The off-road world has been going absolutely berserk for years now, especially since the debut of the four-door Jeep Wrangler in 2006 and more recently the Ford Bronco, and also “off-road” variants of seemingly every new car on the market (including a Porsche 911! And A Honda Pilot (OK, it’s called the Passport)! And a Toyota Rav4!). The truth is, there’s a lot of money in the off-road world, so it makes sense that automakers want to get in on the fun. The result is lots of folks driving off-roaders, and the result of that is a huge off-road accessory industry. But here’s the thing: Many new off-roader vehicle owners are spending money on the wrong accessories. And there’s one that isn’t getting enough attention: Paint Protection Film, like XPEL.
This post is a paid partnership, but I want to make it clear that The Autopian joined forces with XPEL because I legitimately believe in their products after hearing glowing words from many, many users in the car enthusiast space, and also after trying the product myself. With that out of the way, I’m just gonna say it: PPF makes a lot of sense for off-road vehicles, and it’s something that should be prioritized well before some of the accessories that folks commonly add to their off-roaders.
Off-Road Vehicles Have Gotten Bigger And Pricier, More Susceptible To Costly Paint Damage
A look at the 1948 Willys Jeep I’m off-roading in the video above might have you scratching your head. “Uh, why would I spend thousands of dollars to protect the paint?” And yeah, that’s totally fair. But look at that and vintage off-road footage like this incredible 1969 Jeep Jamboree, and one thing becomes clear: off-road vehicles have changed dramatically.
Modern off-roaders aren’t just much more expensive than old Jeep CJs and Broncos, they’re also much, much larger. Even the thumbnail of this fun comparison between a Jeep CJ5 and a more modern Jeep Wrangler JK shows how drastically the vehicle has grown over the years. The Jeep Wrangler JK is six inches taller and six inches wider than an old CJ:
I went off-roading last April in a Ford Bronco Raptor; joining me was my friend Jay in his Jeep Cherokee XJ, which was over a foot narrower and (had it been stock) over a foot shorter (it was still much shorter despite being on a mild lift and slightly taller-than-stock tires).
I also had the pleasure of off-roading the 700 horsepower Ford F-150 Raptor R a couple of years ago, and my lord is this thing imposing! It’s wide, it’s tall, it’s ready to kick butt and make loud supercharged V8 sounds while doing it:
These are some of the more extreme examples, but all cars have gotten bigger across the board. A modern Jeep Grand Cherokee is way, way bigger than one from 1993. Ditto for a Cherokee. Ditto for a Bronco. Ditto for a 4Runner. Ditto for a Land Cruiser. What this means is that vehicles just aren’t as nimble, especially on wooded trails. The Mahindra Roxor is barely any larger than a Willys CJ-2A, and its size (particularly its wheelbase and associated longer turning radius) made it harder to maneuver on the trails. Still, watch as these two relatively small vehicles manage to stay well away from trees even on a slippery Michigan trail:
Meanwhile, back in 2022, Ford invited me to drive its Ford Bronco Everglades, also in Michigan muck, and keeping it away from branches just wasn’t nearly as easy. This is a big truck:
Spend Money In The Right Place By Recognizing That Most Off-Road Vehicles Are Limited By The Driver
But as big as modern off-roaders are when they come from the factory, they become much, much bigger when they’re modified, and believe me: Many, many off-road vehicles get modified. The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) disseminates regular reports on aftermarket industry trends, and they have for years been saying: The off-road world is huge. Like, really huge. From SEMA:
Healthy truck and SUV sales generally augur well for the automotive aftermarket. Parts and accessories for pickups alone account for 31% of specialty equipment sales, according to the latest “SEMA Pickup Accessorization Report,” with $16 billion in annual sales. Throw in SUVs, crossovers and vans, and that sales number grows to more than $30 billion yearly.
$30 Billion?!
That may sound surprising to you, but it doesn’t surprise me one bit. I’ve been attending off-road events like the Easter Jeep Safari, King of the Hammers, the Toledo Jeep fest, the Bantam Jeep Fest, SEMA, and so many more for many, many years. I have been amazed by how much money people pump into their off-road vehicles before those machines ever even leave the dealership.
