[Anchorman]

Due to a terrible maneuver in a parking lot last night, I'm now in need of a replacement rear bumper cover. Contact with a wall did mine in. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[chazmink]

Jim,

Sorry to hear about the mishap.



A while back Bill at Autotechplus in PA had a black one. I think he wanted $400.



Charlie

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[Jason Judd]

Jim,



Are you talking about those plugs that stick out of your bumper?



Or are you referring to the entire bumper?



I think I have a pair of the black rubber plugs.



Jason

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[Anchorman]

Regrettably, I'm talking about the entire fender-to-fender bumber cover - the piece that has the P O R S C H E in it. Mine, at the right rear corner, now has a bunch of pretty deep scrapes and some holes. Please - don't ask.



Charlie - do you have contact information for Autotechplus?

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[flash]

ouch - nuts - sorry to hear that - i feel your pain



just as a bit of info - new is about a grand from sunset

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[Anchorman]

Thanks for letting me know where the bar is. I'm going to start the search with the list of dismantlers.



I've located one in my color - $500. I'll see if I can get that to include shipping.



Is this a manageable DIY job, or do I want to take the car to a body shop?

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[flash]

you can very easily do this yourself - 15 minutes - call me and i'll walk you through it

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[Anchorman]

Sounds good. When I get a little closer to doing the job, I'll be in touch. Right now, I'm going to see if I can get the plastic piece on which the 968 numerals are mounted thrown into the deal. Then, while I'm working on the rear end, I can experiment with my 3rd brake light modification.

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[flash]

good idea - i look forward to seeing the results

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[Anchorman]

I just sent the seller an email asking him to confirm the condition of the bumper cover and if he has the other part. In the meantime, though, I bought some black spray paint to help hide the damage. I'm almost tempted to not bother replacing the bumper cover. NOT!!!



OK - the deal is done, bumper cover and added part should be in a (big) box and shipped today. Total for the two parts is $500 plus shipping from Oklahoma Foreign. The dismantlers list on this board was very helpful. Several emails and one phone call gave me my choice from at least three different suppliers. Am I ever glad that I ended up with a black car.

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[chazmink]

Jim,

I see that I am too late but the contact info for furture reference is:



Bill Martin

Autotechplus

4324 Morgantown Rd

Smithfield, PA 15478



phone 877.445.1503

724.569.0189





Charlie

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[Anchorman]

Got it now - as you say, for the future. Thanks, Charlie. BTW - that cruise control computer I purchased from that eBay seller is now in my car - mine stopped working.

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[Bart]

Did Oklahoma Foreign have the best price? or the best parts? maybe both?

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[Anchorman]

Without being able to see any of the offerings from anyone, my feeling was that Oklahoma had the best combination of availability of both parts, color, condition, and price. I'll see if I was right when the (BIG) box arrives.

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[Anchorman]

The box arrived - and I'm not a happy camper. I haven't completely removed the bumper cover from the box, but from lifing one side I've already seen enough marks and more-than-superficial scratches on it to know that I'm not going to use it. I'll call Oklahoma Foreign later this afternoon and see how the discussion goes.



Could it be that my expectations were too high? I wanted a bumper cover that I could simply swap with my current, messed-up one. Speaking to Oklahoma Foreign, it seems (to them) quite normal that a part like this would require refinishing before being put on the car. Is that the difference between a "good" body part and a "perfect" one? I'm going to unpack this one, evaluate it more carefully, and maybe bring it to a local body shop to see what's involved in making it what I'd want to put on my car.

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[Anchorman]

A more careful examination of the bumper cover showed that it's been hit, possibly repainted, and it has a crack that penetrates to the inside. I've taken it to a body shop and was told that they'd rather repair mine than the one I purchased. Then spoke to Oklahoma and they'll accept the return part with no restocking fee - shipping, however, may be another story, and is not trivial. The morale of the story. IMHO, Oklahoma is honorable, but you need to question pretty carefully about condition, which - in retrospect - I probably didn't do sufficiently. And, don't act in the heat of reaction to an incident - I should have taken my care to a body shop before I went looking for the replacement part. As it is, though, the repair of my bumper cover will end up costing in excess of $600 - makes for an expensive dinner.

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[SANDOVAL]

" I should have taken my care to a body shop before I went looking for the replacement part."



You're not the first person to go through this. I have acted prematurely when what I had could have been fixed without buying a new part.

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[Anchorman]

Thanks for the consolation, Eric. It helps me feel not quite so foolish. Overall, though, this has been an expensive little mishap that, like others, did not need to happen. A perfect example of "haste makes waste". A little more care in the parking lot and...well, you can't cry over spilt milk, you just have to learn from your mistakes. It's a little irksome that, even at my advanced age, I still am making such silly mistakes. Hopefully, though, fewer of them

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[Anchorman]

I'm renewing the search for a rear bumper cover. I've managed to get by with periodic spray painting over the damage I had done, but the time is coming to get the entire car repainted, which would be a good time to replace the damaged bumper cover. Anyone? I'll take one that is not the right (black) color, but I want one that is truly undamaged.

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[jww968]

Oklahoma Foreign has a black one up on E-Bay. They are selling the entire bumper assembly. Not a good photo, but it looks OK.

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