It should be noted that the illegally polluting Volkswagen TDI produce as much NOx as a model year 1998-2004 Tier 1 (0.3 g/mi). Which is much higher then the current Tier II Bin 5 standard of 0.02 g/mi, which they are accused of violating, but far below historic pre-controlled cars of the 1960s, that put out 3.0-3.5 g/mi.

So if you have a 10-year old car, it is likely putting out as much NOx as the new Volkswagon TDI. But that’s not an excuse — if everybody has to follow the law for current model year cars — so should Volkswagon. 10-year old cars are becoming rarer on the road, and will mostly be scrapped within the next few years.