I own a 2010 Toyota Corolla LE with a 1.8L engine, the transmission is automatic, the mileage is at about 55,000 miles. I had to replace the car battery in Mid March of this year because the old one was bad. I ended up failing the emissions test in my state in Late April due to the Oxygen and cat sensors not being ready.
So at first I thought I just needed to drive more because the battery change must have reset all the sensors and it turns out the sensors were indeed reset when the battery got replaced. The issue however was that I could not seem to get the O2 sensor and cat sensor ready no matter how much I drive or what type of driving I did. I even tried to find out what the driving cycle was for my car but all I could find online was the driving cycles for 1992-2002 Toyota vehicles but nothing newer. I even called the Toyota dealership about this issue and all they told me was to just drive a few days like I normally do and that should make them ready. I tried that to no avail, finally I bought an obdII reader to see if there were any trouble codes, pending or otherwise. Nope, there were no trouble codes indicating any issues. I then took it to my mechanic who then used his scan tool and told me the front o2 sensor was bad because of the voltage readings. So I paid to have that replaced and still had no luck. I took it back a week later and he checked it again and told me my rear O2 sensor was also bad. So he replaced that sensor as well. I have done a bit of driving since then but still no luck with getting the 02 sensor and cat sensor ready for my emissions retest. What is causing this? I have exhausted every cause I can think of and I have already spent $600 on parts and labor trying to fix this not even counting the countless hours of driving and gasoline I have spent.
$600 to replace two 02 sensors? Are you kidding? I would have done it for $100 including the sensors. It sounds like you're getting hosed by this mechanic. He's playing the "let's throw parts at it until something works" game, with you footing the bill. I'd find another mechanic.