I have owned my Aztek since 2004. I bought a 2001 with 61,000kms on it. I have kept up with regular maintanance and used the most expensive parts you can get for anything that gets replaced, as a result,I have never been stranded in this vehicle. I travelled from Terrace BC, Canada, to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA in this vehicle and I would do it again. With the same vehicle. If I could buy another one I would. However I still use the one I have and I don’t intend to get rid of it anytime soon. So far it is still in good running condition. What hooks you about the vehicle is the drive and the ride. It is an awesome feeling to drive the Aztek, I would recommend to people who haven’t tried it, don’t know it till you’ve tried it. Travel wise, it is awesome, lots of leg room and space, even if you travel with a full load and 5 passengers. Did this from Saskatchewan to British Columbia. Most people I know think it is built like a grizly bear. It is too Kewl. I love my Aztek and it really doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks about the vehicle,it fits me!! I don’t think it’s ugly either. Mine looks pretty damn snazzy with me in it.
My parents bought a 2003 Aztek back when it was new, and we’ve never had a problem with it. No it’s not pretty, but function is more important than fashion. I learned how to drive in it, the seats are comfortable, it has plenty of room,the suunroof is a great addition, the tent that attaches to the back is awesome,and it doesn’t consume gas quickly like Hummers do. Today I’m seventeen,and the Aztek is now mine! I can actually afford to pay gas for the Aztec, and even the guys at school love having a ride in it. I hope it will benifit me for a long time.
I have an 2005 Kentucy Blue Aztec, and I Love, love, love it.It’s roomy, rides great, easy to spot in a crowded parking lot. Dont knock it till you ride in it. Best car I’ve ever owned. I’ll keep it forever. Nancy
i own a 2002 pontiac Aztek,i have nothing but praise for the vehicle, mine is as loaded as they came back then,leather/heated seats,10 speaker stereo, driver and passanger air controls, heads-up display,its the only suv crossover that if packed right can handle luggage for five (5) people going on a cruise or trip of 1,500 miles or more and everyone is in comfort,i get 23.9- 24.5 mpg on the highway, oh did i saw that it’S ALL WHEEL DRIVE VERSATRAK IT’S NEVER LET ME DOWN.its not perfect but i love what it does for me, so all you haters keep hating it’s not Gm it’s you for wanting to be main stream DARE TO BE DIFFERENT YOU MIGHT LIKE IT.OH AT 165.000 MILES still quiet and peppy and if i could find an 05 with the same equipment i would buy it.it will stay with me awhile.ERROL
I’d like to buy one, set it up at the state fair, and charge people $1 to throw tomatoes at it. I think I’d be able to retire after the first time I did it.
I cant believe a great article like this has devolved into a masturbatory circle-jerk about one of the ugliest cars in decades (since mid-80’s!).
Please people stop…your P.O.S. box-on-wheels deserved to die a quick death instead of a slow painful one. I’m glad the parent company has finally died so there is no more ridiculous business/design decisions coming from Pontiac. Good riddance.
The people who hate the Aztek are the same putz yuppies that think a ford escort is sports car, and a boring ass honda civic is creative body styling.
I don’t own an Aztec, but I think this is a classic case of people who look for substance or style. The Aztec haters are the people who only care about style.
The fourth reference of Steve McConnell is on the 24th page of the book. I also prefer function over style, but some nice design doesn’t hurt though.
I rolled my aztek off the lot for $15,999. and 7 miles on it. I,ve kept it up on oil, fluids and such, and it has given me great milage 28-30mpg, and it has 135,000 on it. I,ve run it from San Francisco to Oklahoma city 9 times and the camping package works great. I added the tow option and moon roof after market, a great thing. My only problem now is the cop-out of G.M. not to support the model after 2010.
My only gripes are the God Awful wind noise, and the price of plastic replacement parts! Looks like I’ll have to buy a couple wrecks for spare parts…Lucky I live in Oklahoma, there’s one around every corner, in every color. I love my aztek!
I love my Aztek. I like to joke that it’s “Quite possibly, the ugliest vehicle on the planet.” But that’s actually not true. The Mercedes G-Class, Toyota Scion, and (looking to the past) AMC Gremlin are all a lot uglier. If you don’t think so, you’re probably reading this in braille.
If you think it’s ugly, all the better. I like to think of it’s unique styling as a built-in theft deterrent system.
But I didn’t buy my Aztek because it was beautiful, I bought it because it does everything I need a vehicle to do and it does it really well. For something it’s size it gets great gas milage. The interior is comfortable, and well designed. It’s got good acceleration, and handles well. For something minivan sized, it drives more like a car.
I’ve used my Tek to haul amazing amounts of stuff. I’ve taken it camping (the camping package is awesome). I’ve taken long trips with it. It’s never let me down.
I think the Aztek was a case of the right design at the wrong time. I applaud Pontiac for creating something new. The world doesn’t need another Honda Civic or Toyota Camry clone.
