The 3rd time was NOT the charm! Nor was the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th! It took 9 tries to get my Volvo to pass it's biannual smog check! Yes, 9! This was the most unnerving task of the summer! Infact, if I had to write a "how I spent my summer vacation" essay, a big chunk of it would entail the mysterious smog issues with my XC90 SUV. It literally drove me crazy!
I'm well versed with smog tests due to an overabundance of cars taking up space on the homefront. And I'm aware that infrequently driven vehicles (ie. the Land Rover Defender) need some fresh miles on the road before they'll pass their smog check. I plan on potential complications with certain cars.
But the Volvo? The Volvo was supposed to be a slam-dunk, drive my car in & out smog test! I left no room for any margin of error because I thought the Volvo would breeze through the California emissions exam!
So, I've learned not to make assumptions! So much for an electronic "pass"certificate going straight to the DMV. My Volvo FAILED!
Since the Volvo had been serviced recently the station thought the codes were just resetting and suggested I return in a couple of days for a recheck. No big deal, right? But the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tries were all unsuccessful. Now I was starting to get marginally annoyed!
After returning to the dealer to figure out why the codes continued to signal "not ready" I spent $200 for an inconclusive diagnosis. Basically it didn't make sense to the mechanics so it certainly didn't make sense to me. By this time I was majorly annoyed!
I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I might need to unload the Volvo and trade up. "Up" in this case meaning any car that would pass a smog test. But for some reason, unbeknownst to the mechanics and myself, on the 9th try, the Volvo passed! Happy Day! Crazy Day, Crazy Car!
