2012 Hyundai Sonata fails inspection due to drive cycle

A vehicle needs to run tests on itself called monitors. A car can have any or all of the following monitors. The standard ones I'll mark with a star.

1. Comprehensive*
2. Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)
3. Evaporative Emissions (EVAP)
4. Oxygen sensor*
5. Oxygen sensor heater
6. Catalytic Converter*
7. Secondary Air Injection
8. I'm probably forgetting one

To run these monitors the car has to go through some driving patterns. These patterns depend on the car and how the manufacturer designed the system. The service manual for the car will have descriptions of what these patterns should be. For example, the EVAP monitor requires that the tank be between 15 and 85%. If the tank is constantly kept full the monitor will never run. The EVAP monitor also won't run if the temperature is too cold. Trying to get EVAP to run its test in the winter time is awful. Often, to run the catalytic converter monitor a car must be driven on the high way. Someone that only drives in the city may never run this one.

There are also some tricks to get these monitors to run. Ford had a tool built into their scan tool that walked you through the proper drive cycle and bypassed some of the requirements to do this.

"The service manual for the car will have descriptions of what these patterns should be. For example, the EVAP monitor requires that the tank be between 15 and 85%." No, service manuals for cars don't have drive cycles, and almost no-one knows this->>> gas level kept at full tank will NEVER complete EVAP test. Thank you for mentioning that.