Man Scraps Modified Diesel Truck After Gov’t Determines It’s Illegal Through Facebook Marketplace Listing

A New Jersey man listed his modified 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 on Facebook Marketplace. Shortly after the listing, he received a letter from the state government to restore the exhaust to factory stock or face fines (or worse, have the truck crushed), reported The Drive. 

Over the summer, Mike Sebold listed the truck on Facebook Marketplace. He included information in the listing that the Ram 2500 had been “deleted,” a common reference by diesel truck lovers who have their emission control devices removed to increase horsepower and torque. However, such a conversion leads to more environmentally unfriendly emissions and results in the truck not being suitable for roadways due to the state’s strict emission rules. 

Weeks after the listing went live, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) notified Sebold that his truck was flagged and the exhaust would need to be restored to the factory setting to meet the state’s emissions compliance. He said parts and labor to get the truck back to compliance would be more than $10,000. 

“Just a heads up for anyone listing diesel trucks on Facebook don’t put all the details and don’t trust the people asking questions about your truck. Just found out a few minutes ago that if I don’t spend about $10,000 to set a truck back to stock I’ll be going to jail in 60 days 👍🏻. A truck I did not delete I bought it that way. What a free country we live in 😂. Also just found out it’s illegal to sell the truck too. So it’s literally thousands of dollars or jail 👍🏻,” Sebold posted on Jul. 25. 

Sebold said he de-registered the truck though it wasn’t enough to satisfy the DEP, who gave him a Sept. 25 deadline to fix the truck or destroy it. 

“After exhausting seemingly every option to save his pickup without spending thousands on repairs, he elected to comply. At the time of publishing, the truck is set to be crushed Friday, Sept. 16,” The Drive said. 

According to DEP, “Mr. Sebold has informed the Department that he intends to bring his truck to a scrap yard on Sept. 16 and have it destroyed, although the Department has explained to Mr. Sebold on multiple occasions that the Department would extend the 60-day deadline cited in compliance requirements to give him time to make the necessary repairs to the truck and return it to full New Jersey emissions compliance… Mr. Sebold has made the decision to scrap his truck, despite DEP offering him other options.”

Sebold told The Drive that DEP never visited or inspected the truck in person. He believes DEP decided to flag the truck based on the Facebook Marketplace listing. An overreaching state government agency has weaponized a social media platform to combat tighter and tighter environmental restrictions on gas/diesel-powered vehicles.  

Before the crushing, Sebold appears to have parted out the truck. He called DEP “scumbags.” 

The surveillance state is watching…