Automotive Body Panels

Look up these low-cost alternatives for automotive body panels
By John Williams, Business Writing and Research Like our body’s skin, auto body panels serve multiple functions for a car; they enhance the aesthetic appeal, they protect the interior from the elements and they help hold the structure together. Unlike our skin, a body panel can’t heal itself when acts of nature or accidents cause injury. Your repair shop grafts on the auto body repair panels, helping restore the car to its good old self.

Unlike hospitals, your shop is not meant to be non-profit. To help counter the forces squeezing your bottom line (raw material costs rising, hard-line insurance adjustments and tighter tolerances on higher-tech vehicles), there are three resources for wholesale body panels to help protect your bottom line:

1. Establish a nationwide source for original used auto body panels, or reliable aftermarket sheet metal.

2. Work with fiberglass body panels as a lightweight low-cost alternative.

3. Locate body panels via an electronic catalog with national reach.

Keep it real by locating used or restoration replacement auto body panels

You can refit your customers' cars with actual sheet metal, either from the OEM (via the used vehicle market) or an aftermarket manufacturer working with old forms, rather than paying top dollar for new OEM replacement body parts.
Try:  Billing itself as a viable alternative to the junkyard, National Auto Part offers the advantage of a nationwide database to find and order original used parts that have been primered and ready to go, even color-keyed to match the OEM color. For hard-to-find parts or restoration projects, such as vintage cars, look up Wolf Steel.

Work with fiberglass car body panels as a light alternative

A low-cost alternative to sheet metal for older vehicles, especially in low-stress areas such as front fenders or hoods, is fiberglass. This can also allow the owner to get a customized look for their ride. Depending on the extent of usage, lower weight can save money on fuel costs over time.
Try:  US Body Source supplies fiberglass body parts from hoods to entire body shells. Incorporated in 1986, Hannemann Fiberglass is now one of the largest manufacturers of fiberglass truck and auto parts.

E-shop around for the best price on replacement body panels

Use nationally-sourced distributors to find the best price for replacement parts, rather than just going along with the local suppliers' quoted price.
Try:  Parts Train boasts an inventory of over one million parts, plus a lowest price guarantee. Auto Body Panels bills itself as a market leader in the wholesale distribution of aftermarket parts. They use an online "Factory Direct Outlet" program, with Partslink OEM lookup software.

• Take advantage of multiple sources of automobile body panels, with low-price guarantees, for two reasons: to keep local parts suppliers honest with their prices, and to have multiple lines of supply in case one runs into difficulty meeting demand.