Advice for replacing my deer-destroyed RH fender

[saffy]

My poor 2000 was bashed in by a deer in June. I successfully replaced the grill, radiator, and cooling fan, but I'm stuck on what to do with this fender. The entire RH fender is folded back. As it is right now, my RH hood latch will not attach to the hood because the entire fender is moved back about an inch. Not to mention, it doesn't look good.

Here are the 3 options I've considered:
Buy this painted fender, which is apparently color matched for $393. I don't know if anyone has used this service before or whether to trust online painted body parts stores. But they have the correct paint code (PV3 for amber fire pearl). Anybody have experience with this company in particular (paintedautoparts.com) or other pre-painted body part shops online?

Buy this unpanted fender, for $180 which comes pre-primed. I'd then take this to a body shop in town and have them color match and paint it. Anybody know what a reasonable quote for that would be?

OR, I buy that unpainted fender, don't bother painting it, and then install an aftermarket style flat fender kit like these on both fenders. The reason I'm not simply buying this aftermarket kit and installing it now is because I need a good fender to bolt it onto — as you can see in the pics, my RH fender is buckled badly on the top surface, and I'd need this surface to be flat to successfully mount these fenders. The reason I don't like this option is because it would require the most money and work.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[BlueC]

Buy this painted fender, which is apparently color matched for $393

The "color match" may be close, but will not be prefect, and could be way off, so be aware if something like that would bother you. It would bother me, but I'm picky.

Buy this unpanted fender, for $180 which comes pre-primed. I'd then take this to a body shop in town and have them color match and paint it. Anybody know what a reasonable quote for that would be?

That would be the better option, but it will likely turn into painting the whole Jeep (blending). That's going to depend on your expectations and what you are willing or not willing to accept. Ballpark for painting the whole Jeep will range from $1,000 (Macco) to $5,000ish for a better shop. If you know how to do body work and finish buffing, then the boys at Macco can lay the paint down for you.

Ultimately, this will come down to what your expectations are, and what your budget is. Do you want it to look factory fresh, or just ok from 50 ft away, which could be done with rattle cans.

 

[JMT]

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My poor 2000 was bashed in by a deer in June. I successfully replaced the grill, radiator, and cooling fan, but I'm stuck on what to do with this fender. The entire RH fender is folded back. As it is right now, my RH hood latch will not attach to the hood because the entire fender is moved back about an inch. Not to mention, it doesn't look good.

Here are the 3 options I've considered:
Buy this painted fender, which is apparently color matched for $393. I don't know if anyone has used this service before or whether to trust online painted body parts stores. But they have the correct paint code (PV3 for amber fire pearl). Anybody have experience with this company in particular (paintedautoparts.com) or other pre-painted body part shops online?

Buy this unpanted fender, for $180 which comes pre-primed. I'd then take this to a body shop in town and have them color match and paint it. Anybody know what a reasonable quote for that would be?

OR, I buy that unpainted fender, don't bother painting it, and then install an aftermarket style flat fender kit like these on both fenders. The reason I'm not simply buying this aftermarket kit and installing it now is because I need a good fender to bolt it onto — as you can see in the pics, my RH fender is buckled badly on the top surface, and I'd need this surface to be flat to successfully mount these fenders. The reason I don't like this option is because it would require the most money and work.

Any advice is appreciated.

Option 1 may or may not be close match.

Option 2 the body shop should be able to color match. They are really good these days. I do my own painting with an HVLP gun and get my primer, color, and 2K clear from a local Auto Body Paint Supplier. I didn’t do any blending. I just painted pieces and mounted them to the Jeep. Here’s a pic of the finished color. I can’t tell a difference.

Door is factory

Rear quarter panel is me.

It ended up costing me about $320 for everything I needed to paint except the compressor (which I already havd). If you take it too a Body shop have them color match it with a camera or do it yourself at a local auto paint supplier and have them just paint your fender. That’s less than a pint of paint.

 

[Duck Doctor]

I wouldn’t purchase an aftermarket fender and would find an OEM fender. The aftermarket fenders are constructed with thinner gauge metal and easily bend. I’m going to remove the aftermarket fenders I recently installed and replace with OEM

 

[Peter Panagakos]

I replaced the driver's side front fender on my 2006 TJ because when I bought it I found a dented area that had bondo. I hate bondo. I bought the prepainted replacement fender and it matched perfect. Color is Khaki. I am very happy with it. Later on I dented my tailgate. I replaced it with another from a different colored Jeep. I had a auto paint shop mix me the paint, sanded it down, primed it and painted myself. The color is not an exact match. I don't care much about the tailgate a hair off. Spare covers most of it anyway. I don't trust myself to do either body work or paint.

 

[CreepinDeth]

I wouldn’t purchase an aftermarket fender and would find an OEM fender. The aftermarket fenders are constructed with thinner gauge metal and easily bend. I’m going to remove the aftermarket fenders I recently installed and replace with OEM

This is my opinion also
OER = junk

 

[Peter Panagakos]

The fender I bought was high quality, the metal is just a thick as the original and it fit perfectly. Reproduction Jeep body parts are like anything else, there are really good ones, and there is junk. I did not buy junk. I doubt that anyone looking at my replaced fender would be able to tell it from the original on the other side. I see no difference at all.

 

[RHanna]

What if you buy the aftermarket ones, take the damaged one off and do your best to flatten it out. Paint that so it doesn't rust and then install the aftermarket one?

 

[txbemis69]

The fender I bought was high quality, the metal is just a thick as the original and it fit perfectly. Reproduction Jeep body parts are like anything else, there are really good ones, and there is junk. I did not buy junk. I doubt that anyone looking at my replaced fender would be able to tell it from the original on the other side. I see no difference at all.

where did you source your fender from?

 

[Peter Panagakos]

I figured someone would ask. Of course it was years ago and i can't remember. I did some research at the time because I didn't want to have a problem fitting it. I understand resistance to buying aftermarket anything. Might help to search for someone who is parting out a TJ with good body parts.
I did find half doors for my Jeep that way, even the correct color.