I haggled to get a luxury car for half price because it had a ‘bad engine’ – then my $80 fix made it as good as new

A LUXURY sports sedan was traded in for a new car and brought to an auction site after an engine issue was found – a man fixed it for $80.

The problem was not with the engine but with a small, easily replaceable part.

YouTube/Samcrac

YouTube/Samcrac

YouTube/Samcrac

Sam, a YouTuber (@ Samcrac ) who buys vehicles at auction and fixes them up for cheap, has gained his nearly two million followers for rescuing luxury , sports, and even supercars from being sent to junkyards.

In a recent video , he came across a 2017 Genesis G90 sedan with 62,051 miles on the odometer and was in otherwise excellent condition.

Genesis is the luxury division of Hyundai, which also makes Kia vehicles.

It was traded in by its previous owner for a new car, and after technicians inspected it, discovered a troubling oil pressure issue.

Running an engine on low oil can cause the engine to seize and need replacement, posing a serious financial risk to the dealership.

The discovery prompted the dealership to send it to auction.

Sam nearly immediately bought the car for $12,100 plus a $500 auction fee, which is less than half the cost of the car in perfect condition.

The listing advertised the car as having an oil pressure issue with a warning light, but no warning light was seen when he started it.

When it was delivered to his property, he was stunned by how well the car ran and drove – at first, he was convinced the dealership may have been mistaken.

The oil level was where it should be, and the oil was clean.

Until he came to a stop sign.

“As soon as I came to my first complete stop the oil pressure light came on the dash,” Sam said.

“This can’t be right. I’m pretty sure that if it really had low oil pressure, you’d hear some really bad noises.”

He guessed the issue came from the part that gauges and reports the oil level.

“This has to be just a bad sensor,” he guessed.

He felt more confident in his decision once he started from the stop and saw the warning light disappear.

“Once the car starts moving the light completely goes away. Let’s stop again and see if it comes back,” he said.

How often should you change your oil?

Experts say the exact figure depends on a variety of factors, including:

1. Age of vehicle. Older vehicles tend to need oil changes sooner than newer cars, as the engine oil used doesn’t last as long as newer oil. Plus, the clearances between moving parts tend to be wider than when the engine was new.
2. Type of oil. Synthetic oil tends to last a lot longer between changes compared to synthetic or a synthetic blend.
3. Driving conditions. People who live in dusty areas or regions with extreme weather conditions that require a lot of driving or stop-and-go traffic should change their oil sooner than normal to keep moving parts lubricated.
4. Cars that bear heavy loads, like regularly towing a trailer, as it puts strain on an engine.

Typically, older cars should have their oil changed every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. More modern cars can go between 5,000 to 7,500 miles between changes, especially as modern oil contains more efficient lubricants and additives. Some cars that use synthetic oil only need changes every 15,000 miles.

It’s important to read your owner’s manual to determine the exact weight and interval your car needs.

Source: AAA

He stopped the car, and the light reappeared.

A quick bout of research led Sam to several forum discussions of the oil pressure sensor being a common issue for Genesis sedans, especially in the twin-turbo G90 engine shared in the Kia Stinger.

One Kia Stinger owner wrote they paid $3,400 to have the oil pressure sensor replaced, but Sam, being mechanically inclined, bought the part for $80 and got to work.

Before fixing it, though, he did note that if it were his daily driver, he’d ignore the light after finding the sensor to be the issue.

Though he plans to sell it, he fixed the sensor despite the extra labor that involved.