S3 Magazine's video: EPA targets Ebay

Sometime low-key earlier this year, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) stopped Ebay Motors from selling any automotive products that could be deemed as ’emissions defeating’. That includes aftermarket hardware & software: Tuners, race exhausts, standalone ECUs, air/fuel management devices, etc. Ebay had virtually no choice in the matter, it was an ultimatum: Stop selling these products…. or face fines of ~$4,800 for any part sold from January 2020. Considering Ebay’s substantial foothold in the marketplace as a used & NEW retailer, this could be one of the biggest blows to the automotive aftermarket ever. And it went off without hardly a peep. GUYS – THE EPA HAS TURNED UP THE HEAT TO INTOLERABLE. This has gone way past a genuine concern for our planet, and this is now about door-kicking, control, & submission. And after all the dust has settled, don’t be fooled, this is NOT about the environment (repeat that as many times as necessary). This is about control, power, & forced obedience. And it ends with big government elites controlling transportation for their own profit & power. The EPA has a bafflingly accurate name for it, it’s called the National Compliance Initiative. Make no mistake, this is what is oppression looks like. Comply… or else. NICHE MODIFIED VEHICLES ARE NOT THE GLOBAL CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE. Not even close. In many cases, they’re secondary recreational vehicles. And in fact – they produce no emissions whatsoever unless they’re being used. Meanwhile – a new EV creates a GIANT carbon footprint before it ever travels its first mile. But the government is not pursuing the truth or common sense here, because again, this is not about the planet. This is a witch-hunt. And it’s happening because car culture is a voice of knowledge & reasoning in the midst a political EV agenda that is contingent on mass ignorance & adaptation. Give that a minute to sink in. LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS… THE EPA IS ATTACKING YOUR FREEDOMS. And they are using ‘the environment’ as a fabricated basis to do it. The serious question is: Are we too late to stop it? The EPA & big government is hurting legitimate automotive aftermarket businesses in this country. Crushing entrepreneurs. Stepping in & interfering with businesses & customers. Squeezing business owners. And making it needlessly difficult for them to 'legally' provide for their families… and/or the families of their employees. Where does this stop? Who’s next on the EPA’s list? IT’S IMPORTANT TO MENTION… If you go to Ebay’s site today, it’s still not difficult to find items for sale that have the potential to defeat emissions. That didn’t make sense. So we reached out to Ebay & got the same generic response they gave to Road & Track, “eBay prohibits the sale of items that bypass, defeat or render inoperative emission-control systems under the Defeat Device Policy and an EPA Enforcement Alert.“ BUT WHAT EBAY IS SAYING DOESN’T SEEM TO BE WHAT EBAY IS DOING. Which begs the question: Is Ebay’s legal statement above just the new & improved *For off-road use only* clause? As long as the seller isn’t using ‘certain keywords’ in the posting, and as long as the buyer is taking full responsibility… are we good to go? If you go back & read Ebay’s Defeat Device Policy, that seems to be the case. In other words, it seems like Ebay is just making blanket statements to cover-their-ass & take the blame/liability off their shoulders? If so, we’re all unanimously fine with that lol. After all – what a buyer ultimately does with a product… is their business. At least it should should be. Some vehicles don’t ever see public streets (race cars), some counties do not have emissions testing, and some vehicles actually run much cleaner with an ‘emissions defeating’ tune, etc. The list of individual scenarios goes on & on. And at some point, the EPA loses authority to enforce every individual use. So if we all just need to do our little dance for now, that’s fine. BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE EPA IS ABUSING THEIR POWER. They would love nothing more than to come into every one of your garages & sniff every one of your exhausts. In concept, the EPA serves to put guidelines on big industries & make sure big corporations with big environmental impacts stay on the up & up. That seems acceptable & in our best interests. But when the EPA starts attacking niche industries & hobbyists, they need to be checked & balanced. Nearly every product on this earth exists at the result of emissions. The shoes you walk on. The electronic devices you read this on. The homes that the EPA agents sleep in. All of it. So where do we draw the line? My advice to you all – is to stop believing this is about the planet, and start realizing this is about control & compliance. The sooner the better. •Download our free App•