Just bought an 01 elantra GLS from a friend with 58000 miles. I wish I had test driven it more, but after taking it on the highway, I realized that this car has dangerously low pickup - It doesn't seem to be shifting at the right times and the RPM's get really high. After a day or so, the check engine light came on.

At the same time, I need to get this car inspected. I live in NY so i took it to my mechanic, who said he could not read the pcm to see what the problem was. The check engine light went off (I think because the battery was disconnected), but my mechanic is telling me that the computer should have registered why the light went on, and he is getting no reading at all. I can't pass inspection without the inspection machine reading the pcm.

I called a hyundai dealer today, and talked to a guy who said I need to drive the car for a while to reset the computer...so I guess he thinks I should just drive the uninspected car. At the same time, I don't want to drive this car with absolutely no pickup, and I'm afraid that whatever the problem is, I might make it worse or ruin the transmission or something since the RPMs rev so high. Any ideas?