If your car has its check engine light on it often means something is wrong with your emissions system. And, starting Tuesday, it could mean your car will fail its inspection.

Last year about 14.8 percent of cars didn't pass their emissions tests in Vermont and were given a temporary reprieve. But now the clock is ticking to bring those 69,958 vehicles into compliance.

All Vermont drivers got a postcard in the mail last week from the DMV. It's designed to alert drivers to some changes next time you bring your car in for inspection.

Last week Autocraftsmen owner Amy Mattinat got an email from the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles that she wasn't quite ready for. It said the conditional pass for cars that didn't meet emissions requirements was ending on January 15.

"There was a lot to take in. I was a little disappointed in the state because it's a weeks notice to a very big change that's happening," Mattinat said. She says she still has a lot of questions about what she should tell her customers who come in for an inspection with their check engine light on. "It's not a quick and easy answer."

The email from the state instructs repair shops to direct customers to check their warranties to make sure they don't spend money that they don't have to. And if the emissions repairs aren't covered, to help them with a waiver if they can't afford the fixes.

Reporter Cat Viglienzoni: Do you feel these are changes your customers are going to understand?

Amy Mattinat: No. They totally aren't going to understand, so what's going to happen is that I need to understand first.

Questions from shops like hers are pouring into the DMV offices just down the road in Montpelier.

"I think this is going to be a learning experience for some," said Vermont DMV Commissioner Wanda Minoli.

She says the legislature set the date for the conditional pass to end. Her office is now trying to work with inspection stations to prepare Vermonters so that they don't get caught off guard next time they bring their car in.

There are two things she wants car owners to do. Number one: "If that light is on, try to get that resolved now," Minoli said.

She says fixing your emissions issues beforehand will help you avoid wasting time and money on an inspection where you will almost certainly fail.

The second thing Minoli wants car owners to do is get their vehicle ready. "Your vehicle has to be ready to be tested for emissions," she said.

This is the trickier part. There's no way for you to tell if your vehicle is "ready." But if you know your battery has been disconnected recently or if your car's computer memory has been cleared during a recent repair, you'll need to drive your car for a few days at city and highway speeds so it can diagnose the emissions system again. In 2018, 46.7 percent, or about 32,713 of the cars that didn't pass their emissions tests during inspection were because they weren't "ready."

Fixing an emissions problem can range from shelling out $20 for a gas cap replacement to upwards of $1,200 for a new catalytic converter. But if the repairs are more than $200 and not covered under a warranty, car owners can apply for a waiver.

"It gives them a year to find a way to make those repairs," Minoli said.

Back at Autocraftsmen, Mattinat says she hopes new procedures and paperwork won't lead to a bottleneck in her shop. "My fear is that this is going to be a huge time suck until we figure it out, and it's going to push everything back -- that we won't be able to do as many cars per day," she said.

Emissions tests are not new. They've been part of the Vermont inspection process since 1996. The only reason they were relaxed for a couple of years was to help with the state's transition to a stricter digital inspection system. Now that that's been done, the state is going back to the original requirements.

DMV officials ended up meeting with Mattinat and they're working on developing a flow chart to help inspection stations navigate through the new process.

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