I have a 2008 scion xd. ran fine when I parked it two days ago. tried to start it today and the engine turned over but not start. cleaned the battery terminals and hooked battery cables up from my truck. cranked it over for several seconds and still not start. waited a few minuets and tried again. it tried to starta couple times and then it started . cloud of smoke came out of tail pipe and I could smell a strong odder of gas. running ok now but this is the second time this has happened. has 230,000 miles.
This sounds to me like a leaky fuel injector. Park it for a long period and it is flooded.
As it sits idle the bad injector slowly drips a little fuel continuously into that cylinder and floods it. Then it is hard to start.
until you take it somewhere to have the injectors checked, try holding the gas pedal to the floor as you try to start it. Only do this if you seem to find it hard to start. This tells the computer to stop feeding fuel to the injectors.
Yosemite
Fuel pump is on the way out is my guess. If it has never been changed, its a pretty high likelihood it is due.
Pressure check it while running and also after shutting the engine off. It should hold pressure all night long. If not, leaky injectors can cause that, too.