This became really clear to me in the spring of 2015, when I attended my very first Easter Jeep Safari. This was before I was a car journalist, so you’ll have to forgive my nerdy engineer-y-ness:
Look at those Jeeps. They sit on 37-inch tires, they’ve got winches, they’ve got aftermarket bumpers, they’ve got aftermarket fender flares, they’re got aftermarket skid plates, many have trail lights built in underneath, there are light bars, there are aftermarket tubular doors, there are special jerry cans, and on and on and on. The number of accessories available in the off-road world is astounding, and the amount of money folks spend on their JK and JL Wranglers is just out of this world. There were multiple $100,000 Jeeps on the trails back then, and now you can buy $100,000 Jeeps and Broncos straight from the factory!
But here’s the thing: It might not make sense to drop $100 grand on a Jeep Wrangler 392 or a Ford Bronco Raptor. And it might also not make sense to do what so many folks are doing and go to a Jeep dealership, order up a top-line Wrangler Rubicon, and then outfit it with 37s and new bumpers and a snorkel and all that before ever even taking delivery. The truth is, the bigger-is-badder approach isn’t the best one, even though I totally respect everyone’s choice to do what they want to do with their machines, and even if America is totally obsessed with this approach:
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The reality is that the most important factor in a vehicle’s off-road capability is sitting behind the steering wheel. Ask any experienced off-roader and they’ll tell you exactly that. In truth, many stock vehicles’ capabilities are so far beyond the skill level of their drivers that the vehicles never reach half of their off-road potential. So why spend tens of thousands of dollars on big mud-terrain tires, steel bumpers, and light bars when your skill level isn’t at a point where it can’t even take full advantage of the stock vehicle’s capabilities?
What I mean by “can even take full advantage of the stock vehicle’s capabilities” isn’t just about how good you are at operating the vehicle’s controls and how well you can make good off-road decisions and choose good lines and follow spotters’ directions, and how all of these skill limitations lead you to underrate the trails that you think the vehicle can traverse without damaging it. It’s also about how much damage you’re willing to sustain.
And that’s the thing. Especially if you live out in a wooded area, there’s a good chance that your vehicle’s limitation is how badly you’re willing to let its paint get scratched up by trees. I know this because I’ve off-roaded with plenty of folks piloting brand new rigs, and many of them have had to turn back because the trail got too narrow for their big, modern off-roader.
The vehicles, which had lockers and low-range transfer cases and aftermarket tires and aftermarket bumpers and light bars were limited by tree branches. That’s so silly. If the money for those pricey accessories had been spent on a self-healing Paint Protection Film like XPEL’s, the vehicle’s capability would have increased tremendously!
One of the well-known chants in the off-road world is “Lockers Before Light Bars!” It’s a joke about how so many folks waste money on superfluous accessories, when they should really use that money to add real capability to their machines. Locking differentials are huge, yes. I’m all for them. But there are certain instances where even lockers should be forgone for some PPF. Because if you’re going to turn around when the trail gets narrow, you may never get to put those lockers to use.
And while of course many paint scratches can be fixed, not all can; plus, for some peace of mind you don’t have to drop $15,000+ on a full job, you can just protect certain parts of the fenders and doors, maybe the grille, probably the hood. Just get yourself to a point where you’re comfortable, because if you’re going to drop $40,000+ on an off-roader and maybe another $10,000 or more on accessories, you can’t be doing stuff like this:
It’s a concern I’ve been seeing on Jeep forums for years, and there’s an answer. In fact, I just looked up “trail rash” on Jeep forums so that I could include that hyperlink, and no joke, the very first page I came across was this one on JLWranglerforums in which a JL owner is worried about taking his Jeep on a trail he’d really like to check out:
The very first response to that post:
“Xpel would stop most of it. Self healing too,” says Dookey the shade-wearing dog. (Again, one of the reasons why I’m so in favor of this partnership with Xpel is that people in my car community swear by it). And the results make your life so much easier:
Couldn’t have said it better myself, small monkey named Vinman. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Top Photo: Ford (modified by The Autopian)
Are we getting follow up articles? I’d like to know the application process (I think I know but compare and contrast to wraps would be interesting), general cost involved, and if it is DIY-able.
