Yah so, gonna do taxes here in the next couple days, expecting a nice fat return. However, the only thing im willint to spend on the stang is a new front bumper because the one i have on now was hit by a trailer hitch.

So i found these on Ebay, OEM and NON OEM bumpers.

Ive seen painted OEM bumpers that go for about $600 +
Ouch..... pricey
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-01...2em118Q2el1247

then there are the...

NON OEM GT bumper.
$193, with $65 shipping. Nice n Cheap
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-PAINTED-FRONT-BUMPER-COVER-99-04-FORD-MUSTANG-GT_W0QQitemZ230219883397QQihZ013QQcategoryZ33640QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and this...

NON OEM COBRA BUMPER,
289, +65 shipping. Hell Yah!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-PAINTED-FRONT-BUMPER-COVER-03-04-FORD-MUSTANG-COBRA_W0QQitemZ230219980147QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3364 0QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here is a pic of the same non OEM cobra bumper, a guy on Mach1Registry got this one, it is not fiberglass, he said the color was a tad off according to his wife but he cant tell. I figure black would even be harder to notice.


Any of you have any thoughs on the use of NON OEM body parts? apparently they are a dead on fit.

 

Fitment could be off, could require more prep, paint wont be the same as factory, etc.

 

they use factory paint codes...

I would probably be a lot more hesitant if my car wasnt black, black is about the easiest to have matched up.

 

****'s weak!

just go to www.bumpers.com

 

personally, i would stick with oen for fir and finish, but if aftermarket is what you want i would stick with cervini's or another higher end aftermarket company.

 

Im looking at this for a cost perspective. lol.

Cervini's is great, but pricey, easily as expencive as OEM. The bumpers shown are all OEM style, not really looking for an aftermarket look

 

Doesnt matter. You still run into problems such as dirt in the paint, color match, orange peel, over spray, sanding marks, runs, etc.

 

yah if the paintjob is shitty it is shitty. that doesent have much to do with the bumper itself, it has to do with the prepwork and enviornment it was done in.

i got a pm to the guy on Mach1registry to see what he says about paint quality and if he had to do it again would he go with OEM or if he is happy with what he got.

I wouldnt mind having a cobra bumper.

as of right now there is a big square stamped in the front of my bumper where somone backed into it with a tow hitch.

good thing the plate covers almost all of it, but i really want to get this fixed, and i can afford 2-300, but that is really about all.

if this guy from mach1r comes back and says he wasnt overly impressed, well, i dunno. probably just leave it as it is untill i get more money

 

Insurance?

 

phhhss.... long story.. well.. maybe not..

Before i was married i had a roomate named scott, the dumbass got in his truck and backed up not noticing the 3,400lb black as **** mustang GT in clear broad daylight sitting behind his truck, even though he had to walk across the goddamn driveway to get in his truck.

So, i tell him he has to get me a new bumper, i know the guy diddnt have much cash.

I found somone on Craigslist with a used black set, Front/Rear bumpers, Side Skirts, and Spoiler, all for $150. He said they were in 9/10 shape.

Anyways, i told my roomie scott to go get those parts and we would call it even.

Anyways, the rear bumper was in fantastic shape, which is good cause mine had a few stress marks in the paint. So cool, i got a new rear bumper. The side skirts are perfect condition, but then again, so are mine. The FRONT bumper the one part i REALLY needed has some pretty bad scratches on the side and a dip in the front, this is wierd, it looks like somone took a hot screwdriver and pushed it in the front of the bumper and sunk it back in.

Anyways i told him if he got the set we would be cool, and he got the set. At least i have a better rear bumper and some replacement side skirts.

i guess i could just take that bumper in to get it fixed, if it can be. But honestly i havent spend a dime on myself in nearly 5 months. lol. Im thinking since i bring in 90% of the income in the family and dont get to use any on myself anymore, maybe i deserve a bumper i want. lol. like a cobra bumper.



Ive been reading through the feedback on some of the guys offering these bumpers.

one of them apparently does a shitty job, he gets plenty of negative feedback, and is very slow to respond.

another guy seems to do good work, but only has about 70 feedback.

Then there is a 3rd group, apparently it is an autobody place that claims onle ase certified techs bla blah blah, but they have 1059 feedback, 99.9% positive, only 2 negative feebacks in over 425 feedbacks in the past 12 months, and everyone seems pretty happy with the paint job. Plus they garanutee and warranty thier work.

might be a decent deal.I have messaged a few of the people asking how the paint compared


I went through some of my pics, this one shows the damage on my bumper the best i guess it just catches it in the right light. Nobody really notices it unless i point it out. Right above the "O" at the end of COLORADO

 

Gotta be careful about what people say about body shops. The majority dont know the difference.

