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Pollutants

What the pollution rating means

Pollutants contribute to smog and can create health problems for people. The amount of pollutants your vehicle emits comes down to how cleanly you burn the fuel.

The standards for petrol vehicles relate to allowed levels of emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrous oxides (NOx), and the standards for diesel vehicles include particulate matter (PM10).

The pollution rating will tell you how well the vehicle performed when new regarding pollutant emissions. It is also important to make sure your engine is well tuned and well maintained, so that it stays as close as possible to the standard to which it was manufactured.

Vehicle standards for pollution

Our vehicle standards legislation ensures that all vehicles entering the country have been manufactured to an emissions standard. This means that the ratings can be based on the standard to which the vehicle was manufactured. New Zealand accepts vehicles built to the appropriate European Union (EU/UN-ECE), Australian (ADR 79 standards are globally harmonised with the Euro standards), Japanese, and United States (Federal standards) jurisdiction standards.

How stars relate to standards

Since the overseas manufacturers are putting progressively more stringent standards in place, the better ratings correspond to better standards. Stars are assigned to reflect the best, worst and average performers.

The more stars the better the vehicle. This means that:

  • Vehicles manufactured to older standards will be awarded fewer stars.
  • Vehicles manufactured to the better, more modern standards, such as ‘Euro 3’ (from Europe) and ‘Japan 00/02’ from Japan will be awarded more stars.
  • Vehicles made to more stringent standards such as ‘Euro 4’ (from Europe) and ‘Japan 05’ from Japan will be awarded even more stars.