Clear as Smoke

It’s unclear whether changes to Ontario’s Drive Clean emissions testing program will have a noticeable effect on the aftermarket.

The issue at hand is the fact that some changes have already been instituted, while others–those with the greatest potential impact on the aftermarket and on consumers–are still only at the proposal stage.

Immediate changes to Ontario’s Drive Clean regulations came into effect January 1, 2006.

These include dropping newer vehicles from biennial testing, ending the rolling exemption for older vehicles, and implementing stricter measures to deal with fraudulent Drive Clean certificates.

To date, Ontario government reports estimate reductions of 690,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide, more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and a further 1,100 tonnes of particulate matter from diesels in the past six years as a result of the emissions testing program.

However, not much of that was coming from newer vehicles.

Test data had shown that 99% of three-year-old light duty vehicles passed their initial test, a point which had been emphasized for years by interest groups, so the government has shifted the first test requirement to five-year-old vehicles. Starting in 2006, the first tests will be for 2001 model year vehicles instead of the previously mandated 2003s. In 2007, it will be for 2002 vehicles.

“To be frank, at two years it’s a tax grab,” stated Robert Tribe, general manager of NGK Spark Plugs of Canada. “Vehicle emissions warranties cover the first two tests, so only the manufacturers are paying the dealers; the aftermarket isn’t making a lot of money at this end of the business.”

“Moving back the date for the first test makes sense,” says Jim Fox, national account manager, ArvinMeritor Light Vehicle Aftermarket, makers of Maremont exhaust products. “Vehicles less than five years old don’t have many emission control problems, so you’re just spending a lot of people’s money without helping the environment.”

“The drop in testing volume [by eliminating younger vehicles] may hurt some installers who have invested heavily in equipment; but most would tell you that there are a lot smarter ways to make $35 from a bay,” he adds.

Brian Pyett, general manager of distributor IMDA Automotive Warehouse in Stoney Creek, Ont., feels that catalytic converter sales, in particular, won’t be affected at all. “Most newer vehicles are under warranty for five years or more on their emissions controls, so that means we weren’t seeing a lot of business, even from the failed tests.”

Cameron Young, national sales manager, Robert Bosch Inc., offers another perspective. “Consideration should be given to testing based on mileage,” he offers. “Some owners put a lot of mileage on their vehicles in a shorter period of time, so the check or replace interval could come up before the first official Drive Clean test.”

While he admitted it might be hard to monitor, testing based on mileage could be better for the environment than waiting five years for the first test.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, vehicle testing won’t stop at 20 years under the new rules. Unless they are designated as historical vehicles, older cars and light trucks will continue to be tested every two years. That means owners of 1988 vehicles who might have expected their last test in 2007 will still need a test in 2009, 2011 and every two years after that.

The reason, from the program’s perspective, is quite simple: 19-year-old vehicles have a failure rate of 50%. The government estimates an decrease of 1.1% in emissions will result from continuing to test these older vehicles.

The exception to the rule is on the sale of a used vehicle, which must still be tested even if it is as little as one year old. This is a consumer protection issue, according to Drive Clean program administrators.

“This is more in tune with what is needed,” notes Malcolm Sissmore, vice-president of sales and marketing at Ultra-Fit Exhaust Systems. For the low number of vehicles failing their first test versus the expense to vehicle owners, it doesn’t seem to him to be the best way to clean the environment or to make consumers happy.

Proposed Changes More Sweeping

While the instituted changes aren’t expected to have a big impact, additional proposed changes are being seen as potentially much more beneficial to the automotive aftermarket and to the environment.

Public comments are being invited on four other recommendations: annual testing for vehicles 12 years old and older starting in 2007; increasing the Repair Cost Limit (RCL) to $600 from $450; using the vehicle’s on-board diagnostics (OBDII) system to identify emissions faults in 1998 and newer vehicles; and eliminating the need for testing when transferring ownership between family members or when a lessee is buying out the lease on a vehicle.

However, Sissmore, who is also chairman of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, declares that what governments really need to do is bring in regulated safety inspections, not just emissions tests.

“You could have a car on the road with a great catalytic converter and emitting very few pollutants, but driving along with a ball joint falling off, posing a danger to everyone on the highway.”