Cost is entirely dependent on how big your car is and the complexity of shapes as well. Totally DIY-able but it won’t be anywhere close to the quality of a dedicated PPF shop and prepare to spend ages doing it too.
Absolutely. More to come!
I prefer to purchase my rigs already scratched and dented. Of course, someone has to buy it new and do dumb stuff before I buy it a few years later.
Let me caveat this by saying as a guy with a well-used 2007 Suburban that I don’t “wheel”. When I’m going somewhere in that beast there’s a destination and a purpose. I haven’t ever really just taken it on a trail with no other motive.
With that said, worrying about my paint job has NEVER been a consideration. I’ve made plenty of “nope” decisions about how far I’m willing to push things, primarily due to the sheer size and um, let’s use the euphemism “less-than-ideal” offroading geometry. But if I think I can stuff it in there and get back out it goes. My rig has been in more back country than a whole lot of much more off-road capable vehicles.
All this to say that yeah, I’m fortunate to be able to have a utility vehicle separate from my daily driver but more importantly if you are going to embark on this sort of adventure it’s much better if you aren’t too precious about your rig. When you’re doing it right some stuff is going to happen.
Agree 100%. I have been wanting to get PPF installed on my FJ for a while now but I’m debating doing some paint work before I do. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to preserve the finish on the second most expensive thing you’ll ever buy.
Most fun I had on a trail was in an Outback I bought running and driving for $200. We did NOT care about the paint. I let my friend drive and he clipped the fender on a tree and cracked the side mirror. Also not a problem.
This whole scratch the fancy off roader thing would be a lot less of a problem if you didn’t have to drop like 90k to buy a Raptor.
These big expensive off roaders are not targeted at people who go off road.
Alternative take: Buy a motorcycle.
If you’re that concerned about paint damage – Park the truck and enjoy a healthy hike thru nature instead.
I’d like to see a comparison in off-road scratch resistance for PPF vs. a high-end professionally-applied ceramic coating. Most PPF isn’t covering every surface, while a ceramic coating usually is.
I have a GTECHNIQ Crystal Serum Ultra ceramic coating on my car, and it comes with a 9 year warranty. I’m not taking my car offroad and getting pinstriped, but I can say in normal driving it’s like having a permanent wax on the car and any moisture just beads up and rolls off.
I’ve also seen PPF look really shabby after several years, especially in warmer regions where the sun bakes the paint. PPF does a great job protecting the paint it covers, but everywhere it doesn’t ends up fading, then your only real option at that point is a respray anyway. I’d rather have the paint age all at the same rate.
Ceramic coatings are great but there is no comparison there. The “scratch resistance” touted by ceramic coatings is marketing hype. Maybe it might lead to less swirls being introduced by careless washing since it is more slippery, but that’s as far as it goes. Don’t get me wrong, I like ceramic a lot and use Gtechniq G5 on my wheels, but PPF is a whole different animal. A ceramic coating’s lifespan is also more like 2 – 3 years, maybe a little longer on something that is garage kept and never sees bad weather. If someone warrantied yours for 9 years, good for you, though! Again, please don’t get me wrong, its a HUGE longevity improvement over wax and polymer based sealants. They are *great* products, but the hype still exceeds the reality.
On the yellowing, supposedly they have solved that problem. I don’t have first hand experience to judge that so it’s a big “we’ll see” for me. I had a fair amount of PPF installed on my Vette after I repainted it, but it’s a garage queen so it’s not a good test.
On fading, that is not true. The paint protection films allow UV light to pass through to avoid exactly the problem you describe.
The biggest downside of PPF to me is that it can be extremely extremely expensive to install. I want to install it on my FJ to prevent scratches off road but there are some paint issues I’d like to fix first. It’s a tough call because the paint is in good shape, just not perfect, but is it in good enough shape to put 5 grand worth of PPF over? Tough call.
The Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra isn’t a typical self-applied ceramic coating though. It’s ONLY applied by professionals, uses a few different agents that get mixed prior to application, takes 24 hours to cure in the shop, etc.
