“Normally, if something is wrong with the exhaust system, a warning light comes on on the dashboard. But sometimes it doesn’t. That’s why the exhaust gas measurement exhaust is now necessary”, explained the head of division of the St. Gallen Road Traffic Office Patrick Schnelli in the 12:45 of the RTS.
huge problem
He specifies that many filters are defective. “We sometimes measure vehicles emitting several million particles, whereas the limit value is 250,000.”
The scale of the problem is immense, since nearly 30% of vehicles run on diesel in Switzerland. “One in five vehicles equipped with a diesel particulate filter is potentially a vehicle where the filter is defective”, details Markus Peter, technical and environmental manager at the Swiss Professional Association of the Automobile.
Between 2000 and 4000 francs
Changing a particulate filter costs between 2,000 and 4,000 francs. In addition, the part must be available, which is not always the case, points out car mechanic Monica Baur.
“We sometimes have delivery times of four to five months. For one brand, we even heard 2024. That’s really a problem. Then we won’t be able to replace the particulate filters. In theory, these customers can’t present the car and can no longer drive it”.
Before prohibiting the circulation of the vehicles in question, the auto services may nevertheless, in certain cases, assign deadlines in the event of late delivery.
Théo Jeannet and Urs Schnellmann/asch