Experts say old cars more problematic

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Ken, an employee of a media company in Jakarta, travels to work every day in his 1980 Datsun.

"I have no problems with my car. It never breaks down. I only have routine expenses, such as the cost of changing the brake fluid and engine oil as well as spending around Rp 2 million once every several years to overhaul the engine. But that doesn't bother me," he told The Jakarta Post.

By diligently maintaining his car, he doubts it causes more pollution or consumes more fuel than a new car.

However, vehicle experts say that Ken's car is just one case.

Noted mechanic and owner of several auto repair shops in Jakarta, Jimmy Lukita, said on Friday that the engines of most old cars could no longer burn the fuel optimally after years of use.

"In general, most old cars aged 10 years or more, which still have their original engines, have an imperfect combustion system and produce more pollutants than new cars. Only a few cars, those well-maintained, can be compared to new cars," he told The Jakarta Post.

Jimmy said that many old cars would not pass an emission test as they would produce over 4 percent of carbon monoxide, the maximum level of carbon monoxide cars are allowed to produce according to the law.

While acknowledging that some old cars consume the same amount of fuel as new cars, Jimmy said the imperfect combustion process made most old cars consume more fuel and also resulted in higher maintenance costs.

The Jakarta Police are planning to force old vehicles off the capital's roads by handing over the registration process to regions outside Jakarta. It is unclear whether the move is intended to reduce the number of vehicles, to support the energy conservation campaign or to minimize air pollution.

But the central government earlier considered banning vehicles the over a certain age to limit the number of private cars on the roads.

Jakarta has over six million vehicles, while experts on urban transportation say the city's streets can only accommodate four million vehicles, otherwise pollution and traffic congestion became unbearable.

Jimmy suggested the city administration gradually phase out old cars from the capital.

"For instance, the city administration could begin to scrap cars older than 15 years as cars that old normally have traveled over 300,000 kilometers," Jimmy said.

He also suggested that old cars in good condition could be a allowed on the streets if they passed emission and roadworthy tests. "If the cars can pass the tests then there would be no reason to scrap them."

Urban transportation expert Ahmad Syafrudin suggested that the government give a two-year transitional period for owners of old cars to adjustment to the idea as sudden enforcement may raise strong protests as not everyone can afford to purchase new models.

"In two years, the government can promote the program to avoid public outcry. Within that grace period, the government could also arrange easy credit schemes for owners of old cars to replace their vehicles with new ones," he told the Post.

However, he added, limiting a vehicle's lifespan would not reduce energy consumption as the cars would merely be transferred to outside Jakarta and would still be on the roads.

"In fact, the program could increase fuel consumption because the number of new cars would increase while old cars would not be destroyed," he said.