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Pre-painted car parts? (eBay)

edro

edro

Lifer
I found a seller on eBay that has amazing feedback and they sell pre-painted parts. Unfortunately, eBay only shows auctions 30 days back, and since there is about a 20-25 day lead time on these parts, I can't contact previous buyers to ask if they were happy.

I need a Driver Side Front Fender for my 1997 Accord EX. I see that the fender alone is ~$100, and they are selling it pre-painted to whatever color you want (MFG paint color #) for ~$200 shipped!

That seems like a really good deal to me. I know that the paint won't match exactly, but I am hoping it would be close enough. The car has 190k on it, so it isn't exactly a show car anyway. The fender has a huge gash in it, so it definitely needs replaced.

What do you guys think?
Here is the "auction": eBay Link
 
Originally posted by: Safeway
Originally posted by: Quintox
I wouldn't risk it
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Nor would I. I doubt the colors will match exactly due to your cars paint fading in the sun, etc.
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I suppose...

It's all a balancing act. How much will you save compared to doing it locally versus how much is a perfect match worth to you?

What color is your car?
 
Your car has 190k miles and is 10 years old. The paint won't match due to fade but who cares! I would do it just to save the hassle of doing it myself. Or if you really don't care like me, just use $4 can of Rustoleum spray paint and call it a day.
 
My color is dark green (Eucalyptus Green). It has metallic sparkle in it, like most auto paints.

I am leaning towards getting the eBay part because the guy has impeccable feedback (20k+, 99%) and I don't think the minor mismatch would be that noticeable on this old of a car. The car is in really good shape other than this fender though.

I have estimates to do the repair for ~$800. I could use that $600 elsewhere.
 
Originally posted by: edro
My color is dark green (Eucalyptus Green). It has metallic sparkle in it, like most auto paints.

I am leaning towards getting the eBay part because the guy has impeccable feedback (20k+, 99%) and I don't think the minor mismatch would be that noticeable on this old of a car. The car is in really good shape other than this fender though.

I have estimates to do the repair for ~$800. I could use that $600 elsewhere.
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Yeah...for $600, that's not a bad idea for an older car.

Look at something like your door jamb for an indication of how off the match will be...
 
The trick won't be matching the color, especially a darker green. The trick is going to be getting it to you with no scratches.

If your paint has been taken care of and is still pretty shiny, it won't have faded that much.

The big difference is, if it has faded or is off a bit, a local paint store COULD tint the paint to help match. Could, but not necessarily would.

Your darker paints aren't as susceptible to fading as your lighter metallics. If you had silver, gold, or one of those champagne-type colors, forget it.
 
A good body shop will match your color and tint it exactly for color fade etc. And it won't be scratched up after it's done. Get an estimate from a shop and compare. It's your money.
 
Considering that a color matched can of spray paint costs about $25. I'd guess that it's most likely what would be used. Add a $10 can of clear coat and about an hour labor...
 
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Considering that a color matched can of spray paint costs about $25. I'd guess that it's most likely what would be used. Add a $10 can of clear coat and about an hour labor...
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Woah, you go for the good stuff! Autozone has colors that are pretty close for like $5! 😛
 
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Considering that a color matched can of spray paint costs about $25. I'd guess that it's most likely what would be used. Add a $10 can of clear coat and about an hour labor...
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Woah, you go for the good stuff! Autozone has colors that are pretty close for like $5! 😛
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That was just the price I paid for a mixed can put in a spray can at a paint shop for my dad's truck. (based on the paint code) Any color you want costs $25 that way 🙂
 
It will not match. Ask any bodyshop whether or not they can paint just one part and expect it to match. If they're a good honest shop, they'll tell you no, that in order to match paint even with a color code, they need to tint the paint to get a closer match and blend the color into the adjacent panel. That's if you want it done right.

On a 10 year old car with 200,000 miles it may not matter to you.

The bottom line is (and I pose this question every time someone asks an auto body question on the board) do you want it done right or do you want it done cheap, you can't have both with auto body repairs.

It matters for resale. If I have a used car lot and I have two cars that are identical to each other. One with poorly matched paint or inferior body work done on it and the other one doesn't have any obvious repaint or inferior body work. Do you think I can expect to sell both of these cars for the same amount of money? Which one would you buy?

On a 10 year old car that you plan on driving until it dies, it's not an issue.
 
I replaced the front fender on my BMW 325iC with a replacement of the same year and color from a boneyard. I e-mailed a bunch with the exact part, year and color code, a bunch got back to me and one place about 90-minutes away offered the part for $75. I decided to go this route for a couple reasons. First, aftermarket body panels are notoriously AWFUL - poor fitting and poor quality. I wanted OEM quality and fit/finish. Second, the check I got for the damage (minor schoolbus sideswipe) was about 30% of the value of the car - didn't make sense to put that much back in for negligibly noticeable/unnoticeable cosmetics.

I drove up there on a Saturday morning and the guy helped me do the swap, took about 30 minutes to get it mounted and 30 minutes to get it fitted correctly. After cleaning the car at a quarter carwash on the way home it took standing at an angle in direct sunlight to notice any difference, and after a good, deep clean/polish/wax no-one could notice the difference at all.
 
Originally posted by: teddyv
I replaced the front fender on my BMW 325iC with a replacement of the same year and color from a boneyard. I e-mailed a bunch with the exact part, year and color code, a bunch got back to me and one place about 90-minutes away offered the part for $75. I decided to go this route for a couple reasons. First, aftermarket body panels are notoriously AWFUL - poor fitting and poor quality. I wanted OEM quality and fit/finish. Second, the check I got for the damage (minor schoolbus sideswipe) was about 30% of the value of the car - didn't make sense to put that much back in for negligibly noticeable/unnoticeable cosmetics.

I drove up there on a Saturday morning and the guy helped me do the swap, took about 30 minutes to get it mounted and 30 minutes to get it fitted correctly. After cleaning the car at a quarter carwash on the way home it took standing at an angle in direct sunlight to notice any difference, and after a good, deep clean/polish/wax no-one could notice the difference at all.
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That was my ideal thought... but I just don't know if anyone would have it. I called 2 shops around here and they both didn't have any fenders.

I think it would be highly difficult to find the same year, color and condition in a salvage yard.
 
I think it would be highly difficult to find the same year, color and condition in a salvage yard.
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You'd think so but it was actually pretty easy and there are a ton of parts out there. Look for boneyards and other recyclers and fill out the part request.

EDIT: This is for a 1997 Accord EX? I am betting there are probably a dozen that will work (find out what years/models have the same OEM part number and get your OEM paint code) on eBay right now.
 
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