I’m not a shill for Gtechniq or anything, but it has a 9-year warranty because it’s a far more involved process than a typical ceramic coating you pick up at an auto parts store. I’m nearly 2 years into it, and it still works like day 1, though part of the warranty does include a free exterior detail every year to inspect the coating and reapply in certain spots if needed. They haven’t needed to touch the coating yet but the included yearly detail is nice.
That’s all good info on PPF for your Vette, but your Vette isn’t going offroad either. I’d like to see a real comparison of brush scratching both PPF and a professional ceramic coating on the same vehicle.
I used a specialized organic paint protector on my old Samurai, mud and dirt and rust and possibly blood
My car is a piece of shit. When I go off road it’s easier and cheaper to just wrap it in Saran Wrap.
I’ve gone trail riding a few times with my friend and his Jeep club and besides tree pinstriping, another big limiting factor for some members (like my friend) is not breaking the rig on the trail when it’s your daily driver.
On the last run we did, one guy broke his rear driveshaft getting over a rock obstacle. It wasn’t his daily driver. He was able to laugh it off and limp home with only his front axle and get it fixed when he could.
My friend, however, would have accepted, and laughed off the damage as part of off-roading, but losing use of his daily driver means he has to be a little more careful than others.
Yep, if you have to drive it home, it’s quite different
Yup, that’s a big one. A few months back I drove 4 hours north to an event in VT. A guy in a new Bronco Badlands (non-squatch) was leading, and we discussed that the trails were not going to be the most challenging because we were in our DD’s that not only needed to get us to work Monday but get us the 250 miles home first.
Long story short, even trying to stick to the less hardcore trails and avoid deep mud or water crossings, we ended up with the Bronc bogged at the bottom of a muddy hill with a broken front diff. Luckily my ten year old, 165k mile 4Runner was still on relatively dry ground, and using 90 feet of recovers straps and kinetic rope, I was able to yank him back up the hill and through the mud Matt’s Offroad Recovery – style.
The Bronco DID have the clear PPF on it, it seemed to be working well. I didn’t, but with it being ten years old I found I was not too concerned as tree branches scraped up the sides. It’s silver too, so it’s good at hiding that type of thing.
When I bought my first Lotus I bought an Elise with knackered paint knowing that tracking it was going to cover it in stone chips anyway. My drift cars always had terrible paint too, because even if you never clip a wall (or, and this is not my proudest moment, a bridge) you’re going to absolutely ruin the paint the first time a tyre delaminates.
I’m old and a bit more financially stable now, and for the first time in 20 years I have two cars with nice paint. I drive them differently on the road, I worry about damage when parked in public, they are both less fun because they look nice.
I can’t imagine off-roading anything that wasn’t already cosmetically ruined.
In the eighties, a co-worker and myself were carefully hand loading firewood into the boss’s two day old pickup, when he came over and bellowed- What’s taking so long?
We replied we didn’t want to dent the new truck. He picked up a piece and hurled it into the inside bed wall. There, now it’s dented-Load the bitch!
Now that’s proper truck ownership.
We have distressed jeans, why not distressed trucks? Maybe some faux rust for certain Midwesterners that have moved to California and miss rust a bit.
Neighbor at the farm always borrowed my truck as it was beat to hell and back, one had the side crushed from an amorous bull
A few years later, still doing tree work, but for a different outfit, I bought a retired F350 w/plow from them for $1200. Every panel was dented. Always amazed when someone would pull out in front of that battle-wagon.
And nobody would park near you too
I bought an 1997 Impreza Outback Sport from a stoner guy who had managed to dent every body panel including the roof. It was one of my favorite cars ever and introduced me to the battle-wagon / don’t care attitude.
About 2 months and 3000 miles into ownership of my ZR2, I leaned it against a small tree on the passenger side with no way out but forward. It made some interesting sounds getting out but only ended up with some scuffs and a barely noticeable dent on the rear passenger wheel flare. Having completed the break-in process, the only thing I’m really worried about regarding paint / cosmetics are any chips that could lead to rust forming.
IMHO As much as I hate to admit it Land Rover got it right by going with aluminum bodies. Every coating known to man will eventually chip, flake, etc. Either you have to impregnate the metal with something or you need to pick a pretty corrosion resistant metal in the first place like aluminum.
