After a summer that left its mark (quite literally) on the van, it was time to get everything sorted before the next trip. Scratches down the vinyl, a scuff on the awning from Benidorm, hail dents scattered across one side, and a software gremlin that had been lurking since Barcelona. All in all, a solid list of jobs. The kind of list you try not to think about while you’re on holiday, and then can’t ignore the moment you get home.
PPF Protect: Polishing Out the Evidence
First stop was Rich at PPF Protect, who you might remember from when we first picked up the van. The very first thing we did back then was bring it straight in for a ceramic coating, so it made sense to come back to Rich now that we’d added a few war wounds to the collection.
Standing there pointing out the damage felt a bit like confessing to a mechanic. The France side had taken the worst of it: a proper scuff from a coming-together with a car, which Rich polished back to something close to new. The scratch running up the vinyl and across the window was trickier, and I’ll be honest, it didn’t come out completely. Rich did get it significantly better, and the ceramic coating helped, but where the impact went deep into the vinyl it left a mark. Adventure wounds, Rich called them. A story. I’ll go with that.
The hail dents are a separate matter. We caught a storm earlier in the summer and the aluminium-clad side of the van has the dimples to prove it. Rich’s paintless dent repair contact Rob came and had a look, and the softer, rounder dents might be salvageable. The sharper ones, less so. The complication is that attempting it on the vinyl sections risks lifting the vinyl entirely, so it’s a job for another day when Rob has his van with him and we can take it carefully. For now, we know what we’re dealing with.
One thing worth noting for anyone with a ceramic coating on their motorhome: Rich offers a wash pack for £69 that includes a bucket, lid, grit guard, shampoo, alloy wheel cleaner, glass cleaner, interior cleaner, and tyre trim spray. Everything you need to look after the coating yourself between visits. Available from the shop or via ppprotect.co.uk.
The day before, I also finally got the red stripe I’d been thinking about for a while. The team at Yowzer did the graphics work, and Fay spent a good while getting the angles and widths right because the line tapers toward the front and you can’t just slap it on. We went with apple red vinyl to match the Deflektor red already on the van, replaced the LPG sticker to match, and added “The Beast” to the back alongside the existing XL Family graphic. I think the red really pops it out. Might not be for everyone, but I love it.
Laudholms: The Software Recall
The other job on the list was a software update at Laudholms, which had been playing on my mind since Barcelona. The van had been behaving oddly in the heat, and we’d flagged it with Ford. The diagnostic came back with recall reference F61D, an ECM software update, which they carried out on the day.
The frustrating part is that the issue hasn’t shown itself since the temperatures dropped coming back through Europe, so I genuinely won’t know if it’s fixed until we’re back somewhere warm next year. The technicians were straightforward about it: they’ve done what Ford prescribed, and we just have to test it in the conditions that caused the problem. At least it’s been registered, the recall is done, and if it surfaces again we’re not starting from scratch trying to explain it.
Fingers crossed, it stays quiet.
Questions people ask
What is PPF Protect and do they work on motorhomes? PPF Protect is a vehicle protection and detailing specialist. Rich and his team handle ceramic coatings, paint correction, and polishing for motorhomes as well as cars. If you’ve had a ceramic coating applied by them, they’re willing to come back and work on scratched or marked areas. They’re based in the UK and you can find them at ppprotect.co.uk.
Will ceramic coating protect against scratch damage? It helps, but it won’t prevent scratches entirely, particularly if something impacts the vinyl directly. What it does do is make the correction process easier and, as Rich pointed out, it protects resale value. The France scuff came up much better than it might have without the coating underneath.
Can hail dents be removed from an aluminium-clad motorhome body? Possibly, in some cases. Paintless dent repair can work on the softer, rounder dents in the aluminium shell, but the sharper impact points are harder to fully remove. The key limitation with a motorhome is the vinyl wrap: attempting dent repair under or near vinyl risks lifting it, so it needs to be approached carefully and not attempted on vinyl-covered panels.
What was the ECM software recall on the Ford-based motorhome? The recall reference was F61D, an ECM (engine control module) software update carried out by Laudholms on Ford’s instruction. The underlying issue had been causing problems in high temperatures, most noticeably around Barcelona during the summer. The fix has been applied, but the real test will come the next time the van is in sustained warm weather.
If you want to see the full transformation, including the red stripe going on and Rich working his magic on the scratches, the whole video is well worth a watch. All the detail is in there.
Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jZ4bmtiE14