Fender or Mudguard? Which Is It?

Chances are pretty good that the next time someone hits your bumper or you back into someone, there will be someone around who calls it a “fender-bender.” Boy, would that someone ever be wrong.

Bumpers are those guards on the front and back of your car and they protect passengers and the engine when auto accidents occur; fenders don’t protect anyone but do prevent mud, rocks and other debris from flying out at passers-by on the street and also from accumulating under your car. You see, the fender is that protective piece of metal that covers the wheel well and on most cars it can be found on the front wheel wells and on many you can find them front and rear.

The British are spot on with their name for this piece of metal; they call them mudguards which, in truth, is their purpose. Why we in America call them fenders is beyond me; probably a little research would show some guy named Fender invented them. Whatever the case, that is what they are, where they are, and what they are called.

Fenders can be made of aluminum and usually are, but sometimes they are made of some other lightweight metal and seriously, does it matter? The most important question is: are they expensive and are they hard to replace?

Let’s take the second question first, namely are they hard to replace? Do you have a wrench? Can you turn a bolt in a counter-clockwise direction? If your answer was yes to both of those questions then you can replace a fender on a motor vehicle. It is slightly harder if the fender is incorporated as part of the body of the vehicle; then it is a separate panel and is called a quarter panel but still, wrench and turning motion and you have accomplished the task.

Now, are they expensive? What do you think? Most exterior body parts on a vehicle are expensive if you buy them from an auto parts store; if, however, you buy used auto parts from a salvage yard then life looks a bit more pleasant for you with regards to your bank account. You see, used car parts are considerably less expensive when bought from a junk yard. Why pay more for car parts when salvage parts are perfectly reliable. I mean, we are talking about a fender? What do you care whether it is used or old, as long as the paint matches your other car? Am I right or am I right? Come on down to Cash-n-Carry, your friendly Savannah salvage yard where You Pull It for huge savings on replacement parts each and every day of the week.