Bad news for the American ‘aftermarket’. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared war on those devices with which the ECU parameters can be modified. This body has put in check all companies that manufacture and sell devices for modifying and eliminating vehicle emissions. A warning serious enough that eBay nipped in the bud the sale of all item related components.
It all started when a user commented, in a Facebook group, that he was trying to post an ad featuring a Hondata device. When he tried to upload it to the platform to sell it, eBay informed him that he had found an error: the item in question was prohibited. The message he received was this: “eBay does not currently allow any tuners (regardless of purpose) to ensure compliance with our policy that prohibits the sale of broadcast tampering or nulling devices. Don’t include it again.”
The forbidden list
The story came up Road and Track, who researched the facts and came across various limitations around performance-related ‘aftermarket’ products. Yes, eBay is no longer (for US drivers) a place to look for certain accessories for their cars.
The e-commerce giant has quietly limited the sale of devices to improve a vehicle’s performance while at the same time modifying or overriding certain emission controls. It’s unclear when this policy went into effect, but it appears that the inclusion of all of these items on eBay’s restricted items list is relatively recent. This is what it says in their policy: “Products that bypass, override, or render inoperative emission control systems are not permitted. either stand-alone or combined with other hardware or software”.
EBay’s position is so strong that even has expressly prohibited the sale of the following articles on your platform:
- Devices that modify the performance of any vehicle.
- Control units that are not standard and that include a kit to electronically modify the fuel injection
- Parts for the engine or for the exhaust intended for competition or the express preparation of 4×4
- Devices to modify the engine maps and change the fuel management (active or dynamic) or deactivate the ‘start and stop’ system
- Interlock devices for systems that control emissions
- Products that remove catalytic converter components, such as parts of the catalytic converter itself, diesel particulate filters or AdBlue
- Controllers to vary throttle response
- Devices that eliminate the exhaust valve
- Devices intended to circumvent or reduce the flow that reaches the oxygen sensor or lambda probe
The sanctions
To justify the decision taken, eBay alludes to an alert that the Environmental Protection Agency published in 2020 remembering that the devices for deactivation and manipulation of emissions from the ‘aftermarket’ were illegal. Historically, EPA has primarily focused on systems for diesel vehicles. However, some states (such as California) began to include, at the individual level, all software for the switchboard that was not approved.
If the authorities determine that eBay violates this premise, the company runs the risk of receiving a fine of more than 4,800 dollars (4,600 euros, according to the current exchange rate) for each file. The truth is that it is still possible to find some of these devices on the platform, so we assume that either they have gone unnoticed or the company is still making adjustments in the application of this policy.
Thus, those American drivers who are looking for a way to improve the performance of their vehicles with ‘aftermarket’ elements will have to resort to other websites such as PayPal, Facebook Marketplace or some forums, where the sale of These articles. Yes indeed, the legality of its use will continue to be a problem.
