Aftermarket replacement fender

[Pyral]

The PO mangled the metal lip that aligned the side marker light. I tried bending it back but it is difficult and I would not get a good result. The panel is already in poor condition- the paint on my fender is pretty worn off and if I ever repaint my 4runner it makes sense to replace it altogether.

The fender panel is still available from Toyota, but it costs $343. I found another fender through carparts.com that says it can fit my model and it costs just under $70, a price that seems too good to be true. The only catch that I can see is that the fender does not have molding holes, I would have to add them which is a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

Does anyone have experience buying aftermarket body panels or should I buy one from a junked 4runner?

 

[Too Stroked]

Trust me on this one. If you want it to bolt right on, but OEM. If you want to spend way too much time fiddling with getting something to almost fit, buy aftermarket. The fit of the aftermarket stuff is hit or miss at best. You do get what you pay for.

Another area you will find hurting on aftermarket body parts is the primer. With OEM, you get full Electrodeposition primer (EDP) which offers superior resistance to corrosion. With aftermarket, you get a panel pulled right out of the punch press, possibly wiped off with a dirty rag, then sprayed with whatever cheap primer they have lying around. Corrosion resistance is about zero.

I recently detailed a nice 2010 Camry for an elderly couple. I could tell right away the front end had been painted. (Big clue: zero stone chips.) The paint actually looked pretty nice and matched perfectly. The left front fender, bumper cover, grill and both headlights were aftermarket replacement parts. The fit between the left front fender and the driver's door was abysmal and no amount of moving it around was going to cure it. I'm sure somebody at an insurance company told them the fit would be perfect. Nope.