okay guys, so long story short a friend backed his truck into the passenger bumper/fender area of my civic, the fender got the worst of it the bumper has some minor scrapes one tiny deep scratch but the dents for the most part were able to be popped back out, and a corner of my headlight gota very minor scuff. the fender however, even after some tinkering is not back to 100% some of the metal got pinched so now there is a corner where there shouldn't be.
so now on my friends tab, im getting a new fender and paint, but the prices vary soo much and I was wondering ... is it ok to get an ebay (oem)fender?

sorry bout the long post thanks for the help guys
here are some links so you can see what i have my eye on
ebay
auto parts warehouse

*ugh it feels like a stupid question but Im dumbfounded by this whole incident

 

I've heard that aside from the quality of the fit lacking a bit on the ebay body panels, the metal is a significantly lower gauge.

You're a good friend trying to get the least expensive fender possible, but the OEM ones are only around $120 w/o shipping, I'd get your friend to pay the extra $75 and go that route..

 

Try here for one in your area: http://www.car-part.com/ May have to get a different color and have it paint matched. Usually costs $100-200 to have it painted.

 

I've bought a body panel from one of the online stores, the paint matching was actually pretty good, but it fit like ****. Better to just get a real OEM one imo.

 

I'd advise going with an actual OEM panel, as opposed to buying an aftermarket one.

 

I have some aftermarket on my car, and the fit is barely ok, if the car wasn't older I would care more.

 

oh and by "actual OEM" you mean from a Honda dealer instead of shopping elsewhere, cause the fenders I was looking at were oem replacement...

 

Get an OEM one from the salvage yard, they actually might have your color. Try here: http://www.car-part.com/

 

The term "OEM replacement" often gets thrown around on eBay on items that were not manufactured by Honda and its affiliates.

www.car-part.com
(or an actual online dealer, like www.hondaautomotiveparts.com)

 

oh haha ok thanks thats good to know, I sent a part request form to my local honda dealer to get an estimate on the fender, im expecting to pay 120 for the part , and 150 at most for paint...