Failing Emissions Seem More Likely As Service Moves to Private Facilities

If you have had a 'fail' result for vehicle emissions at one of the nine centralized stations in southeastern Wisconsin in prior years, you were part of the average  six to seven percent of vehicles which failed their test, according to state data.

However, as the program was transitioned at the end of June to private garages and dealerships, failure rates have tripled in some areas, according to a study done by JS Online. They analyzed 18,600 tests conducted through July 18 throughout southeastern Wisconsin.

While the Muskego locations, and recorded eight and nine percent results, eight of the new testing locations in their study area had a fail rate of 20% or more.

State officials say there is no cause for concern because technicians can't tamper with test results. In addition, technicians say facilities in some geographic locations are bound to have higher fail rates because they receive a greater proportion of cars in poor condition.

Meanwhile, the article stated that "some drivers are complaining that the new test facilities are trying to sell them overpriced repairs they don't need. They say unlike the old facilities - which only conducted emissions tests and did not offer other services - the newly designated facilities have an incentive to sell drivers other services to make up for the mere $2 they make from the state for conducting each test."

Allen Weber, at Muskego Firestone Tire and Auto, said they're restricted from outright selling of their own services at the time of testing.

"We have to wear two hats in this regard," Weber said. "When a customer's car fails, we cannot offer to fix the vehicle or give an estimate right then and there."

Brett Matschke of in Muskego, agreed.

"We are required to hand the customer a list of places they can choose to take their vehicle to have the problem looked at. We are on that list, and they may choose to use us, but we can't necessarily sell the service to them."

In addition, staff at the centers that can test your emissions have to undergo a four-hour class from the state, and are visited regularly to make sure their equipment is working.

"We see a guy about two to three times a week here, just checking on the equipment," Matschke said.

He also stated that there is little investment by the dealers, as the state covers the cost of the equipment and software.

"We pay a small deposit on the equipment, just to ensure that we're treating it correctly," he said.

For a list of area dealerships and garages offering emissions testing, click here.