Faults:

Battery died recently and cruise control just stopped working.

General Comments:

I first bought the car as a spare. Minnesota winters caused my garaged vehicles to refuse to start occasionally, but I'd just remove the mountain of snow from the cruiser, fire it up and take off. I tried to sell the car once, but the buyer wrote a stolen check and the police found it for me a week later. The next year I sold it to a friend who beat the heck out of it for a year. I couldn't stand it so I bought it back, cleaned it up and everything still works. At over 190k it still doesn't use oil. My wife is handicapped and this vehicle is a snap to get her in and out of and makes loading wheelchairs and power scooters much easier than other vehicles. I'll probably just keep it forever.

Faults:

Nothing yet, but had to refurbish it when I bought it. It only had 39,000 miles on it, but it hadn't been washed in years. 68 year-old lady owned it since new. It had been sitting in a carport for some years.

Here is what I have done so far:

-A lot of Cleaning!

-Complete tune-up. Still had original plugs in it... original everything.

-Replaced all the fluids (engine, tranny, rear axle)

-Had to compound the white paint and all the chrome, had heavy oxidation, but shines now!

-The woodgrain was scratched and peeling from the heat (Texas) and exposure. Scraped it all off! Paint under paneling was great, but took a week to get it all clean.

-Replaced the rattling wire wheels with 1990 Cruiser aluminum wheels (Thanks Ebay!)

-Replaced the rear bumper fillers, the originals were cracked and some were gone altogether.

-Installed new N.O.S. Custom Cruiser emblems (ebay!)

-Installed new rear speakers and put a CD changer in the rear side pocket.

-Replaced the rear springs and replaced all the shocks with KYB's. Ride is much better!

-Installed a new trailer hitch for my wife's bike rack.

-Various detail work.. i want it to look new!

Since getting it and driving it, it runs much better now. I talked to the mechanic that the lady used to bring it to, and he said it never was driven over 45 mph...ever.

Since I've started driving it, the engine runs MUCH better, it tended to ping when I first got it, but sure the highway has helped clean everything out.

The cruise control slowly came back to life, never was used, but now works great.

Things still to do:

-The speedo cable squeaks sometimes, it's gotten much quieter, but still makes noise sometimes

-The car shifts a little to the left when accelerating, think it has a weak suspension bushing, but can't find it.

-TRYING to find a rear tailgate weatherstrip (squeegee). Mine is cracked, and all the ones in the salvage yards are cracked.

Other than that, it's done!

General Comments:

I traded a very troublesome Ford Aerostar for my Cruiser. The car looked horrible when I bought it, but after four months it is looking great.

The 307 V8 is not a powerhouse, but it is smooth, uses no oil, and will hold 80 mph from Austin to Dallas to visit in-laws. Gets over 20 mpg too!!

The interior is like new and very comfortable. Has neat options, powere seats on both sides, fiber optic lights in the rear roof and tops of front fenders, power everything. Very comfortable car!

My wife made fun of it when I brought it home. She wanted an SUV. Well now she askes to use it and leaves me her car.

My son loves the rear-facing third seat. Plenty of room for kids, friends, and everything else.

WHY did they stop making these things???