Recommendations for Independent Bay Area shops that perform 30/60/90K Maintenance, Suspension Modifications: coilovers, Sways, bushings, etc., Engine Modifications: Headers, Intake, Engine Management, etc.

If you have additional comments or questions, similar to this topic, please post here.

If you have an off topic post such as a question about an engine or suspension problem, recommended sways, coilovers, etc.. feel free to start a new thread.

PLEASE DO NOT start a new thread asking what many have already responded to on this current thread. Just add on to this one.

My personal recommendation on selecting a shop is to read up on the tons of feedback given here.

1. Common sense and reason say that the shops with the most recommendations and with posts that have detailed compliments describing why a member likes a shop are probably good posts to go by.

2. My personal preference is to shy away from recommendations for shops that don't have a lot of feedback or recommendations from one only member, instead of several different members.

3. I also place little value when I read only a few words that just say "they're the BOMB", "cheap price" or "will hook you up, tell them I sent ya".

4. If you have a new shop that you really feel is good, we want to know about it. If they're truly good, then over time, other's will follow and post as well.

5. If someone is not happy with a shops work, I suggest that your first action should be to go back to the shop and ask them to correct it.

6. Please give any shop / business the opportunity to correct an issue before taking your gripe to a public forum. This goes for any type of service business.

7. Coming on these forums and venting as your first step, is not the preferred way to fix the problem. Also if there is a legitimate complaint to post, please make sure to provide MEANINGFUL details of your problem.

8. Just saying they suck, or they f*** up, without giving any detailed description to back it up is WORTHLESS IMHO.

9.If there is a legitimate problem with a well established and highly recommended local shop, we STILL DO want to hear about it, but do post specific details of your issue which explains why you feel the way you do.

These are my personal recommendations, however you are free to make your own best judgement.

Let the people will decide !




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Which Lexus dealership do you recommend in the bay area (north bay if possible) for the 90K service (98' GS4)? I called Lexus of Concord and they gave me the following prices (includes TIMING BELT)

$1549.95 (VVT-I engine)
$1199.95 (non VVT-I engine)


I was just curious if anyone in the bay has a cheaper price than that.. or are the rates all the same? Please let me know.. thank you..

 

Lots of guys go to Exact Motorsports in Fremont to get their Lexus service done. They are friendly with NorCal ClubLexus members and I think their pricing beats any dealership around here.

 

I was going to do a write up on my 90k at exact but got caught with school. To make it short, I am very happy with the job they did on my car. It running better than when I had the 60k service done at the dealership. Also note that the only major thing the dealer will change is the timing belt. I had the water pump and drive belts changed as well. This was recommend by John at Exact and Todd at TMEngineering.

Anyways Exact standard price is about $1200. But they get the parts from the local dealership at retail prices. What I ended up doing was purchasing most of the parts from Steve Ganz and have John at Exact do the labor. The parts from SG was roughly $360. Labor at Exact was $570 + fluids. Since I had John flush the tranny fluid (highly recommended...shifts are sooooo buttery smooth now), I paid another $100 in tranny fluid (used 20 qts to flush it clean) on top of the $80 in synthetic oil, brake fluid, differential fluid, and coolant. Overall, I paid close to the same amount as the dealership, but I got way more for my money. You don't have to do all the extra things that I had done, but its good peace of mind since I plan on driving this car another 90k

Hope that helps you out. Oh yeah Exact's contact info is www.exactmotorsports.com If you go there, please say you were recommended by me or ClubLexus.

--jawn

 

Hey Guys,

I was wondering if any of you that live in the bay area, get your service done at other places or other shops. I know dealership is really expensive, so i was wondering if any of you can refer me to anyone that knows how to deal with our modded cars and charge a better price for service, thanks!

GsNav

 

Do you know that there is a NorCal Regional Forum? The mods will probabaly move this there but ...

Anyway, some of us go to Exact Motorsports in Milpitas.

http://www.exactmotorsports.com/

If you call, you'll probably talk to John (who will work on the car) or his wife Sandy.

 

another vote for exact

hey albert, i am still waiting for you

 

I ordered the parts from Carson and had the labor done at exact. The car runs better than ever. John did the timing belt, water pump and a whole bunch of other things that the dealership will only inspect but still charge you an arm and a leg for.

 

Exact motorsport doesn't really do a great job on his services. I know john for over 10 years now and he really does a half *** job fyi.

 

Please let us know in more detail, what kinds of things you didn't like over the 10 years you've known him?

Also, what shops in the south bay can you recommend instead?

 

yeah i am sure we all want to know the details

 

So you know John for 10 years? He was bad 10 years ago? Or is he still bad now? Do you still go to him? I assume so since you know he is still bad. Otherwise, if he is bad, why do you still go to him? I guess I'm just confused about the statement. I don't go to John that often but the few times I did, he seems knowledgeable enough. The other NorCal guys seem to have good luck with him too.

I'm not really trying to defend John, just trying to understand your statement.

 

I've been there and I can't say that I would want to go back. I only went there because of the recommendations here. I really did try to like the place because finding a shop you can trust is
hard. I had my tires mounted and balanced on my new set of rims last year and had them trim
the fender. After the install, he asked me if my rims were new and immediately i thought "now what?!"
(that can't be a good thing). He pointed to one of my rims and there was chip on my rim. Now it's not
big or anything but enough to make 99% of CL member upset knowing how everybody 's pretty ****
about their cars. It's a pretty obvious defect and I surely would've caught it when my rims were sitting in
my living room. Dont know, could or could not have been John but I never got a good vibe there.

I took my GS in for balance and alignment at auto innovations in milpitas a few weeks back because I had to replace one of my tires and my car was due for an alignment. I spoke with Orlando and he's pretty cool. He calls when he says he will and that's not something you get with car shops. I would be going back if I were to have any alignment or balancing done. As for maintainance, I'm already starting to do everything myself so I can actually learn something and if there some kind of screw up I can blame no one else but myself.

 

Well, today I left my office and walked into the parking garage to go home. I try to start the car and it just cranks for a while and doesn't turn over. I try again several times and nothing, the car is dead.

I called my co-worker to hopefully help jumpstart me, but we didn't have jumper cables. So I decide to call Exact Motorsports since they've been working on my car a lot recently and just wanted to get some advice on what may be the problem. I didn't really think it could be the battery because I've only had the car for less than 2 years, and I purchased it new. So I thought maybe it was the starter or something else.

Well, after talking with John briefly and having him walk me through a few things to try, he said that he'll come over and help me! I really didn't expect him to do that. Luckily I work only about 10-15 minutes from Exact. He came by, checked the battery, and jumpstarted the car so I could get home.

It turns out that my battery is indeed dead and doesn't seem to hold a charge. So I'll be heading to Exact sometime tomorrow afternoon to purchase and install an Optima battery.

Again, I didn't expect John to drive out to help me, I just wanted to get some advice. That's what I consider awesome customer service! Everything John's done for my car has been top notch, and I will definitely continue going to him. I highly recommend Exact to other local Bay Area owners.

 

I concur. Exact Motorsports is an excellent family runned business.