That being said paint can trap corrosion which makes it hard to deal with, people familiar with Land Rovers will know of the intergranular corrosion creating “bubbles” in the paint. Also anyone who understands automotive paint will tell you that paint matching is a fallacy as the older the car is the more faded the paint will be and whether you go with the original color or you match the faded paint it won’t match.
Stainless can be a good alternative but as the Cybertruck production has shown it’s a much bigger PITA than aluminum.
Pretty sure basically every paint protection film is plastic based and as it wears it’ll release more and more microplastics into the environment.
And in general a lot of paints, chroming, etc. are not good for the environment. I’m not suggesting people be forced not to use them, rather if I had the option I’d rather have a bare aluminum body over a painted one.
If you’re going off-roading you need a rig you don’t mind scratching up and or denting, because like it or not that’s a reality of going off-road. TBH that’s a reality of driving on public roads too as even if you do EVERYTHING right there are millions of other drivers on the road that can run into you and trillions of random events that can damage your vehicle while it’s parked in public.
Your last para hits the nail right on the head I think. Vehicles are primarily meant to be driven, which means engagement with an imperfect world (and the damage that results), whether you seek out offroad trails or just the grocery store.
It’s good to fight it (repair big damage, use touch up paint, etc.) but the reality does need to be acknowledged.
Yes, all my cars high mileage and pretty road rashed. Fact is, they are driven and meant to be. I try to keep them clean but can’t sweat the small stuff, biggest thing is keeping corrosion at bay. Heck, I got peppered by a salt truck just last night.
There’s a freedom in driving a beater. I used to have a 15 year old ZJ Grand Cherokee that I cared nothing about, it was so liberating to drive. I really miss it actually.
I’m gonna go ahead and say the microplastics emissions of paint protection film is completely irrelevant on a car with tires.
And if it doesn’t have tires, the chance of impact damage is low enough the make forgoing PPF an acceptable risk to take.
I lovee that idea, a polished aluminum exterior almost like an airstream. Heck let’s go crazy and do brass. Or maybe someone can troll Elon into doing a titanium cybertruck 2.0 I bet that would be an engineering challenge.
Polished aluminum was the standard for later WWII US Army Air Corps aircraft and early post WWII US Air Force aircraft.
People have polished up Land Rovers but the imperfections in the panels are pretty obvious, you have the same issue with Land Rover Defenders and Series that get repainted with metallic paint.
If Ford made a damn F-150 or F-150 Lightning I actually want I’d happily have it rock a polished aluminum body.
“In truth, many stock vehicles’ capabilities are so far beyond the skill level of their drivers that the vehicles never reach half of their off-road potential.”
I think the real truth is an already fucked up paint job and bodywork is much more off road adventure enabling than anything.
Like an enthusiast version of the classic everyday “once you get your first scratch/ding, you stop worrying so much” for sure.
My cars all have them, repaired as best I could of course, and now they’re just part of their character.
Primer grey, mud splatters. Patina. Simple as that.
100% for film. and I’m looking at windshield films for the enormous wind screen of my transit. exo something touts more protection, and crystal something is more of a hydro phobic and some strength pitch as far as I can tell from web sites. have to make a couple calls. exo has a off road specific option whatever that may entail.
> lockers should be forwent
It’s me again 😉 “forgone”
(Sorry)
About xpel: sponsored or not, I’m grateful for these articles because I had no idea PPF was a thing.
Question: is it worth just doing the doors if my only issue is a hedge that gets scratchy, especially if I’m backing up and not lining the car up perfectly? And is $15k like the max you’ll spend, and only if you have a large car, or is it an average for average cars?
Thanks!
PPF is effective. XPEL is a good product. I worried about paint with my brand new TJ back in 2000. Scratches happened. I cut polished and ceramic coated before I sold it with amazing swirl and scratch free detailed paint.
PPF doesn’t prevent dents. The dented driver side rocker DIY repair was what I felt I needed to disclose to the buyer when I sold it. I was spending money to make it look badass instead of buying real rocker guards. The day I dropped my rocker on a big rock was the day I realized paint can be fixed easy, pulling panels required much more skill. Body protection always came 1st after that.