Failed emissions test, a bad sign?

could be they did some repair work and ran it again. battery recharged means either the 12 volt or hybrid battery went flat and had to be recharged.

 

Yes the 12v it is common to discharge if the Gen2 car sits a few weeks the Smart Key System (SKS) will drain batt. There is a button under steering wheel to turn that system off for this reason. The emissions is a mystery in VA, Prius are exempt from testing so do not know. The thing is you say its CARB-certified (and not disqualified by Toyota for having a registration outside of CARB) I assume with orig HV Battery which means all the emissions compoments and HV battery are covered 150k mile and 10-yr...I having trouble seeing why a problem. The 12v is not CARB certified that's a $150 DIY item.

 

I'd be wary of that car unless I had more definite information on why it failed the emissions and what remedial work was done.

Could be a failing catalytic converter, which is why they're trying to unload it. Also it could be an oil burning problem which would mean the engine had been abused. Then again it might have just been a O2 sensor or something that has been completely fixed. I'd just feel a bit uncomfortable about it without knowing the cause. I'm guessing that it would be pretty unusual for a Prius to fail an emissions test at that lower mileage.

 

Intake ducts and throttle body may need some cleaning..

 

+1

This is just plain common sense......right ??

Apparently not. I am constantly AMAZED at the number of people who will buy vehicles with known problems, but not known fixes, and then complain when the repairs cost more than they want to pay.

 

In texas a failed emissions could mean that the check engine light was on at the time of inspection, which could of course mean anything from the gas cap wasn't put on tight to.... anything. It passing 200 miles later would meanthe problem was quickly addressed (you can't just pull the 12v to trick the system as the obd2 reader checks the readiness of the sensors). This is of course texas rules, I don't know where the car failed inspection.

 

Who knows why it failed but the fact is, it passed later and apparently passes now. Could have been something as simple as an O2 sensor. Either way, it appears to be fixed now. These cars are not that complicated and are very reliable.

From your description on the other thread, I do like the 2006 better but I think either car would be good and you wont be unhappy with it. Did you have the car looked at by Toyota as recommended?

 

How do they check the emissions on a Prius? We use to have emission checks here in Tampa (wish they'd bring it back). They put the car up on some thing and have the engine running. Since the Prius engine doesn't run when sitting isn't it getting zero emissions?

 

in mass, they just hook up the scanner and get the recorded info. not like the old days when you had to warm the car up and put the hose on the tailpipe.

 

Same in Texas and Nevada. OBD2 test.

 

X2

The fact it passed so quickly is a good sign IMHO. Stuff like a bad converter or burning oil would be much harder to get passed without actually fixing the issue (and both would likely be quite expensive).

 

all the newer OBD cars don't need the dyno anymore. if there was a code for anything-- even a loose gas cap, or improperly installed cap, whatever-- when the code is erased, all the monitors are erased and you have to drive like 100 miles to reset the monitors. until the monitors are reset, it won't pass emissions even if everything is perfect. so anyway you should find out what was wrong, and if anything was repaired. I would be more concerned about VVT codes because that is inside the ICE.
if you don't know what recharged battery means, you need to find a good mechanic, buy him beer and pick his brain. people discharge batteries in their car all the time. it usually won't damage the battery. I would want to verify it was only the 12v that needed charging. however even if it was the 12v, its about 8 years old. couldn't hurt to put in a new yellow top optima.