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Bob Clute Pontiac Buick GMC is an Accredited Drive Clean Facility for Ontario's Drive Clean Program
If you have received notice that your vehicle must pass a Drive Clean test prior to renewal of your vehicle's licence plate sticker, you can have the test performed by an approved inspector in our Service Department. Please call (613) 962-4584 to book your appointment.
Ontario Drive Clean FAQ
About Ontario's Drive Clean Program
Ontario's Drive Clean program is a new vehicle emission testing program to reduce smog and its harmful effects on the air we breathe.
Under the program, designated vehicles in areas with serious smog problems must pass a clean air test. Those vehicles failing the test must be repaired and re-tested.
Cars, trucks and buses are the single, largest, local source of smog-causing pollutants in Ontario. They release nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and microscopic dust particles that react together in the presence of sunlight to create smog.
There are mandatory testing and repair programs like Drive Clean across North America.
They help ensure that vehicles are maintained according to each vehicle's emission standards.
Even though most vehicles being built today have cleaner technologies and tighter emission standards, they can become heavy polluters if they are not properly maintained.
Which vehicles are required to pass the test?
If you own a passenger car or light-duty truck in the Drive Clean program area, it will have to pass a Drive Clean test every two years prior to renewing the sticker on the licence plate. This applies to vehicles that are more than three years old and less than 20 years old (based on the model year of the vehicle). You will be notified up to 90 days before the deadline for renewing your vehicle licence plate.
As well, the test applies at change of ownership. If your vehicle is less than 20 years old, and if the ownership change must have a safety certificate to be effective (eg. at resale), it must also pass a Drive Clean test.
Vehicles 20 years or older, light-duty commercial farm vehicles and motorcycles are exempt.
Check the model-year of your vehicle (above) to see if it requires a Drive Clean test at registration. Testing at registration will alternate between odd-year models and even-year models.
When it began in 1999, the Drive Clean program applied to owners of passenger and light-duty vehicles in the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto and the Regions of Halton, Peel, Durham and York) and in the Hamilton-Wentworth Region. In 2001, the program area for passenger cars and light-duty trucks expanded to 13 urban areas and commuter zones in southern Ontario between Peterborough and Windsor.
To complement the annual testing. Ontario's Smog Patrol will be conducting random roadside testing of suspected polluting vehicles. Any vehicle in Ontario with excessive, visible emissions could receive tickets.
How is the Drive Clean test done?
At our accredited Drive Clean facility, an approved inspector will drive your car or light-duty truck onto a dynamometer. This machine is like a treadmill that allows the vehicle to be "driven" on one spot at different speeds. A probe is placed in the tailpipe of your vehicle. The probe is connected to a gas analyzer and computer, which can measure the concentration of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (including volatile organic compounds) and carbon monoxide.
When the inspector accelerates your vehicle to a steady speed of 40 km per hour, an emissions reading is recorded. Several of these five-second readings are taken and then averaged by the computer.
The test results will be compared by a Drive Clean computer to emission standards for the vehicle and its model year. For example, if you drive a 1986 model car, it will be tested against 1986 emission standards with an allowance for vehicle deterioration.
If your vehicle has a safety problem, or releases visible smoke from the tailpipe it will not be tested until it has been repaired. Such problems could lead to injury, and/or malfunctioning of the test equipment.
What happens after my Drive Clean test?
You will receive a computer-generated report at the Drive Clean facility. It will state if your vehicle emissions "pass or fail" and give you an analysis of the pollutants coming from the tailpipe. If you fail, you will receive a fact sheet describing some of the possible causes of failure. Vehicles failing must be repaired and re-tested until a pass certificate is obtained.
You have to take this pass report to a Ministry of Transportation vehicle licence office, along with the other documents needed to renew your licence plate sticker or to transfer ownership. The report information must also be used if you renew your licence at a self-service kiosk.
The Drive Clean test results for your vehicle will be valid for ownership transfers and registration renewals for up to six months from the date of the test.
What will a Drive Clean test cost me in time and money?
A typical Drive Clean test should take no more than 20 minutes to do.
The test will cost you no more than $30 (plus applicable taxes) or about the cost of an average fill-up of gasoline. If your vehicle fails its initial test and needs repairs, the cost for testing will be no more than $15 (plus applicable taxes), provided the retest is done at the same facility.
What if my vehicle fails the test?
Information from some 40 North American jurisdictions with programs similar to Ontario's Drive Clean shows that 80 to 85 per cent of passenger cars and light-duty trucks pass inspection. However, if your vehicle fails its initial test, you will need to make the necessary repairs in order to pass a retest. In many cases, a simple tune-up will suffice.
You will receive a report indicating your vehicle's emission results from the test, as well as information on the most common reasons for failing the test.
You are free to do the repairs yourself, go to any local garage, or go to a garage that is an accredited Drive Clean repair facility.
You will only have to make $200 worth of repairs if your vehicle fails its initial Drive Clean test and you follow this procedure:
If you fail your first test, you must make the emissions-related repairs. You then bring your vehicle back to a Drive Clean facility for a re-test. Should your vehicle fail again, you will be given a conditional pass certificate provided you have a receipt from an accredited Drive Clean repair facility proving at least $200 worth of emission-related repairs have been done. You bring this conditional pass certificate to a vehicle licence office to obtain your registration renewal.
This one-time repair cost limit does not apply to subsequent Drive Clean tests at registration renewal (two years later), or when transferring ownership. It also does not apply to repairs covered by the manufacturer's warranty, or to repairs made if there are still visible smoke emissions from the tailpipe.
What if I disagree with the test results or repairs?
If you disagree with the results of the test or the repairs, you will be able to call the Drive Clean customer service centre to get information that may resolve any concerns. If a dispute cannot be settled, you and the other party may be referred to an independent dispute resolution process.
Drive Clean for heavy-duty trucks and buses.
The Ontario government plans to require all Ontario-registered trucks and buses weighing more than 4,500 kilograms to pass a Drive Clean test each year. Ontario and out-of-province trucks will also be subject to random, on-road spot checks.
The exhaust from heavy-duty vehicles will be tested for opacity. This is a measurement of the amount of light that passes through exhaust smoke. The "dirtier" the smoke, the higher the opacity rating.
The opacity reading is a way to measure the amount of microscopic dust-like particles emitted by the vehicle. These particles can irritate the lungs and the respiratory system. Recent studies also indicate that they may cause cancer. Heavy-duty trucks and buses are a primary source of these micro-particles.
Drive Clean will make a difference.
When fully implemented, Ontario's Drive Clean program will cut smog-causing pollutants by up to 22 percent in the program area.
Ontario's Drive Clean program is concerned with helping us make smart choices about the way we maintain and drive our vehicles. Driving clean can save you up to 10 percent in annual fuel consumption and prolong the life of your vehicle.