In Ontario, the provincial police conduct safety blitzes during peak driving times on holiday weekends, pulling over hundreds of unsafe cars and trucks, Sissmore says.

“This just shows how unsafe travelling on our roads is.”

NGK’s Tribe agrees. “We have to incorporate the safety regulations and the emissions regulations together, and it has to be all across the country.”

Most of those contacted agree that the real impact will come if and when the proposed additional changes take place. However, they aren’t in universal agreement.

“Testing older polluters more often is definitely better for the environment,” notes Fox, but that could end up hurting the industry. “If owners have to pay $450 or $600 every year, they may just give up and buy a new car. That won’t help our industry.”

Fox sees a need to increase testing in all provinces, not just Ontario, British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces.

Saskatchewan, he notes, has regulations governing exhaust system sound levels and window tinting, but nothing to help with environmental pollution.

Pat Haynes, exhaust product manager at Tenneco Automotive, makers of Walker exhaust products, thinks there will be a reduction in bay traffic as newer models are eliminated from testing, but increases in the repair cost limit will make up for it.

“Since the conditional pass expense will go up, more sales will result,” he says. As it stands now, consumers do not have to purchase all the parts required to bring a vehicle into line if the cost of the parts and labour puts them over the repair cost limit. An increased limit will force more parts sales as parts can be purchased and installed without crossing the $600 threshold, he emphasizes.

Sissmore notes two pluses for the industry if the proposed changes are implemented: OBDII testing would eliminate a lot of misdiagnosis and older polluting vehicles can be found a year earlier.

Catalytic converters tend to be replaced as a quick fix, he notes. It is a temporary measure that results in a pass, but the real problem may be the amount of fuel dumped into the converter, pointing to a problem with the oxygen sensor, fuel mixture levels, or other related components.

“We end up with customers calling saying the converter wasn’t the problem, yet it was replaced. ‘What are you going to do about it?’ they ask.”

OBD II diagnostics may be a more precise measure of the cause of the increased pollutants being emitted, but repairs and parts sales are not without their learning curve.

Jobbers will have to learn how to sell OBD II parts, for example. NGK’s Tribe says that some items which sold for $38 in 1999 now sell for $18, but OBD II parts such as oxygen sensors can now sell for hundreds of dollars.

Jobbers will need to work with their suppliers to make sure they have the right inventory. Robert Bosch’s Young says that some vehicles have up to four oxygen sensors. That means an increase in SKUs and dollars.

“We’re seeing increased activity on newer applications. In the past few years our SKU count for oxygen sensors has gone from 600 to more than 1,200.

Service providers and jobbers will have a more difficult time selling these parts if they aren’t trained properly, Tribe adds.

Sissmore says, however, that the original equipment manufacturers may not be keen to release information about the OBD II codes.

“It’s one thing to be able to read the code; it’s quite another to be able to diagnose what it means and know how to repair the fault.”

It will be easier for technicians to find emission faults without the heavy cost of dynamometers etc., but unless manufacturers cooperate, it won’t help the overall industry.

At Blue Streak-Hygrade Motor Products, the emphasis is on preventive maintenance, reducing the number of emissions-related failures before expensive repairs are needed.

“Our 21st Century Tune-Up program fits well with what the government is trying to achieve, and it’s good for industry,” says marketing manager Ian Wheeler.

The program involves a 33-point check that takes 30 minutes or less and includes questions on consumer driving and maintenance habits.

“Who’s to say what the life expectancy of an oxygen sensor is? It all depends on the owner’s driving habits,” asserts Wheeler.

Wheeler says that if a vehicle owner returns to his service provider once or twice a year for a good old-fashioned tune-up, the preventive maintenance aspect should decrease the number of Drive Clean test failures.

“At the same time, this is a positive from a safety standpoint, environmentally and it’s good for business,” he says.

In the end though, all of the manufacturers agree cleaning up our air is a win-win situation. It’s good for the environment, and it’s good for business.

Doug Jordan is a journalist and writer who has served as an executive with the Automotive Industries Association of Canada and has owned and operated jobber stores in the Ottawa, Ont. region. Jobber News is pleased to welcome him as a regular contributor.