tommyarmour

My wife owns the Scion Tc and just this morning she hit a mile marker sign on her way to work. I am trying to find parts that are affordable to fix the car myself. Can anyone check out my links and tell me if I need to order OEM or will I be ok with these parts?

Front Bumper Assembly: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271092162804...84.m1423.l2649

And I only needed the Passanger side Headlight assembly but I found this set cheaper than the OEM one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310494546818...84.m1423.l2649


Also her car is White would the primer bumper hold out until March of 2013 when we can afford to get it painted? The black primer might actually look pretty cool.

I'm just looking for somebody that can lead me in the right direction as far as buying parts that are not OEM. And any advise anyone might want to give me.

tommyarmour

I found out that the fender is 50 dollars free shipping. But to paint it super white 040 its going to cost 220.00. OMFG that is ridiculous.

So I need to find a front right fender used that is painted white.

Dankday

iTrader: (3)

Buying parts off ebay can be either good or bad. I all depends on the reviews from other customers of the same parts. As for a bumper not getting primed before it is installed, I would wait out on that because you will have to re-prime the bumper before having it painted. As for the headlights, they seem fine but again I would check with other customers before buying blindly from someone.

tommyarmour

Thanks a lot for your response's. I found a great body shop in Portland Oregon. About 70 miles from where I live. They are going to put on new fender, new bumper, and new headlight, labor and all for 375.00 dollars. I was able to find all those parts on ebay and different places but to get them painted was going to be triple the amount. Then I ran across this craigslist add and found out this body/paint shop had all the parts and paint and did the works and charged really cheap labor costs. I was astounded at their prices and labor fees.

Painted front bumper: 150.00
Painted front fender: 100.00 Painted to match whatever color too. I told them I had the 040 Super White they said they will match it to my car so it's not too white.

Then he said 35 dollars labor he could change them both out in 20 minutes.

Then I brought up the headlight and he said he could get the headlight and change it out for 100 dollars. So around 385.00 for the total repair. Headlight might of been cheaper he actually said 375.00 as my estimate.

I was amazed.

RoboCop

iTrader: (1)

Sounds shady.

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

yeah... sometimes on CL you do get what you pay for. When it sounds too good to be true, it probably is... Not to burst your bubble or anything.

Do they offer a lifetime warranty on the paint? If they don't, go elsewhere. I went to a place like that with my previous Mustang and the front bumper paint flaked off pretty fast. And no, they didn't offer the lifetime warranty. Stay clear of places like that, because if anything were to happen, you'll be paying more in the long run.

tommyarmour

I just called this number and talked to the guy, he is mexican but speaks relatively good english.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/pts/3362479224.html

I asked why he didn't advertise fenders, lights, labor and all that. He was like most his business is bumpers but he has it all. I'm not sure where he gets his paints, because I asked the guy at our local body/paint shop and he said it's 700 dollars just for the gallon of paint to paint a single car.

I would assume they get their paint sent in from Mexico or just simply have a stock pile. I'm sure the parts are going to be what I would get off of ebay, he told me everything comes to him primered black and they paint it and clear coat it. He said it takes 30 minutes to change fender, headlights, and bumper. Hence 35 dollars 1/2 hour labor. The painting takes 2 days.

I sent you the post if your curious and would like to ask any other question. With my funds the way they are today and christmas coming right away. The worst I could get is a bad paint job. And they can be fixed come taxes.

I don't know, all I know is this guy didn't seem like he was afraid to work. And didn't seem like he was trying to make a fortune off of people. His business might be some crap off the wall solution. But it certainly is cheaper than my other option's. 450 to paint both parts, not including the parts or the labor.

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

Just don't say we didn't warn you. I would stay away for sure. Just roll unpainted. Why spend the money now and have to redo it all later for more when you're complaining about money problems from the beginning?

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

Oh and PS - this was my corolla bumper. I had a Mexican do it where I live for cheap (not bashing the Mexicans). I had damage to the rear bumper and he didn't fill it properly, you could see the dent from when it was damaged, and the paint totally didn't match. There was too much flake. He didn't offer the warranty, so I was screwed. and yeah, I paid $100 for him to fill in the damage and repaint the part of the bumper. I was amazed at the price in the beginning, but then understood that I got what I had paid for in the end.

This is the passenger side top of the bumper after his paint. The bumper is clean, but notice all of the flake:



Here is the driver's side of the top part of the bumper, which of course he didn't touch. Notice the obvious difference:




Bottom line. You DO get what you pay for. Good luck.

tommyarmour

I know it's not going to be perfect. Perfect would cost me close to 1,000 dollars.

It would cost me more for the parts. Than for him to get the parts and paint them and install them. Or close to the same anyway.

Then I looked at the paint color. Is it less likely to see flaws in a plain white paint job? Or worse?

I don't think a black primer'd bumper would look bad on a white car. But the fender would look terrible.

I could possibly ask them if I paid an additional 100 dollars would they write up a warranty for the paint job.

tommyarmour

I am warned and nervous about the entire process. But all in all, it's like they are doing the labor and paint for free. It couldn't hurt to put a cheap paint job over the primer up until the actual time we can afford to get them painted in 5-6 months. Or could it?

For those prices I understand I am not going to win a car show. My other options are I order the parts and try to put them on myself black primer'd. I guess I am a little nervous at my skills in the first place. Or I could buy the parts from this guy and have him install them without painting them. It would still save me a lot of money doing it that way. And time putting them on. Or I could have him just paint the fender and install the bumper black and just see how the paint looks on the fender before I come back and pay a little extra to have them paint the bumper.

If this were my primary car, I wouldn't mind driving around with a black fender for a few months. This is my wife's car and she would mind.

tommyarmour

Primer'd :



These are some pictures of the paint job he does.