Just for everyone’s info: I took my 2021 P400 110X for its 1st scheduled service yesterday at a JLR dealer. I pointed out the significant chipping/damage to the lower gloss black door sill trims in front of the rear wheels (after 22k km).

At 1st the service adviser kind of said, well, if you’d brought it in earlier I could have some something. I pushed back a bit saying it’s actually a fundamental design flaw. He said OK we will have the shop assess.

Anyway, at the end of the day when I went to collect the vehicle he said they’d be replacing the rear gloss trims under warranty, and that they’d be delivered to the shop next week to be installed. Which is nice.

However, what was not addressed (yet) was how to prevent further ongoing damage, plus some additional chipping to the body paint above (which I had forgotten to mention initially). I asked the advisor and he said “bigger mudflaps” (I have the standard smaller ones factory fitted).

Any thoughts or info from the community, based on their own related experiences would be welcome.

Thank you.

 

Paint protection film is your best friend if you care about keeping the finish nice and undamaged. It's nice that they covered it under warranty so you can start fresh again.

It's not really a design flaw since it's offered in a nicer finish in the X trim but they are just unfinished black plastic in the base trim. The flaw is they should've come with protective film installed from factory but the reality is it's already an owner's choice so unless they charge more otherwise it's owner's responsibility to look after the finish. Just to be 100% fair, if you grab a handful of rocks throw it on the paint it would cause the same damage. That's just the natural of the areas constantly getting stuff kicked from the tires. The only way to prevent it from happening is to block off the path of the projectiles hitting the panels.

 

I've had 2 different dealerships agree that it's a flaw in my Defender, and they've both reached out to JLR with no success. They also both told me mud flaps won't help. I haven't asked to replace anything because I know new trim will get damaged again anyway. I'm thinking it may be caused by my Pirelli tires; rocks get stuck in them and eventually fly out and hit the lower trim and rear doors. I always check other Defenders when I see them, and most do not have this same problem.

I average 25,000 miles/year, almost all highway, so I have so many rock chips on the front of the Defender that I stopped caring about the lower plastic trim and few rock chips on the rear doors. Eiger Grey is great for masking rock damage. Please keep me updated if you find out what the cause of this is.

 

I'm seeing the exact same issue on my 2022 Defender. Did you try the original mud flaps? I have the smaller flaps on now and I'm still seeing chips. I also used a wrap and that's also getting shredded. Curious to hear if you found any solutions. Thanks!

 

I agree it should’ve come with film from the factory. I have a 350Z and a Tundra and both have film in the same location installed from the factory.
I think it is what it is at this point unless we install film ourselves. I had the small mud flaps and then installed the classics a couple months after deliver. My paint is still destroyed lol

 

l noticed this issue quite quickly on my new 90 D250
On mine the rear plastic isn't painted but the pieces in front of both rear wheel arches are peppered with tiny marks.

I had the factory fitted large mud flaps from new so this obviously wasn't stopping the issue.

I've since fitted SIDE STEPS and this seems to have stopped it from getting any worse.

I am surprised the large mud flaps didn't help. Definitely a design issue.

l have bought new plastic trim pieces so will fit them and then report back after some mileage.

 

Absolutely agree with previous posts about Xpel PPF being applied ASAP after vehicle purchase to avoid issues.

 

What kind of SIDE STEPS? Oem, aftermarket? Pictures please.

 

2022 X-Dynamic SE, took delivery in November ‘21. No issues with paint dings or rock chips. Self-installed the modern mud flaps and OEM side steps, if that is any indication of protection factor.

 

I put clear PPF on my Defender X pretty quickly after purchase, and the clear PPF is thrashed with little divots in these areas just in front of the rear wheel wells after around 20K miles of ownership. I do a good bit of offroading but I'm convinced this is from highway driving and not the offroad trips. Or maybe both... but... I've noticed it after long road trips, not after my offroad adventures.

I'm kind of curious what it would look like if I removed the PPF -- if did the PPF save the paint, or not? I think some of the bigger divots may have gone through thru the PPF.

PS -- I have the smaller LR mudflaps as well, which don't seem to help much for this.