My 98 gs400 has been running very good the past couple of years (mileage 390,000 lol) I had to get a smog check and I wasn’t worried about it until they told me it didn’t pass. So they “tried to fix” what they could to get it to pass. Long story short they ended up telling me that they don’t know what to do with the car and I should sell it. Basically gave up so I was obviously offended keeping in mind it was runnin like a champ before I took it to them. The mechanic even offered me $500 to take it off my hands and I did notice the rear tires had been in use of some rubber burning of some sort. (Mfs love to do donuts in cars that ain't theirs) So I just drove the car home and ever since I brought it back and doesn’t stay on and grey smoke comes out of the mufflers. I’m more than prepared to just replace the whole engine. I managed to find a used engine with 65,000 miles on it. Was hoping if anyone knows a shop that knows what they're doing when it comes to lexus
engines.
Im located in NorthernCalifornia Sacramento area but I’ve heard about bay area shops as well. I probably didn’t describe my situation very clearly either but any advice/ guidance is greatly appreciated it.

 

So you might want to go on Facebook or the nextdoor app to get a good recommendation for a shop that services Toyota/Lexus. The neighbor groups on Facebook and nextdoor are good for finding local mechanics that specialize in your type of car.

​​​​I think you will get a lot more recommendations on there and you probably will get more to confirm how good each are.

 

Sounds like a plan thank you I appreciate it

 

Wtf so you took it to a shop and while it was with them they swung it? Drop the name of the place so we can review bomb the hell out of them. That's so messed up, that's why I do all my work myself. I don't trust these shops man. Sorry that that happened to you, and I hope you can get it up and running again. 1uzfe's shouldn't be hard to come by.

 

Replacing an engine is a fairly simple operation that can be performed by any experienced auto mechanic. Even the indy guys do it in garages / driveways.
Completely different story if you need to fix a poorly running engine. Then it's a matter of luck to find one or two mechanics throughout the state who have free time and are willing to work on your car.

Look at this guy in the Midwest. He enjoys working on older Lexus / Toyota vehicles, including engines.

 

I really don't want to discourage you, but between the two: honest shops are hard to come by and most will scam the hell out of you or give you your car back in worse shape than you gave it to them. Dealerships will do the work correctly 90% of the time, and will get stuck occasionally, just like you do, and having them do something will cost an arm and a leg.

The only way to break out of the cycle is to find a trusted shop or friend, or learn how to do a lot of things on your own. But depending on what needs to be serviced, a dealership might be a fine option. If it's just fluids that need to be replaced, I would say they're fine if you don't have the tooling and know-how. But once mechanical/electrical things need fixing or replacing, I would stay away from random, sketchy shops (go to ones that your friends of family recommend) and be prepared to overpay by 2-3x if you go to a dealership. Dealerships and shops both, may just entirely mis-diagnose your issue and for dealerships especially, this can be a money pit as they charge you for a bunch of things that they think you need that will fix the problem, but don't. If you decide to go with a shop or dealership, I recommend you still browse through this forum to correctly diagnose whatever issue you have, so you don't get steered down the wrong path by the shop or dealership. That way, you'll know for sure if just a little old vacuum line needs to be replaced, rather than a whole head gasket.

If you're willing to build the skillset, this forum and its members have 95% of what you need to get just about all jobs done. The only down-side is the money and most importantly, time that you'll need to invest. Forum + labor + money will be a lot less expensive than dealership / shops for a lot of fixes/maintenance.

 

I don’t understand why did it not pass? I know in Utah , where I live, the only thing that matters is the check engine light. Which is smart, we use to have a dyno test and they put a probe in the exhaust pipe, now they just do a quick visual to make sure you haven’t cut the cats off and then spoofed the O2 sensors or something like that. If everything looks good and the obd2 doesn’t have any DTCs active or pending, then it passes. If you have a check engine light on, then you need to get it fixed first. Does your GS have a check engine light on? Was it failed for an emission issue? Or a safety issue?

 

I think it was an emission issue but on the smog paper the person who tried to work on it emphasized 4 times “grey smoke comes out of exhaust request for tear down”
On another note it wasn’t able to stay on ever since I picked it up from the shop. I switched out the old battery (which was purchased and installed by a technician from triple A. Turns out the battery wasn’t the correct size
Now with a new battery it actually stays on and functions exactly how it did before I took it to the smog shop
(And also NO MORE GREY SMOKE which seems weird to me) I’m just surprised no one noticed that the battery wasn’t the correct one. I also blame myself because I should triple check everything that is done to my car especially when everyone tries to pull fast ones.

Now I don’t really have to worry about the car’s condition as much as I was and just on how to pass smog 🙌🏽