As a business owner I run a State approved Smog Check Facility in Pasadena, California. The biggest expense a Smog Check Station has is purchasing a approved BAR97 Smog Check Machine to operate the business.in California there were 4 manufactures who made BAR97 machines for the Smog Check program in CA. ESP, SPX, SNAP-ON, and WORLDWIDE PRODUCTS.
Based on recommendations from other Smog Technicians and shop owners, I decided last year to purchase ESP's (Environmental Systems Products INC) BAR97 Machine while preparing to open my business. The particular machine I purchased was the SYSTEMS 1 BAR97 machine that comes in a dark grey cabinet. This is ESP's latest BAR97 Machine being sold in California. Making the decision to purchase the right machine is not easy. As a shop owner, you have to consider the quality of the equipment, the length of time the service department takes to get to your location when problems arise, and most important of all the reliability of the machine you intend to purchase. These BAR97 machines from various manufactures are not cheap. They average about $40,000 for the machine. For my NEW ESP System 1 BAR97 machine, I payed approximately $39,500 for my machine. Once my machine was installed and setup at my location, the long list of problems began before I even opened my business.
"The Warmup Problem"
As soon as the technicians who installed my machine powered up the unit, it already had problems within the sophisticated equipment inside the main computer. As of 2/18/04 ESP's service department has been at my location 14 times since the first service call made on 7/10/03. This machine has been nothing but a huge headache.
Before my business could open, the Bureau of Automotive Repair would have to conduct a inspection of my location before final approval needed to go into business. Because of the problems my machine had, this inspection had to be delayed more than 2 weeks from the original planned opening of my business. While setting up my shop during the first week of July my machine had a lot of problems. Dyne Failure, Leak Check Failure, Disk Failure, Warmup Failure. All from a new machine installed during the last week of June. For the problems mentioned above, service came out on July 10.
All of the problems were supposedly taken care of but I noticed my machine was not operating properly again the following week so the second service call was made and ESP came out on July 17. Those that are familiar with BAR97 Machines, my machine would not come out of warmup so my computer was indicating Warmup Failure again. When the systems is not ready, no smog checks could be performed, and no testing or emissions readings could be performed. No matter how long I waited for my machine to come out of warmup, it never did come out of warmup until the service department replaced whats known as the micro bench. The micro bench is the main unit that measures a vehicle's emission while the vehicle is driven on a Dynamometer.
Supposedly on July 17th, everything was fixed and I verified that everything was working correctly. But later that day, I had to call service again. Once again my machine would not come out of warmup mode once the unit was powered down and powered up again. When the technician powered down and powered up my machine on July 17th everything worked fine. But later that day when I did the same thing, the same problem came up again. So service was called once again the same day and ESP came out the next day July 18th.
The technician verified that it was still having the same problem so more components were replaced from a defective new machine. The NOX sensor was replaced that day and the system seemed to work fine again. Finally on July 21st of 2003 I opened my business after the Bureau of Automotive Repair conducted their inspection the same day.
"The Gas Audit Problem"
This is where the real problems began. During the inspection from the Bureau of Automotive Repair on July 21st, a gas audit was done on my machine to test the accuracy of the emissions readings. If your machine fails the BAR's gas audit marginally, you have 7 business days to have the machine fixed or else you get locked out from the state system. If you fail critically, you are locked out immediately and service must be made on the machine asap.
The day I opened my business my machine failed marginally on the BAR's gas audit so service had to be called once again this time to fix the accuracy of my machine's readings. ESP immediately came out the same day on July 21st to repair my machine. My machine's micro bench was adjusted and the ESP technician also performed a gas audit on my machine to make sure it passes within allowable margins. The results were verified with me and everything seemed okay. The BAR came out once again on 8/20/03 for a follow up Gas Audit inspection. Once again my machine failed the BAR's Gas Audit marginally on that day.
So once again another service call was made to ESP. The ESP technician came out the following day 8/21/03 and this time reprogrammed my machine's micro bench. A couple filters were also replaced and the technician once again conducted his own gas audit on my machine. The machine passed his audit and everything seemed to be working like it should and so I informed the BAR that my machine was fixed and they could come out and conduct their audit on my machine.
