I own an Aztek, and I must say its a sweet ride. I love this car and I couldn’t be more happy with it. The people who say this car sucks are the ones to have uglier cars then the Aztek, not saying that the Aztek is ugly at all, its awesome. But when they say its the ugliest car ever they must be driving a Geo or a Sicon thingy.
Forgot to add for J.O., I own a 02’ yellow aztek with 139,910 miles exactly and just replaced the brakes, runs without any problems and just as zippy as the day I bought it.
In the last year, my Aztec (2004 Black Rally addition) has traveled from coast to coast. From the beaches of South Carolina, over the Colorado Rockies, and through Oregon’s beautiful Columbia Gorge my Aztek handled perfectly. What an incredible roadtrip and I was actually moving from east coast to west coast in the process. Thanks to the roomie cargo space, I was able to pack a good portion of personal items. I didn’t have to rent a UHAUL…which could have been a huge fiasco! It is important to find a car that fits with your lifestyle, personality, and budget. For me, the Aztek has been great and in the future if I do experience problems with it, it will be okay, knowing what it has carried me through in the past. My back window is covered in stickers from my different adventures across the US…which i really love and just adds another element of my personality.I say to each his own… just get out there and enjoy life!
I want a HUD in my car, but I wanna plug my laptop into and tweak it A LOT.
Its an good idea to gather all the good points of view before you start to design something. But when you start designing, you have to choose what you are designing. For example you cannot get a car that is a small roadster and Hummer. Aztek is some kind of combination from smaller and bigger car, but it looks like a big smaller car, not like a mature SUV. It looks like a big child.
That Pontiac Aztek looks really stupid and ugly car to me. But ugly can be ok, when its cool too. Like there are many people who would like Aztek design, but not implemented like in the Pontiac Aztek.
It would be good to go to a another poll round after the final design is ready. You got the initial design ideas and made your combination. Now you should ask, does everyone like the result.
I owned the first Aztek in 2000. I think maybe in Houston I was one of the first to own the car. I would have people pass me, give me thumbs up, one lady stop at my home and ask me what kind of car was this. I know I got at least 15 to 20 recognitions of my new 2000 Pontiac Aztek. Due to some unforeseen health problems I lost my Aztek and my home. I said, if I ever had the chance to own a new car again, it would be the Pontiac Aztek. You could live in this car. I LOVE IT. Prior to my misfortune I always owned a Pontiac every two years. I commuted 116 miles a day to work and my Pontiac’s never gave Sme trouble. PONTIAC IS THE CAR!!!INCERELY, THANK YOU, AND GOD IS IN CONTROL. SHARON
I think that Honda Element looks even worse, but I still don’t like how the Pontiac Aztek looks like.
For example here is a car that doesn’t look bad to me, Jaguar XKR:
http://www.sportscarcup.com/jaguar-xkr/
I have an 04 Aztek Rally edition. I will admit that when I went to buy a car I was definatly not looking at this. I wanted to get a Ford Esacape but the wife saw this and said she always wanted the Aztek. At that time I thought it was the worst looking car I ever saw and honestly still do. But the ride is smooth, gas mileage is fair, and so far no major problems except for the wheel bearings that was fixed free by Pontiac. I have 80,000 miles on it so far. The only thinks I don’t like is the difficulty in doing simple repairs like headlights and air filter changes to time consuming and not difficult but annoying to do.
TO ALL,
The very top of this web page makes the most sense! GM was way ahead of the curve with this one. Trying to knock Proctor Gamble strategy just makes you look ignorant. As if PG is some small company on the verge of extinction?! I couldnt believe they put these vehicles on the road in 2000, I thought they were the ugliest things I had ever seen, and frankly they still could be. With that said, go drive one for a week and try to climb back into whatever superior machine it is that you drive. For me, I couldnt do it. I found this website as I search endlessly through the few(allow me to repeat VERY FEW)for sale on the internet, so that i can buy a 2nd AZTEC. (and dont post some BS like “there was only 100,000 made” bc even so there are less than a 100 for sale in the country at any given time) You probably drive a quaint little honda and sleep well at night knowing that you are in the majority. Meanwhile the people who were brave enough to test drive the “ugliest car of 2000” sit back and laugh at what the “majority” is missing out on. Be brave, be different.
