Failed emmissions test - computer problem

Take the light bulb out?

Perhaps you could list the three codes your car came up with?

Don't feel so bad about buying the car with the light on. I did the same thing with my Impreza, but it was from a car lot, and they had it in writing that their mechanic would be fixing the problem. I pulled the codes myself instead of waiting, and fixed the problem myself without having to trouble them further. (-; Cost me my time, a can of carb. cleaner, a ~$65 O2 sensor and what I believe the guy at the store called a crow's foot wrench. No, the carb cleaner didn't go anywhere near the sensor. (-;

~Brian

Get it fixed. Of course that means Scanning the codes and then either going through the diagnostic procedure (refer to the Subaru Factory Service Manual for the procedure for those codes), or replacing parts & hoping it works. Might be a good idea to pay a reputable mechanic to repair it.

In California it's the seller's responsibility to smog the car, but it sounds like he let you know it didn't pass, and why.

Removing the bulb won't work, since it needs to light when the car is turned on.

Hi,

LOL, sounds like "Click & Clack" and their black electrical tape "fix." But in here in California, they check that the light both goes on and then turns off...

Better to do as others already suggested: trace the codes, fix the parts that threw the codes. ECM computers do go bad, but rarely on their own, and a new computer still won't undo a bad sensor downstream from it.

Rick