> They cheated because their cars didn't meet new emissions standards. They were fine by the standards of the year before. > So a bureaucracy just declared tha

> They cheated because their cars didn't meet new emissions standards. They were fine by the standards of the year before. > So a bureaucracy just declared that a legal level of emissions was now illegal. That is not at all what happened and not how emissions standards are deployed. The EPA's Tier 2 standards were finalized in 2000 to phase in during the 2004-2008 model years [1]. [1] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/02/10/00-19/control-of-air-pollution-from-new-motor-vehicles-tier-2-motor-vehicle-emissions-standards-and https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2000/02/10/00-19/c...