PPE the Purple people eater WARNING Croozer content

[doobietoo]

There is just enough chrome on it now ..... popped into Halfrauds this morning to purchase some fuses as the heated seat and seat height adjuster ones had blown, swapped them over and so far have both adjustment and heat... lovely and toasty on the way home. At the moment it seems everything on the car is working as it should .... next is a proper service as when I did the rad I had to take the air filter out and it was truly filthy.... but that can wait until after xmas... hopefully. Have about 600 miles to do between now and xmas so really need it to behave.

[doobietoo]

Gave it a wash today... well 4 washes and a clay barring and a bt of a polish... came out ok,...

 

 

 

proper Mexican paint .....none of ya euro water soluble stuff here...

[Stanky]

That looks lovely after a good wash - good work.

[Craig the Princess]

That looks really smart, having to rethink my position on these.

 

Any interior pictures?

[320touring]

Looks decent clean. Reminds me of my parents neighbours one..

 

it shat an engine mount at 6yrs old, well I say it shat an engine mount. It was the rusty chassis leg/inner wing failing that started it:)

 

but yours looks a ok so far!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Fair play, I hate these but its great to read about living the shite life with one, so cheers. Do these suffer from rust problems? I remember getting underneath one at a show (I know, I know) and was surprised to find that it didn't seem to have any underseal of any sort, only the same paint as on the top side. Is that right???

[doobietoo]

same paint as the top but its real paint as I said above so very tough... the early ones up to 2003 seem less prone to it than later ones, there is no mention of rust on mine in any of the mots not even the brake lines. there are a couple of blisters on the roof probably from stone chips I guess the answer is to buy a good one in the first place and undersealing it if its a keeper.. The main problem with these is the suspension bushes and electrical issues.....It isn't a car to dash about in more a relaxed cruiser as dynamically its fair at best. The seats are typically American flat but have lots of adjustment including lumbar and are heated. It has cruise and traction control and for me a really good radio cassette cd player...The instruments are in the right place and all the switches seem logical. h and the screen is upright like old cars so no stupid a post issues.

 

 

[DVee8]

Now i think that is class,well played for having the nads to go and get one.Not sure if i have missed it but what was the cost of such a fine motorcar?

[doobietoo]

under £600 including the new rad.... 03 plate and 51,000 miles

[JohnDeere]

These are still very common in Americaland - loads driving around San Francisco which is supposed to be a hip and cool place. So that must mean you're bow hip and cool.

[eddyramrod]

Yes, there are, and strangely, many in white, a colour we simply didn't get on the UK market.  I think it looks way better on them than silver, which should never have been allowed.

[Stanky]

I've now driven the PPE and have to say that its not a bad old hector, the driving position is quite upright but the A-pillars are quite slim so visibility for a modern is excellent.

 

The seat is also quite comfortable and other than a low-rpm stutter - most likely due to it needing a service and or a clean of the throttle body - its quite nice. For the price it was aquired for I'd definitely roll in one.

 

well bought sir.

[Pillock]

Interior looks quite comical, like they finished designing it and went "Shit, we've got loads of switches to put in it".

Are you meant to do the rear windows with your toes?

 

I quite like the sound of the driving position though, I found myself raising the seat in the Astra tonight because the "slammed YO" position seems to be giving my back jip. In contrast, our Touran seems spot on for me now, and that's got a very van-like pedal/seat arrangement. 

[doobietoo]

Although it looks a bit weird everything is to hand the only thing that is irritating is the cruise control switch which is fitted to the steering wheel and goes round with it so its never where you expect it to be.... one thing I really like is the seat armrest and door armrest are the same height so you feel comfy and balanced. I guess its the American influence with the huge distances they cover....   . There are rear window switches in the front with the front ones and as we found out on Sunday not having switches in the rear doors means that ankle biters and MILs cannot open the windows which is really clever as far as I am concerned.

 Having put some air in the tyres and put a few miles on it, it is actually better round the corners than I first thought it just feels unstable at first but actually sticks quite well. I will be doing about 500 miles over the weekend visiting various relatives so will report back as to whether I am in need of surgery for my back or other parts. I have also made a note of mileages so will be able to work out the mpg properly as my last fill up seemed to suggest around 35 to the gallon which doesn't seem right as from what I have read you are lucky to get more than 30.