I am so glad the aztek is dead along with every other pontiac!!!
the aztek is the biggest piece of crap ever made!!! they have continual wheel bearing problems, intake and head gasket problems, and caliper problems… the calipers have plastic pistons!!! JUNK!!! my sister and brother in law have a 2002. it was a nice car until 65,000 miles. then everything went!!!
and i know your saying was it taken care of? ofcourse …oil changes every 3k. lube, tune ups, u name it!!! and so far the wheel bearings have been replaced 3 times, the calipers twice, the intake gasket 3 times, the heads , and now the trans!!! it also has had electrical problems , dash lights, oil senser light, fuel gauge, lighter… what a piece of CRAP!!! if you have one, get rid of it!!! if you want to get one, dont!!! trust me!!!
C’mon…if “they” said it was a good looking vehicle, then we’d think so too! There are some ugly cars out there…and apparently they were marketed better…so our view of them is different…fact of the matter is folks…they are all just cars! I’d rather purchase “the ugliest car ever” and know that it’s bad rap is only based on its looks and not something that compromises safety! So far it seems to have everything…room, good mpg, comfort, excellent safety rating and major versatility! And if you buy used you’re getting an excellent deal. They’re priced low because people think their ugly! People want to spend more money on a nicer car with more mileage! Not me! Who cares if the Aztek has an ugly butt…what’s up with all the clown cars on the road today???
“I haven’t seen a Pontiac Aztec on the side of the road yet.”
– sheri on April 20, 2009 11:49 AM
Maybe that’s because they go right to the crusher.
Azteks have all the styling flair of a trash truck!
Aztek and Edsel: The comparisons begin with bad 5-letter names.
Hmmm. Based on the above comments, maybe Don Norman and Steve McConnell should abandon the software coding business. Looks like the functional design overrides the opinions of a few disgruntled design junkies.
If you’re suggesting that “ugly” equals worthless, then why stop with the Aztek. Here’s some more “ugly” things that should have been eliminated right away, ambulances, fire trucks, Abe Lincoln, the statue of liberty, open heart surgery, Winston Churchill, capitalism, the dollar bill, hiking boots, the flounder, Johnny Cash, Einstien, the loom, and the printing press.
As we all know, “super” models cured polio, invented the lightbulb, and brought down the Berlin wall. Thanks goodness for them. I’m now going to rush out and pay over a thousand dollars to sit near the front at a football game. Look at me.
The design of the Aztek is more of an indoctment of “Design modification by accountants” than one of “design by committee”. Basically, the specifications were developed by marketing, and the concept prototype was noticably sleeker, anr rounded of than the production model. But what really killed the product was the cost cutting modifications used to lower the production costs.
The original design was an expensive one, and the targeted market wasn’t to pay the price need for a no-compromised version. The cost reducing design changes, however, resulted in a shift from an exotic cutting edge utility vehicle to a funky, boxy appearance that I like to describe as the “Evil offspring of a mating between a Hummer and a Honda CRX”.
I own one (with over 150,000 miles on it and no major problems) and obviously I didn’t buy it for it’s looks, but for the practial versatility it provides. And while it doesn’t sport the sleek sexy lines of a Hummer, a Jeep or a Land Rover, it combines many of the advantages of an SUB with those of a minivan and a station wagon.
But to the point of the original post.
The open source methodology is not “Design by Committee”. It could better be described as “Development though competition”. Most open sours software begins with a single person who designs and develops a prototypical application to address a specific problem. and makes the source available so that anyone who has the skills and inclination to improve, enhance or extened the original code. To be officially included in an update version of the application, however, the changes must be approved by the maintainer of the application(usually the originall designer). As a result, the maintainer may get many suggestions and actual courcew patches that address the same feature and must choose the one that best fits the overall vision of the designed. The is quite unlike most proprietary development models where the coder m ay compete for a position, but the code itself is not part of the contest.
The OSS methodology competes for quality, not for money or to meet a deadline. In proprietary software, often a bit of code will be incorporated to meet a production deadline, when a better, more efficient and robust design will be dropped because it might not be do-able by the deadline.
Open source has another advantage. As any coder will tell you, each of us (I’ve been programming for many years) likes to stick with what we know. We develop a “mental toolbox” of algorithms the each of us favor. When a programmer is assigned a task that doesn’t match his skill set, He will either try to learn as he goes, or try to apply what he is comfortable with to a problem that could be better addressed with a different algorithm. In the case of open source, the programmers can pick and choose the tasks that they are most comfortable and competent at.
This is not to say that all open source software is well designed. In particular, When formerly proprietary software source is opened, it has already been mangled by the innefficiency of the proprietary development methods.
For some reason, I’m reminded of this: a href="http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F16.html"http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F16.html/a
I was reading through the comments on this post as it showed up under the “Recent Comments” section. I just though the post by Doug was hilarious:
"Love my Aztek. MPG, roomy, very comfy front seats, just enough power and a great discount. Like it so much even bought his “big sister”, the Rendezvous, for my wife.
snip
Best of all my girlfriend loves the camping package for our little “get togethers” in secluded areas as she calls it affectionately: “MY Aztek”."