The Aztek’s sold poorly not only because of the design, but the absolute atrocity called the 3.4L GM power train. Everyone I knew that had one needed a new a/c compressor by 80k miles, needed a new trans by as early as 50k and as late as 120k. I haven’t found one person with an original in theres yet. That said. It is loaded with problems, but I still love it. I rebuilt mine at 112k miles. A/C, suspension, engine, trans, replaced some misc. stuff such as airbags, latches, wiring harnesses, computer modules. $3000 to me $9000 to people that would require to pay someone. These are not the best used cars. If you want an Aztek, be prepared to rebuild it if it is nearing 100k. I did have fun doing it. So much in fact, I am going to buy another Aztek already with major problems (so I can get it dirt cheap and not lose $3000 in depreciation when it breaks) and rebuild it. They are great cars with lots of features, they just need to be overhaul’d every 100k miles or so, which really is a shame. These types of power train designs is what killed GM. BTW for all those people that don’t know, this is a minivan with the same power train as the Pontiac Montana, and a slightly upgraded power train to all the other 3.4L minivans GM/Olds/Pontiac have pumped out over the years. I owned a 97 silhouette it was lemoned out and then I owned a 98 silhouette and it’s engine needed to be replaced because of a cracked block at 40k. GM never improved the design when they decided to throw it into the Aztek. UGH.
If you haven’t driven one, don’t knock 'em. Read what Brian said on 2/6/2010 - agree whole heartedly. I’m only on this site looking for a console cooler for the 3rd, yes 3rd Aztek we’ve purchased. Being used, didn’t have the cooler. BTW, the other 2 are still running like tops - all 2001’s. You can’t get a nicer, smoother ride…
The only problem was marketing…who cares what they look like if they perform and ride well!!!
Page 553 from Code Complete 2: “Making changes to code randomly is like rotating a Pontiac Aztek’s tires to fix an engine problem.”
-Matt
The Aztek was half-car, half-van, and universally branded as one of the ugliest vehicles to ever hit the market. Mr. Reuss had little to do with the design, but his job required him to defend it as if it were a thing of beauty.
It was brutal, he said during an interview as he drove, to grit his teeth and pretend that the Aztek was something to be proud of.
I LOVE my Aztek. I purchased a 2001 fully loaded AWD in 2002 with 26000 miles on it. The rear window on the 2000 and 2001 model does NOT have a blindspot issue. They put that crazy bar across the window in the later models. I am glad I did not get a later model, I sat in one and did not like it. I too thought it was ugly when I saw it the first time at a seminar, but it grew on me.
A friend of mine as an old Aztec with 75,000 miles and he loves it. He services his own car and has changed many parts. He never takes his Aztec to the garage, because of the high repair costs. This is not one of the easiest cars to work on and he refuses to sell it.
http://www.warninglightsdashboard.com
So after a bit of comment trolling I found, that most of the people commenting negatively about the vehicle have the general lack-of any intelligence. No particular comments stick out its just an overall assessment. If anyone of them was to drive one of these vehicles or experience the extras they come with maybe they could have a change of heart. But, oh well. Ignorance is bliss after all. It’s unfortunate Pontiac make will not be in production any more.
Permalink to that Amazon review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2BRV7R85I74ZY/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm. You might want to update the link in the original post.
TRiG.
Hello, 2022 checking in here. Time of the SUV and variants.
I have a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander. Not completely dissimilar to this shape.
I’m wondering what all the fuss was about? Were the comments made by Grand Am owners?
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