Ontario DriveClean Program
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I am officially bitching about the Ontario DriveClean program. My car has just proven that it is nothing more than a cash grab. According to my mechanic, who is by the way VERY reputable (over 20 years working on family cars, without a problem), my engine has NEVER seen a tune up of any form. The car now has 283,000kms (176,000mi) and is very overdue for an oil change. My plates were due to expire at the end of the day today and in order to renew them this year, the government requires under the DriveClean program that I subject my car to an eTest first. From a cold engine, overdue for an oil change, and never getting a tune up, my car produced THIS:
Given the condition of my car and the fact that it is in dyer need of a tune up, it in theory should never have stood a chance in hell of passing this test to renew the plates, yet as you can see, it not only passed, but it passed with flying colours. Can anyone provide an explanation other than the eTest is just another government cash grab?
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I know what you mean. Same thing happens here in the Philippines. only the… palm greasing is a bit more... exorbitant.
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Maybe your mechanic buddy did you a favor :), or your car isn't in as bad shape as you thought smog-wise.
I know you can find shops here that will get your car to pass with a little extra money, or some sweet talk, or if you know someone (friend, acquaintance), etc.
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still, i think it's insane how they don't actually do their jobs properly. I think that the loss of faith in one's own government is a much more terrible thing than the loss from having your car repaired. of course, that assumes that you had faith in the government in the first place
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Things may have changed, but back when I lived in Texas, Harris County (basically Houston) was the only place in the state that had to have their cars safety/smog checked by state law.
I'm sure you can imagine all the shit vehicle traveling through Houston. We saw a car driving down Interstate 10 with rope holding the doors semi closed and trailing a black cloud of pollution. The car was legal as long as it wasn't registered in Harris County.
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I'm still kind of shocked that my car passed with flying colours somehow. Basing it on my mileage that I got after tuning up my 1997 Mercury Sable (quite literally with the same gas tank, lines, etc. because they were pulled off my 1997 when I totalled it on February 22, 2010 and put onto this 1996 Mercury Sable to make it pass safety) I was averaging 475 - 550kms per tank, depending on how much of it was highway driving. On this car, I get lucky if I can get 450kms on mostly highway driving before my engine starts sputtering, so there's no doubt in my mind that it is indeed in dyer need of a tune up. I pulled one of the spark plugs to be sure yesterday and it most definitely was quite nasty looking. I'm just stumped as to how it could have passed an eTest in that condition, unless the eTest is nothing more than a cash grab.
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you hit the nail on the head, I think.
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LOL
I had the same shock.It IS a Total Cash cow and an Absolutely Redonkulos program. For just under 40$ I had to get the mid 90's Chevrolet Cavalier ( with 298,000 clicks - yes for a domestic how odd? ) done.
Well I was shocked: the engine sounds like it's gonna go at any minute and it hasn't seen a tune-up from me since i started driving it hard for a year now…
oh well. I still have wheels. ....
I just want to get into Servcie Ontario so I can receive those illustrious pensions :dance:
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I always had good luck with a Cavalier. I had a 1996 Cavalier for a couple of years, and it was the most die-hard car I had ever owned up until I totalled it. It had some 185,000kms on it when I first got my hands on it, but two years later, I had racked it to just over 410,000kms and it still ran like a dream. I actually recall having laughed at my room mate the one day because his brand new Pontiac G6 wouldn't start when in the insulated garage with the fuel line anti-freeze, but no block heater plugged in. I went out to my trusty old rust bucket of a Cavalier in the -42 C weather, and tried to start it. The funny thing was that it sounded like a dying animal at first, but it started on the first try. They really are the iron horse.