October 3rd. The BAR representative showed up again to do another follow up Gas Audit on my machine once again. Once again on this date, my machine failed the BAR's Gas Audit marginally again. Since this is the BAR's 3rd try on my machine I started to wonder why my machine kept failing the audit from the BAR but would pass the Audit from the manufacturer. Was the gases used different? Was the manufacturer doing something wrong? Turns out the components involved in testing the emissions kept going bad on my machine. Each time a repair was made and the BAR would conduct another Audit, about 2-3 weeks would pass.
During that time, the machine would slowly start to degrade. And by the time the BAR shows up, the machine would always fail again. The problems turns out to be poor testing and engineering on ESP's components. I have owned a previous generation ESP BAR97 machine and that machine was somewhat reliable. From time to time service was called for that machine also, but the problems in the newer machine were really bad. Because of changing regulations and technology, the current ESP BAR97 machine had the latest technology and was considered to be much more sophisticated and accurate than previous generations of BAR97 machines.
In the near future the BAR is going to require all manufactures of BAR97 machines to have the same level of new technology in future Smog Machines. ESP happened to be the first manufacturer to use this more sophisticated equipment inside their machines. The problem is with the current design, not enough testing and researching has been done by ESP. And now the problem is these new ESP System 1 emissions analyzers are filled with bugs yet to be worked out from the hardware and the software. The machine was released too early before all the problems could be worked out or at least the critical ones.instead the shop owners like myself who own these machines are stuck with a machine that constantly goes down and you end up loosing a lot of money.
Just my story alone, I have lost over $2000 from lost revenue I could have made if the machine was working properly. I have lost so many customers because my machine was constantly down. There have been times when my machine was down for a whole week. 2-3 days on average. During the past 7 months, ESP's service department has been getting worse and worse. It takes them longer now for them to get out to you. It used to be they would come out the next day. But now, it takes 2-3 days. The last 3 Gas Audits, since my machine failed marginally I was not locked out and I was still allowed to perform smog checks.
When ESP came out for the 4th attempt to fix my machine for failing the gas audit, several days had passed and the repairs were made right before the 7 day deadline. October 9 ESP came out and once again and replaced my micro bench and updated the software in my system that day. A couple more filters were replaced and another Gas Audit from ESP was performed. Once again everything checked out okay. So once again I informed the BAR that my machine has been fixed again and is ready for the BAR's Audit. November 14.
The BAR once again came out to conduct their gas audit on my machine. Before starting the audit, the BAR rep (a really nice guy trying to help) told me he discussed my machine's problems with his supervisor and they both agreed the machine's failure of the audits were not my fault. He told me if my machine fails critically, I would not be locked out immediately which was required under BAR regulations. He told me he was going to pass information on to the BAR's Headquarters in Sacramento CA regarding the problem with these current BAR97 machines from ESP. The representative told me that other machines like mine were having the same problem of failing the audit time after time just like my machine was. Except mine was the worst. Other same machines failed 2-3 times but were eventually fixed and passed. As of November of last year my machine failed 3 times already. And now the BAR was going to conduct their 4th attempt.
Guess what happens? My machine failed the gas audit again this time worse than ever before. On November 14 my machine failed critically. According to BAR regulations my stations should have been locked out immediately until repairs were made but because of the previous conversation, the BAR agent did not lock out my station from the Smog Check Program. So once again I called ESP's service department complaining like hell like before that something has to be done. I demanded they take back their machine or refund my money. I wrote letters to their corporate office with no responses returned, I talked to their supervisors to no avail. Not even a simple sorry from anyone.
By now I have lost a lot of money and it is still getting worse. I no longer wanted the darn machine. I would have prefered to buy a used machine or another manufacturer's machine. But to no avail, I was stuck and still am stuck with this machine. On November 17th the ESP technician came out once again and worked on my machine for hours. He updated the software once again, replaced the NOX sensor once again, and tried to perform his Gas Audit.
This time his audit was not passing. So after some thought was put into it, the LOW Calibration Gas was replaced. Every 72 hours every smog machine needs to go through a series of calibrations. It involves gas calibrations using two gas concentrations. One is a high concentration of SMOG and the other is a low concentration of SMOG. These gases are run through the machine every 72 hours to check the accuracy of the machine. If it fails the gas calibration, the machine is locked out and you cannot perform Smog Checks until the machine has been fixed. As long as the machine passes its own gas calibration, the machine is deemed fit to perform accurate smog check exams. Getting back to my machine's problem, it turned out my LOW gas went bad. The gas ESP sold me with the machine.
