Amaral’s Emissions Testing Facility Is Greased And Going Again

By Kaaren Valenta

Cathy Amaral-Freitas wonders if the squeaky wheel got the grease, but all she knows for sure is that Amaral Motors is now able to do vehicle emissions testing again.

Last week Ms Amaral-Freitas, general manager at Amaral Motors on South Main Street, was told that she might have to wait about 12 weeks for a part to repair the dynometer, a piece of emissions equipment that tests all 1979 through 1995 model year vehicles as well as any newer vehicle that fail the computerized on board diagnostics (OBD) test.

“I was told by the technician that the vendor was only supplying five of these parts every three weeks, and we were number 13 on the list of stations waiting for one,” she said.

The malfunctioning equipment forced the cancellation of dozens of customer appointments. Ms Amaral-Freitas said her calls to the Department of Motor Vehicles and Agbar Technologies, the company provided the emissions equipment, were not returned. Not returned, that is, until after a Bee reporter also started making calls.

“I got a call from the commissioner of motor vehicles who wanted to know why he was getting called by The Newtown Bee,” she said. “He had no idea that there was a problem.”

Ms Amaral-Freitas said she has talked to many representatives of Agbar and the DMV since then and by the middle of this week the equipment was fixed and the emissions station was back in business.

“Agbar actually sent one of their office people to hand-deliver the part the day before the tech guy came to install it,” she said. “I asked if I was the squeaky wheel that got the grease, but I was assured that everyone’s problem was being taken care of.”

On Thursday, Bill Seymour, a spokesman for the DMV, said state officials met with Agbar representatives to get the problems rectified.

“We have been clear with Agbar that we are not happy,” he said. “We want the problems remedied soon; we want the cause found, and the stations attended to within 24 hours as required by the contract.”

‘We are now down to about five stations [with malfunctioning equipment,” he said. “The vendor is now able to produce more of these parts, and Agbar is attending to the situation in a more efficient fashion than in the past.”

Ms Amaral-Feitas said that while she had the commissioner on the phone, she used the opportunity to pass along her other complaints about the program.

“I told him it never should have been implemented without a trial on a small scale first,” she said. “And the letter that people receive notifying them that it is time to make an appointment for an emissions test is just too long. People aren’t reading it. They aren’t calling to make appointments, then they are angry when they show up on the last day and we can’t help them.”

Ms Amaral-Freitas said she told the commissioner that the letter should say “only three things, in bold type: ‘Make an appointment immediately. Scrape off the sticker on the windshield because it doesn’t mean anything. No stickers will be provided anymore because vehicle owners will be notified by mail.”

Except for the equipment breakdown, Ms Amaral-Freitas said her biggest problem is that many vehicle owners wait until the last minute and think they can show up without an appointment. They are not happy when they are told that they cannot be accommodated.

“The DMV is sending out 30,000 letters a week,” she said. “It takes time, sometimes 30 to 40 minutes, to do the testing under this new system, and we have booked appointments for the entire day, so sometimes we just aren’t able to fit them in.”

Some customers have been understanding, but others get angry and some have actually sworn at her, she said.

“I think it is because our society is so fast-paced now and people have an ‘I need it yesterday’ mentality,” she said. “No one is taking the time to read and understand their letter from the DMV.”

Amaral Motors is one of 258 independent stations statewide — and the only one in Newtown — that are participating in the new emissions program that was launched by the DMV last October. The system, operated by Agbar Technologies under a contract with the state, replaced the state’s 20-year-old centralized emissions testing program that was disbanded after some emissions personnel in Bridgeport were accused of taking bribes to pass vehicles that otherwise would have failed the testing.

Models that are four years old or newer (currently model years 2001–2004) and those that are 25 years old or older are not required to have an emissions test. All others must be tested every two years; the test is $20.

The emissions system is new, Ms Amaral-Freitas noted, and vehicle owners who have problems this time may remember in two years that they need to promptly make an appointment when they get their notification letter. “We may look back upon the problems were are having now and laugh. At least I sure hope so,” she said.

Anyone who needs general information about the emissions testing process can call the DMV automated information line at 800-842-8222 or 203-805-6244, email emissions@dmvct.org or check the website www.ctemissions.com.