[doobietoo]

So Had a good weekend... 600 miles + covered and no aches and pains at all. The PPE is a nice place to be, very comfy and I think its a happy car... Let me explain, I first noticed that if I was waiting to turn out of a junction into heavy slow moving traffic within two or three cars someone would smile and let me out...its happened several times so its no coincidence. Anyway driving along the A34 I noticed that cars in front tend to pull over and let me through... so much so that I hardly ever needed to brake ... I tested this by following a Merc with one of those angry frowny looks and cars just seemed to deliberately get in his way... I got a bit closer and he pulled over and off I went, within a few miles he was a blip in my mirror still getting blocked and going backwards, weird... can only put it down to the happy un-threatening nature of the car...

Secondly the windows ... I cant remember the last time I was able to drive a car with the window open and not get blown to death or cold feet or Mrsd complaining of drafts, I guess its the flat screen but its just not a problem, I even tested it by opening the passenger window about 4 inches when on my own and not a sign of a draft round the back of my neck.. great... these things are way more important than the quality of the interior plastics to me.

Finally I went to my first UKCruisers meeting on Saturday, not one chromed out car, in fact, my favorite car was a blue vert which has been dechromed and smoothed and looked lovely. Just a group of car nuts with a common interest just like us really. You don't get that with a Meriva or a Picasso do you? As you can tell the love affair with the unloved continues.....

[Cavcraft]

TL:DR sorry I just want you to get the bit where the raffle starts.

[laser wheels]

Interesting to see my '06 has a completely different dash to yours.

[laser wheels]

Sorry if I have missed it, but what model do you have? Mine is a 2.4 Touring.

[doobietoo]

2.0 Limited

[Mr_Bo11ox]

No way, I simply do not believe that you went to a Cruiser gathering and there was no stick on chrome. You were sounding quite credible but have blown all that now.

 

[doobietoo]

I HAZ PROOPH....

 

[eddyramrod]

There are limits.  Even for a PT lover like me, that thing Boll posted is horrible.  I wouldn't have the nerve to inflict such a look on a car.

[John F]

Ugh.

 

I would probably definitely forgive the car for being a bit crap, but I could never get on with the american styling*.

[laser wheels]

I honestly don't mind the styling, it's just everything else, although I have found the screen de-mister to be quite good so there is something. Having said that, though, using it automatically kicks in the air con which isn't doing the already woeful economy* any good at all. So technically they even fucked that up.

[vulgalour]

That red PT there was spotted recently in another thread, I distinctly remember this because the picture featured an Audi with an indicator on.

 

I like the colour of PPE.  Trouble is, I'm still finding the Cruiser a bit like that annoying itch you sometimes get that you can't physically reach and is really annoying as a result.  That is to say they're so annoyingly close to being really neat and never seem to quite manage it unless you sink loads of time and money into them and even then they're still a Cruiser.  BUT, it's not my car so I can keep my opinion to myself on it really, you seem really happy with it and you're not being a Crashing Bore about it and that's all that matters.

[Pillock]

I honestly don't mind the styling, it's just everything else, although I have found the screen de-mister to be quite good so there is something. Having said that, though, using it automatically kicks in the air con which isn't doing the already woeful economy* any good at all. So technically they even fucked that up.

The past few moderns I've had do that, because if it uses the air con it's condensed all the water out of the air it's throwing at the window so it clears faster. It's a feature!

[laser wheels]

It works alright but with 17mpg every little helps.

[eddyramrod]

Bloody hell, 17mpg?  There's something wrong with that car!  I know they're not the most frugal, but that's Cadillac territory.  And I mean proper Cadillacs, the ones with big fins.

[hauserplenty]

...Cadillac with proper fins downhill in a hurricane territory, loike.

Re the defroster: they also had another reason for that, which was to keep the AC system working since over the winters people would leave them off. Thus resulting in a flood of repair claims on the first hot day of the year. A bit similar to why some GM and Ford blower motors were always running slowly, to stop them from freezing in the winter. R-134 systems are much more efficient than those R-12 systems were, but since our camel piss is still a bit cheaper than yours, I'll leave it at that.

Ford had a similar color which I've heard referred to as "Barney Purple".

TOO shit for AUTOSHITE ergo = NOT shit, but shite. Top bombing, especially in manual flavor. Since 2006 I've seen only one, and I thought it suited the car perfectly.

[tooSavvy]

tooShit for Auto$hite.... 'You talking to ME?'

 

TS