reezekeys

Hi all, I did some searching with no results so I'm here with a potentially stupid question – the passenger side plastic inner fender got detached at the front of my 2001 300GS and now the whole piece is loose up there and rubs on the tire (and has gotten too chewed up to reattach). I'm looking at aftermarket replacements and they're pretty cheap (like this one). Honestly, the car has 215K and I need to save my pennies for some bigger stuff coming up (timing belt, brakes). If this cheapo part will keep me going for whatever life the car has left, I'm good. BTW - eff those concrete parking blocks, that's why I'm having to deal with this!

My Q is about doing the replacement myself. It seems like a no-brainer – pull the old one off and pop the new one in. Is it that simple? What holds this part in, is it those pop-up clip things, or bolts? Whatever was on the front are gone. What would I need – could I just go to a hardware store & get some stainless nuts & bolts, or is this a more specialty auto parts thing?

Most importantly, I'd like to know if there any "gotchas" – stuff that's gonna mess with this fairly inexperienced weekend mechanic. In my misspent youth I did clutch jobs & removed/installed a valve head on my little Subaru – but that was back in the day when you could throw a dinner party in the engine compartment. These days, changing oil & filters is all I do myself. TIA for any words of wisdom!

MedicalDoc

Have you looked at the other side to see how it is attached?

reezekeys

Ha ha, not a bad idea! Thanks, I will do that. I think I need more coffee.

But... that still doesn't answer my q about any possible "gotchas" doing the replacement.

MedicalDoc

This should give you all the info you need. I don;t see any "gotchas".

reezekeys

Thanks very much for that diagram. As long as I can get the existing retainers off easily & without any special tools I should be OK. Just a little concerned with an old car like this and what I might run into.

I've googled the part #s and come up with the OEM parts from a few places so I should be all set. Maybe I can go to a local Lexus dealer near me.

LexusK

iTrader: (14)

I have the same problem. It happened when I removed my front bumper to install my headlights. During reinstall of the screw that's below/behind the headlight, I either used the wrong screw or just went in at a weird angle, so now the fender is loose and the screw just spins. I can't get it out or screw it in tighter, so the fender is kinda loose. Looks sloppy, but I haven't had the time to fix it. Tried to get the Toyota guys to fix it while my car was in for an oil change, but they suggested just using zip ties...

reezekeys

Sorry to hear this. Unfortunately it seems to be a common occurence (with me anyway) that a job you think is stupidly easy turns out to be more complicated. Now I'm wondering how easy it is to access some of these retaining clips – might I have to disassemble other things? I would hate to have to bring my car to a body shop and pay a lot of money for this fix...

captainva

iTrader: (1)

This isn't a very hard thing to do but you're going to need a jack since you have to take the wheel off. I took the fender partway out to do a hood cable replacement. Its not hard to get it back in but just make sure that you don't over tighten the screws or like Lexus K said they strip and become loose since they just go into plastic. The one thing thats a pain is getting the liner tucked back in correctly in the fender before you start putting the clips/screws back in.

reezekeys

Thanks for the heads up. I have a jack stand so I'm good there. Looks like I should get the screws & whatever other mounting hardware from Lexus. Nobody has jumped in to warn me against the $21 fender liner yet, so maybe I'll be OK and this will be a very light hit on my wallet!

MedicalDoc

That liner should be ok. I looked in ebay for you. Used OEM are around $80.00 but I didn't spend much time. You can also go to a 'pick 'n pull' and it'll be cheaper.
If you are going to a dealer ask Toyota first. Those screws may also fit a Toyota model.
Good luck!

reezekeys

Thanks Doc. I just ordered the liner. I saw some on Amazon for around $30-$40 but I'm assuming at this price point these are the same.

reezekeys

I got the liner, it's very thin – I hope it lasts. Now off to a Lexus dealer to make sure I have the right fastening parts. Thanks everyone for the help!

LexusK

iTrader: (14)

Can you get an up close side by side comparison? Was waiting on you to come back to confirm whether or not it was a good replacement lol.

reezekeys

I won't be able to get to the repair until next week at the earliest. But I have been underneath my car to duct tape a piece of the broken liner that was dragging on the ground! I can tell that my replacement is MUCH thinner – you can practically fold it like a piece of paper! This doesn't necessarily matter to me as long as it works. I think the part costs around $120 from Lexus, mine was $21 – so I'm not expecting the same thing. I'll report back when I have the new one on, maybe with a few pictures.