Production of the likes of Paykan and Peugeot RD ended years ago but many of these old cars still ply the capital and spew poison in the air, says the Tehran Vehicle Technical Inspection Bureau.
According to data published in the Persian-language newspaper Shahrvand, in the past fiscal that ended in March 2018, almost 1.5 million cars were tested at the auto inspection centers in Tehran and only 55% were able to pass emission tests during the first visit.
As per rules, car owners must fix the technical and other problems of their vehicles and come back to the center for a second or third test.
The bureau singled out Paykan as the most polluting car, which was the first Iran-made automobile manufactured by Iran Khodro in 1967. In 2005 IKCO said it had halted producing the Paykan, but continued to produce and sell a pickup based on the same model until 2015.
More than 70.3% of Paykan sedans fail the emission tests, data released by the bureau shows.
Paykan is followed by a pickup made by SAIPA subsidiary Zamyad based on a Nissan model from the 1970s. More than half (50.3%) of Zamyad Nissan pickups checked in Tehran failed the tests.
Another IKCO car, the Peugeot RD, comes in next. Peugeot RD has the same chassis and drivetrain as Paykan, but its outer body shell and appearance resembles a Peugeot 405. Peugeot RD production has also been halted.
Almost 47% of Paykan pickups and 43% of Peugeot RDs failed the annual mandatory emission tests for private car owners. Different and more stringent rules apply to taxis and other public transport vehicles including buses, trucks and vans.
Fighting Smog
Over the past few months, Tehran Municipality with help from the bureau took a stronger stance against the dilapidated gas-guzzlers partially responsible for the near permanent smog hanging over the overcrowded capital.
As if not to stay behind the race to jack up prices of goods and services in ways unseen in recent history, auto parts dealers have more than tripled their prices making maintenance and repairs unaffordable for most
As part of the TM’s apparently losing battle against dirty air, a scheme called ‘Air Pollution Reduction’ was launched late last November. As per the APR plan, to help improve air quality old and dilapidated vehicles have been banned in the sprawling city and violators are fined.
All four and two-wheelers in the metropolis are required to go through mandatory inspections and receive technical conformity papers from the bureau that confirm the vehicle meets all automotive and emission standards.
The APR plan so far has forced large numbers of car owners to have their vehicles checked or face consequences.
Navab Hosseini, the bureau chief says, “In Tehran close to 5,000 cars visit technical inspection centers every day. The number has increased significantly.”
Fraudulent Practices
While observers say the increased number of tests indicates the APR plan has been effective in curbing air pollution, Hosseini sheds light on the flip side.
“We see that some motorists who fail the technical tests turn to fraudulent practices. Instead of fixing their cars they rent spare parts and install them on their vehicles. After the auto test is successfull they return the parts!”
With costs of auto repairs and parts high and rising, the number of people indulging in such irresponsible practices has gone up, he said.
Since last May and after the US re-sanctioned Iran, the national currency tanked losing 60% of its value. The rial regained much of its value in the past several weeks but consumer and other prices that shot up almost overnight in the summer and fall remain as high as ever and refuse to come down.
As if not to stay behind the unending race to jack up prices of goods and services in ways unseen in recent history, auto spare parts dealers also have more than tripled their prices making maintenance and repairs unaffordable for most.
For instance, each headlamp of the Japanese Mazda3 assembled by the local company Bahman Motor sells for 90 million rials ($790) indicating a 200% increase. The prices of all car batteries (locally-made and imported) has almost doubled in comparison to a year ago.
Hosseini said one auto part that is usually rented by car owners for circumventing the tests is the catalytic converter. The devices turn toxic pollutants in exhaust fumes from internal engines into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing oxidation and reducing reaction.
“Buying an installing a new catalytic converter costs some 10 million rials ($88). One can rent the device for one million rials ($8) at some repair shops.”
He goes on to say that such fraudulent practices are not limited to catalytic converters and some car owners also rent tires before getting their vehicles checked and okayed.
Observers say the fraudulent practices can bulldoze the municipality’s efforts to help improve air quality and remove older cars from the roads. But with the benefit of hindsight the recall that most of those who indulge in such unacceptable ways do it because of compulsion not convenience.
