# Pre-painted body panels?



## Mohawkbear (Dec 9, 2013)

Hello all,

I recently fell victim to Atlanta's infamous "Snowpocolypse" and slid on the ice into a low concrete barrier, taking out the lower driver side of my bumper and foglight housing on my 2013 RS. Also damaged the lower cover where it bolts to the bottom of the bumper fascia, and the foglight itself. I have all the parts ordered except the bumper fascia itself. I had someone repair the bumper fascia, but I wasn't totally satisfied with the work, and have decided to order a new one instead. I'm wondering if anybody knows of a company that does pre-painted parts, and if you'd share those links with me? I saw a post about a company that buys all the extra parts directly from the GM plant in ohio, but when I checked with them, they didn't have my bumper available.


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## Private Cruze (Jul 16, 2013)

I too fell victim to stupid Atlanta drivers during the snow. Dunwoody is my hood.

Try watching craigslist for one of the guys who sells salvage bumper covers.

I have hood damage and I'm looking for a hood in white.


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## CW_ (Jan 31, 2013)

I'm not sure if that's really possible, getting a perfect match on the paint color sight unseen isn't easy. Even different batches of the same color of paint from the same factory will be slightly different, not to mention if your car has faded any from exposure to sunlight that could affect it as well. This is the reason you often get stuck having to paint half the car when body work is involved.


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## Mohawkbear (Dec 9, 2013)

and unfortunately the front end is usually what's crashed, so finding a hood is difficult. check car-parts.com, think I saw some hoods on there.


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## Mohawkbear (Dec 9, 2013)

I know this can be an issue, especially with Victory red, maybe I'll just have to order the bumper and have it painted at a shop. ugh. wanted to do it on my own and save some money, but I want the car to look good too. I already had the front bumper replaced once thanks to a semi trailer losing a tire directly in front of me on the interstate. came out good at first, but the paint wasn't thick enough and began showing abnormal wear almost immediately, and that was done at a body shop.


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## Gus_Mahn (Aug 16, 2011)

Mohawkbear said:


> I know this can be an issue, especially with Victory red, maybe I'll just have to order the bumper and have it painted at a shop. ugh. wanted to do it on my own and save some money, but I want the car to look good too..


 I was lucky to find a nice used cover in color for my crystal red '12 Eco, but it's not perfect condition. It's almost a perfect color match. The thing is almost no junkyard will split up a good used front clip, and once off, the covers tend to get beat up. The proper way to do this repair is to paint the cover off the car and blend it into fenders then clear the whole fender. A really good shop could tint the paint to match pretty closely for a panel replacement. It really all depends how fussy you are and if you can live with a little color mis-match. Hood to fender mis-match generally isn't too visible, but the fender to cover will be.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

What's the issue with the one you had repaired?


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## Mohawkbear (Dec 9, 2013)

well, it was so badly misshapen from the impact that even after it was heat manipulated and body filled, it looks warped on one side. It's barely discernible, but I can see it, and I don't like it.


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## marden64 (Dec 1, 2013)

I would get one unpainted and take it to some one that has a paint shop or the dealer and have them paint it for you. Be better for them to see your vehicle in person and try to match the paint than to have some one try to match the paint to the unseen car.


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