On the 4th Gas Audit the BAR performed on my machine, it was failing because the NOX readings were off. The previous audits failed because the micro bench had problems with the readings of HC (Hydrocarbons-Unburned Fuel). The ESP technician replaced my NOX sensor first then tried to perform the GAS audit. He figured out the Gas was bad on my machine and had to be replaced. Once the gas was replaced and the audit passed, the BAR was informed again to conduct their Audit. On December 10th the BAR agent showed up and this time the GAS Audit Passed.
"Other Problems"
September 25th. Service was called because my machine was failing Gas Cap Calibrations. Machine was locked out since the GAS CAP tester was failing. Pump was replaced. Service took 3 days to come out to service my machine. Those 3 days I was closed and lost a lot of revenue.
November 27th My machine would fail gas calibrations. Auto Zero Gas failure. Replaced Oxygen sensor, replaced Micro Bench again and reprogrammed my machine. Service took too long to come out on December 3rd. Once again lost revenue.
Same Week December 5th. Dynamometer will not spin up for calibrations. Turns out the 3rd party electricians who installed my dyno control box made a critical error. On a power distribution block with 220VAC a wire held by a screw was shorting out to the frame of the control box. The electrician who installed the wire with the screw punched through the distribution block and the screw was making contact with the metal behind it. Luckily, ESP's technician knew what he was doing and figured it out. ESP came the next day. Lost Revenue on one day.
December 26th. Machine failed gas calibrations. Service was called and ESP showed up December 29th. Adjustments were made to the micro bench and another bottle of Low Gas went bad. Bottle needs to be replaced since the tech did not have one on stock.
February 11th. Gas Calibrations fail once again. I suspected possibly another LOW GAS bottle that went bad. Called ESP for service, I replaced the LOW GAS and calibrations Pass. I call ESP again to inform them their LOW GAS has gone bad on me 3 times. ESP comes out FEB 12th and verifies that the two bottles of LOW GAS I have are indeed defective. Tech tells me he will be back with new gas, leaves no work order.
I waited and waited a few days, but the tech never showed up with the replacement gases he promised me. Monday February 16th once again my machine fails the gas calibration. I suspected the low gas again, but this time it is not the calibration gases. Called Service that day and ESP came out today February 18th. Replaced NDVV unit (not sure what that is, replaced manifold lines, and finally got my replacement gases. 2 days of more lost revenue thanks to a defective machine.
By filing this complaint, I am not blaming the Service department or any of the technicians that came out and service my machine. I understand that this current machine is a new generation of more sophisticated equipment. I blame ESP's engineering department and main corporate office. ESP should have done more further testing before they released the machine for sale. They should have worked the serious problems out of their machines before selling these machines.
Let me ask who can you complain to when no one hears you? Corporate headquarters does not care. But when I lose revenue because their machine fails so often, who has to pay for the business expenses to keep the business going? The shop owner does. But when the machine fails so often what can you do. Expenses keep coming in but the revenue stops on certain days and you end up short and fighting to keep your business going. When your business depends on the machine, it has to be dependable. Especially when Service takes too long to come out and service the machine. ESP needs to hire more technicians.
I understand the current workload for these technicians are very high and it takes time to get out to everyone who needs service. But because there is a lack of technicians, this creates a huge problem. For shop owners out there I recommend you think not twice but 20 times about the machine you plan to purchase for your business. Don't listen to the sales rep or believe everything the brochures will tell you.instead go out and find out from other shop owners what they think about their machines.
IS IT RELIABLE? If it is not, you can go bankrupt. I almost went bankrupt because of mainly the machine and because of the slow holiday season last year.in the PAST ESP has been known to manufacture quality and reliable machines. But this current generation needs more testing put into it. I reccommend potential shop owners to think about the $40,000 they will need to spend just on the BAR97 Machine.
What worries me is my warranty on my machine is going to expire this coming June. So far my machine has gone down every month that I have been in business. To extend the warranty it is approximately $3000 a year. Do I pay for the repairs myself or extend the warranty? Since only the Manufacturers and the BAR have access to the inside components in the BAR97 machine no one else can service these machines. So you are stuck with either paying the warranty extension or pay for the repairs yourself. I will update this complaint from time to time when more problems come up with my machine.
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