 

yeah that is a cause for concern, i was hoping to find more car enthusiests rather than people looking for parts for thier daily commuter.

i hope i hear back from the guy at mach1registry soon

 

I think that Mach1 looks AWESOME you posted a picture of, but it is true you only get what you pay for as well...so be careful when making your decision.

 

JackThe Ripper
just out of curosity, what part of CO?
im in denver/lakewood

 

Not too far man, im down in littleton around bowles and c-470

 

the one that makes the cobra bumper has 98.5% feedback on 37,440 feedbacks. Thats not too bad.

That pic looks great. i am also considering getting a cobra bumper, that place is about an hour and a half from me maybe I can save myself 65 for shipping.

if your going to get a new bumper, get something you want, not just the same old GT bumper

 

did you check out bumpers.com? They have good quality stuff and they sell a bunch of different kinds of bumper covers. Good prices to and I believe its $60 shipping.

http://www.bumpers.com/productFord.html

 

i am also looking for a cobra bumper and found the same painted bumper on ebay for 289 + shipping and if you look at the part where the fog lights go it seems to be missing a piece. the mach 1 pic u posted has it but the bumper on ebay seems to be missing the piece in between the fog light hole and the other small round hole. i think i will be buying the cobra bumper from abcexclusive.com, its a little more but is oem.

 

yeah, you need the foglight bezels, foglights, and wiring harness...

 

my concern is (and i speak from experience here) when you buy a cheaper product, it takes more time to prep it for paint so it looks right, then it takes more effort (read billable hours) for it to fit. next thing you know you are spending more for the "cheap one" than it would have cost you to buy a good quality bumper for more money to start. like i said been down that road before.

remember there is OEM style and then there is OEM fit and finish.

 

Yeah........

did you read my post? lol...

the bumper im looking at is already painted with the factory color codes. There is a pic in the first post of a mach1 with a 03/04 cobra termie bumper, this guy got it from one of those links i posted with the links.

im not worried about paint cost, paint is already included in the deal.. if it wasnt painted, i wouldnt be considering it.

The guy with the red mach1 in that pic wrote me back, he said the fitment wasnt perfect because the bumper was intended for a cobra not a mach1, and the holes used to secure them are ins lightly different places but it wasnt difficult it get it on and fitting well. He diddnt mention about the paint job, so i wrote back asking if the paint job was as good as stock.

Being a black car, in this case, im thinking that there would be less to worry about with color matching, plus my car is usually garaged and i keep up on the waxing/washing.

I figure if the paint job is as good as factory, even if the bumper is non oem, if it fits easily even if it isnt perfect as long as it is at least 95% i think this might be a pretty good deal.

trust me, i would love OEM, but with a 6 year old and a 8month old baby cost really becomes a major factor in all of this.

100% perfect fit OEM with Great paint job wiould run upwards of 700 dollars.

Almost perfect fit bumper with great paintjob for 1/2 cost, well, yeah. ill probably go with that.

 

this is one of the bumpers. fitment seems good....

car belongs to Yajtsa in Mach1Registry. Bumper was painted and shipped from ebay

 

looks good as hell. i always liked that cobra front. i hear about the kid, my wife is pregnant with our first and already i am going broke with baby furniture, etc... $$$$$$$$$$ my wish list for the car is slowly but surely being put on hold.

just wanted to make sure you were looking at the whole picture. just my.02

the vehicle i was referring to was also black... pain in the *** to keep clean, and when it was said and done paint still didnt match.

 

yah... thats the crappy thing about trying to go the cheap route, sometimes you can get a killer deal on something as good as oem with an excellent paint job.

other times you get a non fitting piece of orange peeled crap. lol


Regardless, i gotta do something. I need to get the mustang sellable and keep her that way in case bulls get too hectic. im trying to keep her through all this, but may have to sell her. so i gotta get all damaged parts replaced.

 

I was speechless when I saw that red Mach. All I can saw is wow!

 

I personally like the Roush front fascias.

 

+1, im ordering one pretty soon.

 

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price"

Go with OEM.

 

No fibreglass. other than that, get whatever you can afford to paint. OEM is perfect, non-oem is close to perfect.