Some diesel pre-2006 and gasoline pre-2000 will be able to take environmental distinction

Environmental signs are more present than ever on our roads. These colorful stickers, driven by the Traffic Department with the 2013-2016 National Air Quality Plan, allow cars to be easily identified based on their polluting emissions. However, erroneously , the DGT took the year of registration as a reference to grant or not the badge and not by its classification within the European regulations on emissions. Thus, many of the vehicles, for having registered outside the date stipulated by the DGT, were left without their sticker despite, legally, being able to carry it.

From the start march of the anti-pollution protocol in some cities of our country, the environmental stickers have been a headache for many drivers. The first controversy was generated after the discrepancy between the information published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and the one published by the General Directorate of Traffic, which determined whether or not vehicles deserved to obtain the sticker based on their registration . This has led to a large number of vehicles, both diesel and gasoline, despite complying with the regulations of gas emissions, have been without their environmental label to have a registration date before 2000 or 2006, depending on whether they are gasoline or diesel.

Unlike the DGT, the information published by the BOE specifies that what decides whether or not a car obtains the environmental label will be marked by its classification within the European emission regulations (the minimum, distinctive B, will be Euro 3 gasoline or Euro 4 diesel).

The regulation was clear : all petrol vehicles from 2000 and diesel from 2006 could carry the sticker. The problem is that, faced with this situation, many car brands anticipated this regulation and began to market models of vehicles with gasoline engines Euro 3 or Euro 4 since 1999 That is, apt to wear the badge despite being made "out of date".

To understand the seriousness and importance of this problem, we have to analyze in figures the number of most sold cars in Spain in 2005 . Here we find that many of them (more than 500,000 units) already had Euro 3 and Euro 4 engines in previous manufacturing to that imposed by the regulations. We are talking about models such as the Seat Ibiza (1999), Seat Leon (2000), Volkswagen Golf (2004), the Citroën C4 (2004) or the Ford Focus (1998).

However, of little use is a preventive measure of the car manufacturers, because the DGT applied the regulations according to the date of registration of the vehicle, excluding the rest of the cars that, despite complying with the European norm of emissions, they were left without their sticker for not being registered as of 2000, in the case of petrol, and of 2006, in the case of diesel.

The controversy is served

This situation has caused much controversy in forums and social networks, openly protesting this exclusion that they consider "illogical" and "illegal". Since the DGT have recognized the error and claim that it is possible that there are more cases of cataloging failure.Remember that manufacturers usually charge for a certificate of emissions, being an expense that, according to many Internet users, should not assume any driver, because the error that involves this disbursement of money has been caused by the same DGT .

In short, in this situation , if we have a vehicle that in the technical sheet indicates that it has a Euro 3 gasoline engine or Euro 4 diesel, we will have full right to a badge , regardless of the date of registration. However, we will probably have to pay a few euros to get it.

How do I check if my car is also affected?

It's hard to calculate how many are really the affected drivers, but that there has been a failure in the application of the regulations is evident. Faced with this situation, if you think you may have been affected by these inconsistencies in the regulations, you should follow these steps to check if you deserve or not the environmental badge strong> of the DGT, although we already warned you that it will not leave you free :

1. Analyze the technical sheet of the car and check the brand and model to see what Euro corresponds to you . If it is a Euro 3 petrol engine or a Euro 4 diesel, we would be entitled to a badge, regardless of the registration date.
2. Request the manufacturer a emissions certificate Euro. Some brands offer it for free and others can charge.
3. Once we obtain the certificate, we must go to the ITV to modify the technical sheet of the vehicle according to the new emission certificate . This procedure has a cost of about two euros.
4. Finally, we should contact the DGT so that update the technical record of the car and deliver the sticker. The cost of this procedure is about eight euros.