Failed emissions test
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 60
Likes: 12
Failed emissions test
I recently bought a 2020 Corvette from Corvette World in Houston. This car had one owner who only put 1200 miles on the car since December, 2020. Corvette World din not do an emissions check prior to my picking up the car. My mistake... I took the car to a Texas inspection station and it failed the emissions test. They are telling me I need to complete a Drive Cycle before it will pass. I have never heard of picking up a "new" car and having this problem. Corvette World says it needs to be driven more but it I want they have a Cadillac dealer that can get it passed. What's going on?
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 4,408
Likes: 3,485
From: Granada Hills CA
No big deal. The battery must have been disconnected which re-set the oxygen sensors etc. You have to perform a few "drive cycles" so that the car has enough "history" to pass the smog test.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,024
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern VA, USA
There are lots of threads here on this. Your car has multiple not ready emissions items going on -- likely because at some point recently codes were cleared or the battery was disconnected. It can take quite a bit of driving to get them all to set. You might want to invest in a cheap ODB dongle or reader so you know when they are ready. Some on here are driving upwards of 500 miles to get them all to show ready, but with a proper drive cycle (Google what GM recommends) you might be able to do it in less. The EVAP has some tricky conditions (how much gas, cold start etc) to test.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 4,433
Likes: 873
From: Bay Area CA
If you failed in CA, the smart asses would of told you to move. 
Do the drive cycles to speed up the readiness codes to set complete. As others have mentioned, battery may have been disconnected or drained. Your other option is to drive the car for about 500 miles and then check the readiness codes with an inexpensive code reader. Once the codes are complete, bring the car in for the smog test.
Do the drive cycles to speed up the readiness codes to set complete. As others have mentioned, battery may have been disconnected or drained. Your other option is to drive the car for about 500 miles and then check the readiness codes with an inexpensive code reader. Once the codes are complete, bring the car in for the smog test.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 6,671
Likes: 4,144
2020 C8 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
All emissions computers must acquire new data if the power from the battery is disconnected. Completely routine. Most emissions places will not charge you a retest in these circumstances.
This is super common. Just drive the car a hundred miles and it will test fine. But remember anytime the battery is changed or disconnected, if you try to do an immediate emissions test it will fail.
This is super common. Just drive the car a hundred miles and it will test fine. But remember anytime the battery is changed or disconnected, if you try to do an immediate emissions test it will fail.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 51
Likes: 30
From: Dallas
Same thing happened to me. Bought a brand new C8 from Furman and had Plycar deliver to my office in Texas. Went to get license plates at DMV and they said I needed an Inspection Certificate before they would issue license plates. Took car to get inspection sticker....and car failed tailpipe test. Drove car for another 2 weeks and returned to same inspection shop and this time it passed with flying colors. Took sticker to DMV and got my plates.
I was frustrated and pissed for about 3 weeks....but all good now. Moral of the story: Drive the car!
I was frustrated and pissed for about 3 weeks....but all good now. Moral of the story: Drive the car!
Race Director
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12,759
Likes: 10,655
From: Prosper TX/Austin TX
2020 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
You can pass in TX with one system showing not ready, so there must have been at least 2 systems showing not ready. As other's have said, you need to drive the vehicle through a couple "drive cycles". I only put about 60 miles on my car before I got it down to only 1 system not ready & passed. I've only put 2k miles on the car in the last 2 years so I'm not going to go out and drive it 500 plus miles for an emissions test.
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Racer
Joined: Oct 2020
Posts: 378
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From: Pahrump, NV
I recently bought a 2020 Corvette from Corvette World in Houston. This car had one owner who only put 1200 miles on the car since December, 2020. Corvette World din not do an emissions check prior to my picking up the car. My mistake... I took the car to a Texas inspection station and it failed the emissions test. They are telling me I need to complete a Drive Cycle before it will pass. I have never heard of picking up a "new" car and having this problem. Corvette World says it needs to be driven more but it I want they have a Cadillac dealer that can get it passed. What's going on?
GM warranties all emissions equipment for 5-50, so even if it did fail at some point, whatever is required to fix it will be covered by the warranty.
Drive it a week or so and then take it back. It will probably pass fine.
