The Great Ontario Drive Clean Swindle

For one Canadian auto writer, an emissions test turned out to be a giant time-and-money-suck that should have never happened in the first place, all thanks to an unscrupulous mechanic. Is anyone surprised? Matt Bubbers' BMW E30 flunked the DriveClean test the first time around at a "national chain". After paying the $30 test fee, Bubbers had to take his car to a specialist garage for a $30 "consultation". According to the regulations, the car can get up to $450 in repairs to help it pass. If the car doesn't pass on its second time around, it is given a"conditional pass", meaning that Bubbers could renew his registration, but the car couldn't be sold. The E30 ended up passing, and the results looked great according to the test printout. So why the discrepancy? According to Bubbers "The shop fails your car by not warming it up properly. Then they offer to repair it, up to a cost of $450. After the repairs, it may pass or it may not. If it doesn't, you've just lost $450, plus the cost of two tests, plus the entire value of your car. And the shop makes a profit on the repairs." Par for the course in Onterrible. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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