Hello all,

j/w what everyone's experience or opinion on ebay body kits?

I messed up my front bumper in a snow accident last winter and haven't fixed it yet. Stock front bumpers that are slightly damaged on ebay are like 250$.

Fiberglass body kits like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Scion...#ht_1042wt_916

are going for like 400$... not worried about paint cus i have a painter.

are the ebay kits good quality? material comparable to non-ebay distributors? fitment acceptable? any other places recommended to purchase kits or even just a front bumper?

Thanks in advance.

--PM

 

The problem with ebay kits in general, is how they fit. A lot of times they don't have that perfect fit and require you to do some custom cuts to make it fit.

I remember a thread on here years ago about this same thing. Maybe someone here has purchased from this seller though and can talk about the fit.

 

i bought an oem style aftermarket bumper from certifiedcarpartson ebay and it fit as good as oem. Came painted for 180 but took 30 days to get it...How ever they are no longer on ebay.

 

..

 

Cheap!

The old school saying goes something like this. "You get what you pay for"

 

I've worked over the rear bumper of that exact kit, so I can give you my experience with it. Overall it fits quite well and there is very little that needs to be done to put it on aside from painting it. What you will notice is that the surface is not smooth like the factory parts though. it is a little wavy, enough so that if you look at under 3-5 feet from it you can see it. If you do try to have it evened out to be smooth you will quickly discover that the gelcoat top layer is brushed on, not sprayed, so it is uneven in it's thickness. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that the fiberglass laid under it has small to medium air bubbles between it and the gel coat. This means that if you push in the right area the gel coat will crack and you will have a small crater in the bumper. The workmanship of these leaves somehting to be desired but it is ok for what you pay for it. If you have the skills to go over it and repair the flaws then it is a good deal. If you are going to pay a body shop to do it you might as well buy the real thing as it'll cost you about the same as getting it repaired.

On the bumper I worked over I was removing the reverse light so there was already some major work being done to it, but as I sanded it smooth many small craters came to light as the gel coat became too thin to support itself. There was also a large one on the right side of the step area on top of the bumper that would have cracked the first time someone rested something on the bumper near the side. After it was all reworked it was the best looking piece out of the kit. Unfortunately it's back in my garage for more work as it was damaged in a carwash.

 

Generally, I understand you get what you pay for, however there are times when you may run across a great deal, such as the case for topekatc. And that can only be known first-hand by the people who have taken the plunge into seeing if it is worth it.

If I had access to control plans from these suppliers or could see an ISO certification, it'd be easier to filter out what could potentially be a good bang for the buck; however, that is not the case, so I'd have to rely on user experiences such as GregS, which is much appreciated.

Well that's a shame! I could really use something like that.


Hey Greg, thanks for the heads-up! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. Looks like I'll be in search for an OEM solution as I'm contemplating of trading it in for something else.

 

cheapo deals yu get what you pay for..

 

I decided to order OEM-like replacement bumper cover... ordered from RockAuto.com CAPA certified part (they had 2 other options) but I believe the CAPA certified are inspected better.

Came in within 1 week, looks very comparable to OEM, just primered... will paint and will post pix. Tryin to fix up and potentially sell car for something different.

Thanks for everyone's .02$.