I get what you are saying. I'm lucky enough not to have to deal with emissions, especially with California emissions. Feel bad that you find yourself in this situation. I think you are right - you need to know when to call it good. Hope you can find a vehicle you'll enjoy.

 

Thanks HunterD,

I think for now, since I have put so much into this vehicle, know the reliability and condition of it intimately and did all the work myself and know that it was done right, It will be a great car for some more years to come. I'll get an extension (I can get up to 3 months) and drive it, while giving myself some time to cool off about the whole thing. I found a cat for $230 and can install it myself as I have a gas welder and have installed them before. Just burns my @ss that a car can have such clean emissions like this one, which is what we are striving for in Cal, yet fail a test because the OBDII monitors aren't ready. Absolutely makes no sense. Worst case, I have a sister in Las Vegas, Nv that will register it for me there :-)

 

Just felt compelled to post how I fixed the readiness monitors on the 98 Montero Sport I bought or how I finally got them all to complete.

This might not be the fix for everyone but for me the fix came after 2 months of driving around just trying to complete a drive cycle. It ended up being a bad fuse that didn’t fully break but was right on the verge. As soon as I switched that fuse out I was able to complete a drive cycle. Replaced the ground cable and battery terminals, too, just for good measure.