baught a 2012 jetta buyback from the dealer

2 days ago I found a 2012 jetta 6m perfect condition 68K miles loaded for only $8800 and decided to call the dealership and ask if they would take $7500 cash for it....later that day I left with the car

there was fees added to the purchase for titling the car and what not, no big deal...they gave me a 20 day temp permit and told me I need to run it thru deq and bring them back the passing slip and then they will proceed with the title and registration process

yesterday I ran the car thru the deq and it failed due to not all systems ready

PM filter UNREADY
EGR/VVT UNREADY

I thought the dealership had to make sure the car would pass emissions before they sold it especially after installing the emissions fix

the dealer told me I need to run it through multiple driving sessions doing all sorts of random style driving for a few hundered miles and then give deq another try

is this correct?, I don't really have time to just randomly drive weird cycles putting hundreds of miles on this thing, I feel like that should have been their job before selling the car

Those are the "readiness" indicators. They do not indicate "ready" until the car has been driven sufficiently for the on-board diagnostics to do their internal tests successfully, at which point they should indicate "ready". It can indeed take several driving cycles under varying conditions to reset those monitors.

"Clearing the codes" doesn't fix this ... in fact, it creates this ... because "clearing the codes" also resets all monitors to "not ready", so that the driving cycles that follow reset the monitors.

GoFaster said:

Those are the "readiness" indicators. They do not indicate "ready" until the car has been driven sufficiently for the on-board diagnostics to do their internal tests successfully, at which point they should indicate "ready". It can indeed take several driving cycles under varying conditions to reset those monitors.

"Clearing the codes" doesn't fix this ... in fact, it creates this ... because "clearing the codes" also resets all monitors to "not ready", so that the driving cycles that follow reset the monitors.

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I guess im frustrated because shouldn't this already have been done prior to them selling the car, wasn't that part of the emissions fix deal they had, they obviously didn't know if the car would pass emissions after they performed the fix, they should not of sold the car without being sure the fix was done correctly right??

It is not ordinarily the responsibility of a used car dealer to spend potentially a whole day driving around to reset OBD monitors. It is not part of the actual "fix" procedure to do that, either.

Quit worrying about it; that's an order.

GoFaster said:

It is not ordinarily the responsibility of a used car dealer to spend potentially a whole day driving around to reset OBD monitors. It is not part of the actual "fix" procedure to do that, either.

Quit worrying about it; that's an order.

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Depends if the selling dealership was also located in Oregon.

The Law: OAR 137-020-0020 (3) (o)'s Official Commentary states: "When a dealer sells a vehicle to an individual that is registering the vehicle in a metro area that requires that the vehicle pass DEQ emissions testing to be roadworthy, the dealer must ensure that the vehicle can pass the DEQ emissions test at the time of sale."

drsven said:

Depends if the selling dealership was also located in Oregon.

The Law: OAR 137-020-0020 (3) (o)'s Official Commentary states: "When a dealer sells a vehicle to an individual that is registering the vehicle in a metro area that requires that the vehicle pass DEQ emissions testing to be roadworthy, the dealer must ensure that the vehicle can pass the DEQ emissions test at the time of sale."

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well I talked to them today and they said if it dosent pass the emissions test after I put over 200 miles on it, then they will take care of it, I currently have about 300 miles on it, so ill take it in on my lunch and see if it passes, if not they can deal with it

What the law says is one thing; how that law is interpreted in practical reality is what really matters. The emission-testing protocol around here (before the current government cancelled the program) made allowance for readiness monitors that were not set.

Gasoline powered vehicles frequently have trouble resetting an evap monitor, for example, because there are so many constraints that have to be met in order for the evap monitor to run. In cold weather, the temperature constraints might never be met until it warms up again. Weeks or months could go by without all the constraints being met. Apparently, California excludes requiring an evap monitor to be "ready" because this situation is so common.

drsven said:

Depends if the selling dealership was also located in Oregon.
The Law: OAR 137-020-0020 (3) (o)'s Official Commentary states: "When a dealer sells a vehicle to an individual that is registering the vehicle in a metro area that requires that the vehicle pass DEQ emissions testing to be roadworthy, the dealer must ensure that the vehicle can pass the DEQ emissions test at the time of sale."

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I haven't been in a state where this wasn't required. In California, seller is supposed to provide a cert with the car. But I have never received one from a private seller or lot and, in return, never provided one as a seller.

The intention is clear, however, which is that sellers are prohibited from selling failing cars on to the next owner (eg, seller fails smog for bad cat, sells car "as is"), which is different from this situation where the car is presumably good to go but the sensors have to reset before the shop can actually run the tests. A strict reading of California laws would require sellers to go smog their vehicles every few months until their cars sell...I doubt anyone really wants to hold anyone else to the letter of the law in that regard.

In CA, any dealer must do a smog prior to sale. Laws must vary by state.

it finally passed the emissions test, was a hassle having to give up my lunch hour to go the testing place, but owell...took the passing slip back to the dealership and they made out a 2 month trip permit while I wait for my plates to arrive