the junk yard? Or delete them and never have another issue? Which is really better for the planet? Before…

You're lucky it was under warranty (I'm assuming it's an extended warranty). Most manufacturers are only covering those items for 36 months. Imagine if the warranty was a federal minimum 300k miles/20 years. I bet they would design the components so the labor time is zero to replace them.

Extended warranty.

When Dieselgate was happening, my understanding is that you were offered a couple of options.

One was to sell back the car. The other was to keep the car, do the fix, and accept an extra 10(?) years of fairly comprehensive warranty. It transferred ownership, which made them fairly attractive as a used car, which is why I have one.

Has saved me literal thousands at this point, but after owning it a couple of years, I understand why everybody was happy to sell them back. They're junk, and the dealership experience leaves something to be desired too.

Some of these warranty claims have had me running back and forth to the dealership. My record is 7 trips before they got it right.

Another dealership left it spraying fuel all over the engine bay. That was a good time.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#262
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think “harmful to public health” is a consideration. Pretty much every country with a functioning government requires RF certification for electronics, but especially radio transmitters. It's never going to be worth hunting down individual buyers or hassling tourists, but selling is another thing.

Cell phones do have emitted energy regulations based on estimated tissue absorption. And they vary country to country (some countries even further regulate them near schools & other locations). If they were causing harmful interference, I’d like to think they would be harder-headed about it.

> Cell phones do have emitted energy regulations based on estimated tissue absorption

The real reason everyone does RF certification is to make sure the radio isn't screaming in others' bands.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#264

My experience is that eBay screws up their filters and wayyy overfilters. The Canadian government has some secret spat with Xiaomi cellphones and got eBay, newegg and Amazon to stop their sale. They weren’t approved for sale in Canada, but I suspect some other reasoning for targeting a Chinese manufacturer in particular and not all the other unapproved products. However, eBay just blocked anything with “xiaomi” in th…

During COVID I reported a bajillion eBay sellers for selling masks above MSRP, they did nothing.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> pollute as much as 10,000 modified diesel trucks This is insanely hyperbolic. A Cessna Citation I carries 564 gallons of fuel, with which it can travel ~1,500 miles - 2.7mpg. A Ford F-250 carries 48 gallons of fuel, with which it can travel ~700 miles - 14mpg. It's not even 10x.

Good thing Cessna citations are only used to travel as far as an F-250 travels /s

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#266
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived in Portland for years - and it's the same. Even if you did get someone on the phone, I doubt anything would happen. There's tons of cars without plates, mufflers, windshields, etc. driving around that the police don't care about.

Another upside to living in the flyover states I guess? I can get multiple people up to the mayor on the line.

I fear Oregon may become a flyover state. I was at a local meetup (though admittedly, all tech centric) in Portland and there was consistent joking about how Oregon is what you see when you're traveling between Seattle and California or California and Seattle.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#267

My understanding is that such parts are not by themselves illegal. The crime is actually using them on the road. My understanding was that they were legal for track purposes. I would never want to say that people should be able to defeat emissions, but a part of me does not like the idea that every vehicle owner is beholden to the OEM for parts in perpetuity. The "right to repair" people should be all over this fight…

I for one love that BMW built the catalytic converters into the exhaust manifolds on my car, meaning that the only CARB-viable route outside of gambling on used units is a $10k replacement.

You forgot the /s.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Private jets don't use leaded gas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel No amount of cherry picking is gonna get you to the 10,000x number upthread.

> No amount of cherry picking is gonna get you to the 10,000x number I cherry-pick "5 miles in a F-150" vs "5000 miles in a Citation." Cherry-pick complete.

And I nit pick your cherry pick on the grounds that 1000x miles * 5.2x efficiency ratio only gets you to 5200x, far short of 10K

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the reasoning and am all for mitigating pollution. It may be frustrating for consumers when these systems have potential to decrease economy, performance, and reliability while increasing cost and maintenance.

In the case of the DEF it absolutely reduces the lifespan of the engine. A truck engine that could last 500K miles lasts 200K max. Factor a second or third engine (whole new truck) and the energy and pollution to produce it and DEF looks not as great. Vehicles and engines that last 25 years are easy to build yet they are rare outside of commerical and military. The whole argument is disengenuous and proceeds from an…

That DEF is insanely toxic, too. I rented a diesel truck for moving and everyone got passing-out sick just moving things in and out of the back of it.

Re: US sues eBay for allowing sale of emissions defeat devices

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> pollute as much as 10,000 modified diesel trucks This is insanely hyperbolic. A Cessna Citation I carries 564 gallons of fuel, with which it can travel ~1,500 miles - 2.7mpg. A Ford F-250 carries 48 gallons of fuel, with which it can travel ~700 miles - 14mpg. It's not even 10x.

It’s not just about mpg. It’s about pollutants emitted.
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