# @threepiece.us on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdOgyMTm__U
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70572177-threepieceus-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/525d25e2cd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-13T12:01:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** threepieceus (@threepiece.us) — https://gondola.cc/threepiece.us

## Caption

Everybody wants the V8 until the first timing belt quote lands. The GS400 is the one Lexus where the bigger engine is the worse ownership decision, and I'll die on this hill.

The 1UZ-FE is a beautiful piece of engineering that hates you financially. Timing belt is an interval job, not a lifetime part. Eight coils. And a starter that lives in the valley under the intake manifold, so a $180 part turns into a day of labor and a bill that reads like a head gasket. None of that is a reliability knock — the motor will outlive you. It's just that every job on it is labor, and labor doesn't care that you bought a $6k car.

Then there's the part nobody wants to hear: it was never offered with a third pedal, and the aftermarket never showed up. Manifolds, turbo kits, head studs, tuning support, forum knowledge that goes ten years deep — all of that went to the 2JZ. You can make the V8 fast. You'll just be paying custom-fab prices to do what a GS300 owner does with a parts cart.

So buy the GS300. Same chassis, same interior that shames cars twice its price, and a 2JZ-GE that either gets boosted or gets pulled for a GTE with a roadmap somebody already wrote for you. Put the V8 savings into coilovers and a real set of wheels and you've got the sleeper the badge shoppers keep walking past.

Defend your pick in the comments.

#ThreePieceUS #GS400 #GS300 #2JZGE #1UZFE #LexusGS #JDM #WheelFitment #Stance #SportsCarBuying #CarBuyingGuide

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 1,534
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- **Comments:** 155

## Tags

lexusgs, gs400, carbuyingguide, stance, sportscarbuying, threepieceus, 2jzge, gs300, 1uzfe, wheelfitment, jdm

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