Ontario’s former auditor general Jim McCarter issued a 2012 report that raised serious questions about the relevance and necessity of Drive Clean.
The hard evidence doesn’t look good for Drive Clean. The result, Green said, is “an industry of tailpipe testers who permanently lobby for more testing. “Rather than targeting the offending population of vehicles it’s better that everyone go and get their cars tested.” “It’s typical government regulation,” said the Fraser Institute’s Ken Green. In short, a program that has outlived its usefulness. They argue Drive Clean is increasingly unnecessary, bureaucratic, a cash grab for government and garages and fails to do all that much for the environment. However, critics question what value, if any, motorists and the broader public get out of the program. Not surprisingly, the mechanics at Cam’s are supportive of the program and feel it helps people keep their cars in good operating condition. The government-recommended solution, drive your car around for a couple of days, get it re-tested, again for a fee, and spend up to $450 on repairs if needed. Many failures are the result of a “not ready” message that can be caused by a number of problems, including if your battery’s been drained and erased emissions data in your car’s computer, or simply not driving “under the conditions to run all monitors.” It’s a more stringent test, meaning more cars fail and the government estimates initial failure rates will double from 5% under the old test to 10% in 2013 - about 270,000 cars and light-duty trucks.Īnd there are bugs and problems that are frustrating drivers. Instead of measuring tail pipe emissions, private-sector garages accredited by the province check on-board computers built into all 1998 and newer vehicles for the condition and operation of key emissions control equipment. That changed in January after Ontario’s Liberal government introduced a new on-board diagnostic (OBD) test for more than 2.5 million cars and light-duty trucks and more than 100,000 heavy-duty trucks every year.
Over the past few years, 95% of all cars and light trucks passed on the first try and 90% have done so every year since 2004. If your car fails, you can’t renew your licence plate sticker. This past January, shops across the province started using new test machines that read on-board vehicle computers.ĭrive Clean is a mandatory $35 (plus tax) test required every two years for vehicles seven years or older. Inside a dynamometer, the testing machine used across Ontario since the program was instituted in 1999 by measuring tailpipe emissions, sits collecting dust, an expensive relic. The bays are full, mechanics bend, squat and move around vehicles to the accompaniment of the banging and clanging sounds of a garage and the parking lot outside is jammed with cars. At Cam’s Automotive Service in downtown Toronto, about 20 vehicles go through the Drive Clean test every day.