Diesel Defeat Devices: No More Fines!

Issue #180 

We hope everyone is safe out there with the strong storms striking all over the country. 

Today, we discuss diesel defeat devices, and the major change around them.

Or, you can continue to read by scrolling down.

Market News

• It turns out that Volvo hasn’t given up on wagons just yet. Here’s more. 

• BMW will keep the V8 and V12 engines alive for this reason. 

• Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has been gone for months, but still people bash his name. Was he really that bad? 

• Hyundai’s new Ioniq 9 counters every anti-EV argument, but is it worth the hype?

• Subaru will provide drivers with a “simulated manual transmission” in a future EV. Here’s more, although it sounds lame. 

Safety and Recalls

• Nissan has issued a voluntary recall of over 26,000 vehicles because a door could cause crashes. 

• Toyota recalls 162,000 Tundras due to a malfunctioning multimedia display. 

• Genesis recalls almost 84,000 vehicles because the instrument cluster ceases to work.

Car Culture

• A new “kill switch” law is causing controversy. Here’s why. 

• Is the firewall against Chinese cars cracking? This article explains why it could be happening. 

• These SUVs have the most fatalities per mile. The Nissan Kicks is at number ten, and can you guess the first place?

• These are the most reliable luxury SUVs you can buy, per generation. 

• Will Ford bring back sedans? It’s likely, according to the company’s CEO. 

Video Of The Week

Here are 15 cars that mechanics would never buy. Do you agree? (The comments are very enlightening).

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In The Know

Diesel Delete Devices Are Home Free!

Getting a $1 million fine surely sucks, but that’s what used to happen if you tampered with emissions. Just ask the guys over at GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance. Their accountant surely had a headache when he saw the fine come in back in 2023. If you want to learn more about the case, you can read this article. 

The message was clear back then, and the company was breaking the law: you couldn’t tamper with diesel emissions, especially by using defeat devices (something Volkswagen knows a lot about). 

All stories followed a familiar script: a company worked on aftermarket deletes, turning pickup trucks into 19th century locomotives. Authorities tracked them down and handed over a hefty fine. Then, creators took to social media to discuss the topic about smoke stacks spewing into the sky. 

Fast forward to today, and the tone has changed dramatically.

According to new reporting from Autoblog, the Department of Justice has quietly shifted its stance. Federal prosecutors will no longer pursue criminal charges for diesel defeat devices, deletes, or tuning modifications. Civil enforcement remains on the table, but the era of high-profile criminal cases appears to be over.

That distinction matters more than it might sound. Sure, it might mean that there are no longer such hefty fines, but it also means that jail is also no longer a possibility. 

Under the previous approach, diesel shops and individuals faced the possibility of criminal prosecution—meaning jail time, asset seizures, and business-ending legal costs. Even if most cases ended in fines, the threat itself was enough to chill the aftermarket diesel industry. Shops closed. Tuners disappeared. Owners went underground.

Now, the DOJ is effectively saying: this is no longer a criminal priority.

The reasoning is partly practical, as this article explains. Criminal cases are expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to prosecute. Proving intent, tracing software changes, and tying them directly to emissions violations is not easy.

At the same time, federal resources are increasingly stretched thin, and enforcement priorities are shifting toward issues with broader public impact.

What this does not mean is that diesel deletes are suddenly legal.

The EPA can still issue civil penalties. The Clean Air Act is still in force. Manufacturers and large-scale operations that sell or install defeat devices remain exposed to fines and injunctions. But for individual owners and smaller shops, the risk profile has clearly changed. 

The hammer is still there—it’s just smaller, slower, and far less likely to swing.

For the diesel community, this move will likely be seen as a relief, if not a full victory. Over the past decade, diesel owners have felt increasingly targeted, even as enforcement often focused on enthusiast-level modifications rather than major industrial polluters. This policy shift signals a more pragmatic, less punitive approach.

What are your thoughts? Let us know with a comment! 

It also reflects a broader reality in the automotive world: regulation ebbs and flows. What once looked like an all-out crackdown has softened into selective enforcement. That doesn’t mean the rules disappeared—it means the consequences are evolving.

For now, diesel owners should read this for what it is: not a green light, but a yellow one. The DOJ stepping back from criminal prosecutions changes the landscape, but it doesn’t erase the law. As always, understanding the difference may be the most important mod you can make.