Aftermarket body panels

Long story short - somebody hit my 96 Impala SS the other day. No one was hurt except the driver's door and front fender.... and the pride of the old guy who hit me.

Instead of taking my old, rusty, ripped-seat, cracked-dash, hoopty in to a body shop where I would get $2000 worth of flawless repair on two panels (leaving the rest a hoopty) I just took the $2000 check and I'll do it myself. (and no I didn't sign anything that says its final in case I find deeper damage). $300 worth of used fender and door leaves $1700 for other body work and a full paint job done by me and a buddy.

I've dealt with used body panels as well as aftermarket. (I used to run a body shop for about 3 months before it went under. Coincidence?) Here are my options as I see them for the fender:

1- Buy an aftermarket fender for $100 shipped and hope it arrives in good condition (but they usually don't.)
2- Buy a local used fender for $100, deal with the inevitable rust.
3- Buy a used fender from the south/west and pay the crazy shipping and hope it arrives in good condition.

We almost always bought our aftermarket body panels from either United or Keystone and they seemed fine, but it makes me curious about what brand of aftermarket fender I should get... or are they all junk?

Thoughts?

curtis73 wrote: or are they all junk?

Bingo. Every body shop guy I have talked with want OEM or used. AM has gotten a lot better in fitment, but you can spot them easily no matter how you fit/fill/paint them.

CAPA labels are worthless.

Hmmm. I would gladly pop the $400 for an OEM fender.... if they hadn't quit making them about 8 years ago.

Not sure where you are Curtis, but most 90s vehicles here, unless they got dipped in the ocean by Sandy, are pretty rust free. Even the stuff in the pull it yourself yards

I think it's too much of a generalization that all aftermarket fenders are junk. With that said, the fitment does seem to vary wildly.

Example: When I replaced both front fenders on my Maxima (rusted through), I bought two aftermarket fenders at the same time, from the same company, for the same price. One of them fit absolutely perfectly (the right one if I remember correctly), while the other required some extra holes to be drilled because the ones on the fender were way off, and the little body line at the bottom was slightly off.

Also, for the shipping, I don't know if they are all like that, but all the aftermarket fenders I have bought were always shipped in crazy packaging, and arrived in perfect condition.

One of the things in life that makes it all worthwhile is the satisfaction of finding a junkyard fender that's already painted the same color as the car you are repairing. In my opinion, good used is the way to go.

No one on NAISSO parting out any SS'?

Streetwiseguy wrote: One of the things in life that makes it all worthwhile is the satisfaction of finding a junkyard fender that's already painted the same color as the car you are repairing. In my opinion, good used is the way to go.

+1 for this.

Appleseed wrote: No one on NAISSO parting out any SS'?

Posted there a couple days ago. So far, no takers. If someone does respond, I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for $750.

mad_machine wrote: Not sure where you are Curtis, but most 90s vehicles here, unless they got dipped in the ocean by Sandy, are pretty rust free. Even the stuff in the pull it yourself yards

I'm in Pittsburgh, PA. If there is a car-friendly place in the world, Pittsburgh is the farthest thing from it. So far I've found one fender locally for $250 that is advertised as "rust-free" and it turned out to be "no rusted through yet."

there's gotta be some 95-96 Caprices being parted out.. it's one of the few models of cars that i don't think that i've never seen rusted out, so there's gotta be some good parts out there for you. 90-94 doors will also fit, but they used mirrors that were mounted differently.

a quick look on www.car-part.com shows a black door for a 96 Caprice 50 miles from me for $150 and a black fender 100 miles from me for $50.. junkyards around here don't even bother pulling doors or fenders that have anything worse than mild surface rust or a slight parking lot ding..

There's a reason everyone calls Certi-fit "Sorta-fit"

I bought a tail gate for the Tacoma there, and the first time I left anything loose in the bed and it hit the inside of the tailgate, it pushed big dents though the outside skin.

It did fit fit, but it's garbage.