I have a 2002 Accord LX 4 door 2.3L. It was involved in an accident, that damaged the front end. The radiator and fans, all the way back to the engine are fine. The radiator support all the way to the bumper is trashed. Hood also trashed. Headlights trashed.

I have never done any body work before, but since this is a 3rd vehicle of mine and not needed right away, I would like to try and repair it myself.

I don't have any of the damaged parts to go by, since they were removed from the scene of the accident by the tow company.

Here's my questions - I went to the Honda dealer, told them what was wrong and showed them pics of the damaged area. I asked for a detailed parts list, so I would have some kind of idea what parts I needed.

Parts manger ask for VIN - told me that these Accord were produced both here in the USA and in Japan. Also, said that the parts will be different depending on which place it was produced.

My VIN starts with a "J" indicating it was produced in Japan, is what I was told.

Is it true that the parts will be different depending on where it's made?

I was hoping to get another Accord that had "other damage" as a whole parts car, but everything I am finding, is indicating that they were all made in the USA.

Can someone please give me some insight on this ?

Thanks

 

You can check parts yourself online at Majestic Honda.

I seriously doubt there's any difference in US/Japan body parts in any case, but don't know for certain.

Good sources to find used body parts are ebay and car-part.com.

There are lots of good videos on youtube of diy'rs fixing body parts and pros showing their tips/tricks to repair body. I would do a bit of viewing to see what might help your problem.

good luck

 

Thanks, TexasHonda, for the tips.

I went to Majestic, and it never asked anything about the VIN when searching for parts, so, I have to assume that there is NO difference between the two. It is weird that the parts person would go through all of that for no reason.

I have already found a whole parts car that is the same color as mine, that has everything on it that I need to swap out. The only difference was in the VIN.