Cobb Tuning’s $2.9M Fine Fires Another Warning Shot At Emissions Cheats

There’s a very good chance you’ve heard of Cobb Tuning. For many years, the company has been marketing and selling ECU tunes and other performance upgrades for a dizzying array of vehicles, particularly Subarus. It claims its ‘Accessport’ device “is the world’s best selling, most flexible, and easiest to use ECU upgrade solution.” Turns out, Cobb’s been selling emissions ‘defeat devices’ that violate the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice have announced they’ve reached a settlement with the tuner to pay a civil penalty of $2.914 million for products it sells that bypass, defeat, or render emissions control systems inoperative. The only reason Cobb hasn’t been fined more is that it showed an inability to pay for a larger penalty amount.

Read: North Carolina Shop Fined $10M For Selling Diesel Emissions Defeat Devices

The EPA has revealed that since 2015, Cobb manufactured and sold over 81,000 tuners for gasoline-powered vehicles that change the computer programming inside a vehicle to disable emissions controls or alter engine performance. It also sold more than 8,400 exhaust pipes that either contained fewer three-way catalysts than the OEM systems or replaced these cats with aftermarket ones that were not as effective. Cobb’s systems work with BMW, Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, and VW models, among others.

A consent decree will force the Texas-based company to pay $2.914 million in four installments, plus interest, over three years. It’s claimed the firm’s systems resulted in increased emissions of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants. The company must stop selling these devices and can only continue to sell tuners and tunes that have undergone an engineering evaluation and have been proven not to increase emissions above allowable levels.

It’s bad news for owners of vehicles with Cobb tunes, too. The company must force updates to end-users to remove emissions defeat features, cease providing technical support, and deny all warranty claims for any defeat devices. All Cobb employees must destroy any defeat devices they have.

According to the EPA, COBB Tuning is obligated to comply with the following:

• Remove any delete features from its custom tuning software and, to the extent possible, force updates to end-users to remove the delete features;
• Destroy any defeat devices remaining in its possession;
• Cease providing technical support for any defeat device products;
• Deny all warranty claims for any defeat device products;
• Instruct authorized dealers to no longer provide technical support or honor warranty claims pertaining to any defeat device products;
• Revise all marketing materials to strike any information relating to replacing, defeating, bypassing, or rendering inoperative any emission control;
• Not sell or transfer any intellectual property associated with any defeat device products;
• Revise all marketing materials to strike any information relating to replacing, defeating, bypassing, or rendering inoperative any emission control;
• Notify authorized dealers and known customers of any defeat device products of the settlement using specified language that informs the authorized dealers and known customers that the products at issue violate the Clean Air Act;
• Notify COBB Tuning’s officers and employees of the Clean Air Act prohibitions using specified language which explains the Clean Air Act’s defeat device prohibition;
• Request that COBB Tuning’s employees forfeit any aftermarket defeat devices in their possession and require that its officers forfeit, permanently delete and uninstall, and destroy any aftermarket defeat devices in their possession;
• Require COBB Tuning to offer to buy back any defeat devices possessed by COBB Tuning’s employees, which COBB Tuning must then destroy;
• Conduct a Clean Air Act compliance training for COBB Tuning’s officers, employees, contractors, and consultants.

In a carefully crafted statement, Cobb Tuning claims it’s not exactly owning up to any wrongdoing. Despite the laundry list of EPA allegations, the tuner insists it’s not admitting liability for anything.

“COBB has fully cooperated with EPA in its investigation of these claims and asserted to the EPA that COBB did not develop or market the products as emissions defeat devices,” the company said.

“After extensive discussions with the EPA regarding this matter, COBB has concluded that it is in the best interest of its customers, employees, distribution partners, and COBB to enter into this settlement agreement. In entering into this settlement, COBB does not admit to any liability regarding its products, conduct, transactions, or occurrences that have been alleged in the Complaint by the EPA,” it added.

Both the EPA and DOJ have come after several US-based tuners over the past year, but this is the most high-profile case involving defeat devices for gas-powered vehicles and not diesel trucks.