[Ozric]

Yeah, after a particularly stressful day, at a traffic light I was waiting behind this huge tanker, when I inadvertantly fell asleep and my foot slid of the brake. Only realized what had happened when i heard the sound of my hood scrape under the huge rear iron fender of the tanker. Crap, my whole week has been a washout, and now this!

I've never had to fix my car, had a clean record so far, but does anyone know what the best strategy is for finding parts? I have a 2000 Honda Civic. I've seen hoods go on eBay for close to $300 shipped because shipping is ridiculously high (over $100). Would that still work out cheaper than buying from a dealer? And anyone know how much a paint job costs? I can't do any DIY to save my life. I have a $500 deductible insurance policy.

Thanks.

 

[bundee1]

Get a hood from a junkyard and have them install it. You can haggle over the price. Or buy the hood and have a bodyshop install it. Should be cheaper than your deductible.

 

[Ozric]

Thanks for the response. In what sort of condition are these bodyparts I might get from a junkyard? Reson I ask is that my car otherwise is in immaculate condition, so I don't want potential issues with rust and stuff.

 

[MrSlacker]

wow man, that really sucks. go to your autoshop and see what they can do for you. dealer will always be more money.

 

[nikongod]

like he^^ said, goto ANY junkyard. in cali, chances are good they will even have your color hood....

i think something like 6 bolts hold a civic hood on.

 

[bundee1]

You could also look around those racing team bulletin boards sort of like Head-Fi for honda tweakers. I bet those guys keep their stuff in great shape and upgrade a lot. My brother sold all the parts off of his rusty 240sx. The bottom of the car was rusted but the parts were in excellent shape.

 

[gsferrari]

You can get a fibreglass hood with a carbon fibre look for $250.00 shipped. my friend did this to his civic...looks swell...

 

[Edwood]

Yeah, I had the same thing happen to me. Sleeping less than 4 hours for a couple days straight was not good.

Thing is, that the guy I rear ended at the signal decided to file fraudulant claims of "soft tissue head and neck injuries" caused by the tremendous crash forces from the 2mph crash.

The accident was completely my fault, but because this guy got greedy, my insurance company went after him, and all is good.

Yeah, I found my health to be more important than my job, so I made my work conform to my schedule instead.

Good luck with the repairs, Vikram. So glad to hear it was a "red light snooze" and not on the 405.

-Ed

 

[Jasper994]

As Ed already mentioned, I'm glad you weren't moving fast when it happened. Good luck with finding a new hood.

-Aaron

 

[warubozu]

Sorry to hear what had happened, there were a few times where I came close to dozing off while waiting in traffic after a busy day at work. Even worse when the weather is warm and hot. I would agree with the suggestion on going to a salvage yard and hunt for a hood. Condition of the parts can vary form near new to minor surface rust. Some salvage yards may already have the part removed from the car so you won't have to remove it yourself, keep in mind that these salvage yards will charge a little more than the ones where you have to remove the part yourself.

 

[slick]

junkyard is your friend. 2000 civic are popular cars, i and believe that 98+ hoods should fit also, so you should be able to find one easily.
i would buy an actual honda OEM hood, fitment wise and such, its not easy to find aftermarket hoods that fit perfect like an OEM, i've seen too many of those cheap carbon fiber looking hoods that dont fit.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slick junkyard is your friend. 2000 civic are popular cars, i and believe that 98+ hoods should fit also, so you should be able to find one easily. i would buy an actual honda OEM hood, fitment wise and such, its not easy to find aftermarket hoods that fit perfect like an OEM, i've seen too many of those cheap carbon fiber looking hoods that dont fit.

yu should also note the ease with which most cf hoods can be stollen....

and NOTHING screams "steal me" like an unpainted cf hood on a civic. painting carbon fibre is the worlds largest pain with the large "thread" that is currently in fashion. you are better off buying a new steel hood from teh dealer (money wise at last.)

 

[PinkFloyd]

surely most of the hoods in a scrapyard will be well totalled unless the scrapped car was shunted up the rear and then you're in luck.... It's simple to replace a bonnet (hood) but you'll need an assistant to hold it in place whilst you bolt it on / adjust it. If you can get an original Honda hood from the scrapyard then go for it... third party parts are nowhere near as good as the originals IMO and won't last as long..... just look at car exhausts, for example, the original manufacturers exhaust that comes with the car can last from 5 to 10 years (Mine has been on the car since day one and is now 9 years old) the moment you replace that baby with a third party exhaust you're looking to replace it at least every two years.

Grab a phonebook and phone the scrap dealers in your area..... they'll tell you immediately if they have a pristine bonnet in the yard.... It's always best to phone before wading through mountains of cars with no joy.

I wish you luck.

Mike.

 

[Dimitris]

You should be happy it was only the hood. It could have been a lot worse so good luck finding a new bumper!

 

[Elec]

I don't know for sure, but I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to find a replacement hood. The Civic is a favorite for ahem, "customizing", and I've often seen them with carbon fiber or other replacement hoods. That means the original hood had to go somewhere. Where that is, I do not know. If you weren't in a big hurry, you could probably find a local racing/Honda Civic club and offer to cheaply take a hood off the hands of somebody doing a swap. Somebody may even have one sitting in a garage or back yard already.