Its normal if you have a check engine light that been recently cleared. the plug in test knows this and wont allow the test. this is to prevent people from clearing coded right before registration to pass the test, while they haven't done the repairs. Happened with my daughters 2004 accord.

they will no longer do the treadmill tests.... its plug in or nothing.

since you just basically reset the computer the tests recognizes this and spits it back out...

you can always buy a temp permit
https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/registration/temp-permit

For a valid emissions test your car computer must be in a status where some systems must be in a ready status. The dealer of your car manufacturer most likely has a computer that can force this. May charge a bit. Then you can get tested as your car computer will show it is in a ready state.
https://www.obdautodoctor.com/tutorials/obd-readiness-monitors-explained/

Sounds like a nightmare, OP. I hope you find a garage who can test emissions the old-fashioned way.

Anonymous wrote:Oh wait - I think I get it. The garages are trying to pull the cars data instead of testing it?

I has mine done at Phams garage in Arlington. It is on Washington Blvd near the giant and dmv. My battery was pretty new, but I have taken older cars there. They do a lot of emission testing.

Here is their website http://www.phamscarcarecenter.com/

Oh wait - I think I get it. The garages are trying to pull the cars data instead of testing it?

I has mine done at Phams garage in Arlington. It is on Washington Blvd near the giant and dmv. My battery was pretty new, but I have taken older cars there. They do a lot of emmission testing.

My car could not do the rapid pass. I just took it to a place that did emissions testing. Are you just trying the rapid pass over and over? Just take it to a garage that does them. The battery has nothing to do with it.

I don't understand why they can't do an emissions test. Can you please explain this?

22:39
I found it. https://rapidpassvirginia.com/VaPublic/

I had never heard of RapidPass before.

Sorry. I'm confused.

Why can't they do the emissions test?

What is RapidPass?

How has it failed if none of the auto places can do the test?

What do you mean by using their own system vs the car's system?

I went overseas and had my car garaged for 2 years. I returned and bought a new battery for the car. It's running well and there shouldn't be any issues.

But for some reason I can't get my emissions tested (new batteries will clear your data). And if I can't get my emissions tested, I can't register my car. I've taken it to 4 auto places (and a body shop who checked it out) now and they all just say that there's nothing wrong, I just need to drive it more. I've drive it >300 miles and still it doesn't work. I can't use rapidpass because I'm ineligible due to a failed emissions test.

So currently they want me to drive a car that's not registered and has failed emission tests. This has been ongoing for months now.

Does anyone have any solutions? Are there any places that use their own systems to test emissions versus just using the car's system?