When the police try to sell an illegal emissions-deleted truck, this is what happens.
According to the Arkansas Times, Sharp County Sheriff Shane Russell posted a 2015 GMC Sierra 2500 HD to Facebook marketplace with the description clearly stating that it is “deleted and tuned.” In all fairness, the Sharp County Sheriff didn’t write the EPA laws on emissions, but they certainly are empowered to enforce them. The leader of the local sheriff’s department owning an illegal truck while simultaneously enforcing the law is a bit rich, if we’re being honest.
Deleted and tuned simply refers to the fact that truck’s factory emissions equipment has been deleted and the truck was tuned to a different specification from factory. Typically, modern diesel trucks have diesel particulate filters (DPF), selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems that add complexity and serious long-term servicing costs to otherwise simple pickup trucks. Folks delete the equipment primarily to reduce complexity and improve reliability, though some extra power is a side effect, too.
The listing has since been deleted, but the truck was listed for $38,500, which is $12,000 more than book value for a truck with similar miles. Besides the fact that the Sheriff was selling it, it looked like a nice truck with 157,000 miles, and the fact that it is emissions deleted is a positive in resale. And maybe the fact that the County’s leading lawman was selling it meant you could get some unofficial brownie points with the local cops. But when folks are getting nabbed with big fines for doing the same thing, it isn’t a great look.
