My nose wheel pant is damaged. A body shop quoted me around $450 to
fix & paint it, and new ones from Cessna are over $1k. Used are
available on E-Bay for much less, and they all seem to say the same
thing - "should fit any 172 & 182, but do your own research". The
parts manager at my FBO said it had to be specifically for my 1971
172L between certain seriel numbers.

Who's right?

Please don't tell me to fiberglass it myself. My piloting skills are
ok, but I'm hopelessly mechanically challenged. My most important
personal minimum is to never, ever, fly in a plane that I worked on.

Any recommendations?