[kirk.collicutt]

I actually owned a 2003 Aztek. GM gave it a mild refresh for 2003 and painted the side cladding body colored. Mine was AWD with independent rear suspension and the larger alloy wheels which filled the wheel wells better. Unlike what the article says , this car was not ugly , just different. Park it alongside a first gen ford Edge , or a recent Mitsibushi cross and you will see a lot of Aztek in those cars.
The Aztek was very comfortable and the AWD system was among the best GM had or for that matter among the best on the market at the time..
The dash and center consule were well laid out . There was lots of room inside for 5 people and the seats were all day comfortable.
I drove my Aztek 200,000k in the first 2 years and aside from suspension bushings in the rear , there were no failures or malfunctions ,just regular service , oil changes and tire rotation and the vehicle was good for another 8000-10000 klm.
In the winter with the larger all season tires and AWD , the car was like a tank handling icy roads and deep snow like a champ, far better than todays slip and grip AWD.
I agree with the other posters that the media played a big part in killing the Aztek, if they did the same with the Nissan cube, the juke , the Mitsibushi cross, the Honda element , or some of the Toyota Prius models among many others , i wonder what fate they would have suffered.
If Asian, or cars from Korea were subject to the same type of negativity that GM cars I wonder how many would be still in business.
Many journalists are just GM haters out of the gate , Look at the BOLT , a great small electric car that had an issue with their battery manufacturder, The media was all over this , but not so with Tesla , Ford or Hyundai/ KIA battery fires.
Back to the point the Aztek was a very good first effort cross over, GM did a lousy job marketing , but it was not a bad vehicle by any sense.
Those that had such opinions probably never spent much seat time to appreciate all the car had tom offer.
I know when i first brought mine home , some family members/ friends were skeptical, but after they drove in and saw how well it did the tasks at hand , they had a far different opinion.

 

[TORRED1]

Had one as a company vehicle, liked it so much I bought it. Solid as a rock, versatile, great seats, nice stereo. Great handling. Then it was totaled. That got me my 04 GTO. Quite the upgrade.

 

[bmwboy2007]

The front fascia design of the Aztek concept was awful - it was definitely worse than the RPO one. it would never have improved sales.

There were so-ooo many awesome Pontiac concepts, but I remember exactly when it went over the cliff; the '97 Rageous. I literally was like 'WTF' when it came out.; I hated it. It's a 'dividing line' that ushered in a string of jarring concepts going forward for a while.

I thought the Pontiac Rageous was a promising direction. Whatever else it was, it was never boring.

With rear wheel drive, a rumbling Ram Air V8 and P315/30RR rubber on 22 inch rims, what's not to like?

This is pure Pontiac. You can park one of these in my garage ANYTIME.

 

[big swede]

Blast from the past thread.

I always heard that the interiors were excellent for the time. I’ve never been in one but that seems to be the consensus.

 

[NHRATA01]

Interior of the Aztec was terrible, my father had one, either an '02 or '03 I believe sans plastic clad. Typical GM plastic and ergonomics of the time. I was an adult and out of the house by then, but I borrowed it once or twice and it never got compliments for its appearance. It was built on the minivan platform so the proportions didn't look particularly attractive either.

 

[Ambalanche]

The "design by comittee" was a disaster that should have never been allowed. Its almost as if some other automotive manufacturer had some Moles at GM, and their sole purpose was to screw up design and make the ugliest vehicle possible.

That must be going on at Toyota right now! I still say the last generation Prius was Toyota saying how ugly can we make a car that stupid Americans will still buy! But you don’t hear the media talking about that!

 

[rand49er]

My sister and her husband (a GM engineer) had one for years. They liked it. The ride was good and it was trouble free for many, many years.

 

[ksr]

That must be going on at Toyota right now! I still say the last generation Prius was Toyota saying how ugly can we make a car that stupid Americans will still buy! But you don’t hear the media talking about that!

At least the Prius was new technology that really did deliver on its promise.

The media piled on the Aztek to a ridiculous extent, with the criticism going beyond the Aztek to Pontiac itself. It was just stupid. With all the negativity, I don't know if GM marketing could have done anything to turn it around. And it wasn't attractive.

Funny how the media did nothing but praise the practicality and innovation of the hideous, plastic-clad Honda Element. Barely a peep about its styling, and when that was mentioned it was done so in an positive light, something like "different but funky and sure to appeal to young, outdoorsy drivers!" No such provisions were made in their Aztek commentary (which could even be ordered with an integrated tent!); it was all about the appearance.

Not that its the media's job to sell vehicles, but it seems that sometimes they go out of their way to destroy them. Great example was the Volt. So many people today still think of the Volt as this ridiculous electric car that would go sixty miles and leave you stranded. The media did little to clarify this, sometimes even piling on, showing an utter lack of research. This wasn't true of the major publications, but even they seemed to harp on the limited battery-only range. In the case of the Volt, I think GM's marketing was the real culprit. That car should have been a massive success on the scale of the Prius. But if you talk to people even today, the impression is still out there that it was a car with a sixty-mile range.

 

[yello430]

 

[kool1]

I actually owned a 2003 Aztek. GM gave it a mild refresh for 2003 and painted the side cladding body colored. Mine was AWD with independent rear suspension and the larger alloy wheels which filled the wheel wells better. Unlike what the article says , this car was not ugly , just different. Park it alongside a first gen ford Edge , or a recent Mitsibushi cross and you will see a lot of Aztek in those cars.
The Aztek was very comfortable and the AWD system was among the best GM had or for that matter among the best on the market at the time..
The dash and center consule were well laid out . There was lots of room inside for 5 people and the seats were all day comfortable.
I drove my Aztek 200,000k in the first 2 years and aside from suspension bushings in the rear , there were no failures or malfunctions ,just regular service , oil changes and tire rotation and the vehicle was good for another 8000-10000 klm.
In the winter with the larger all season tires and AWD , the car was like a tank handling icy roads and deep snow like a champ, far better than todays slip and grip AWD.
I agree with the other posters that the media played a big part in killing the Aztek, if they did the same with the Nissan cube, the juke , the Mitsibushi cross, the Honda element , or some of the Toyota Prius models among many others , i wonder what fate they would have suffered.
If Asian, or cars from Korea were subject to the same type of negativity that GM cars I wonder how many would be still in business.
Many journalists are just GM haters out of the gate , Look at the BOLT , a great small electric car that had an issue with their battery manufacturder, The media was all over this , but not so with Tesla , Ford or Hyundai/ KIA battery fires.
Back to the point the Aztek was a very good first effort cross over, GM did a lousy job marketing , but it was not a bad vehicle by any sense.
Those that had such opinions probably never spent much seat time to appreciate all the car had tom offer.
I know when i first brought mine home , some family members/ friends were skeptical, but after they drove in and saw how well it did the tasks at hand , they had a far different opinion.

I think the concept vehicle and idea of the Aztec was cutting edge - GM just didn't execute it properly.

Aztek could have been massively successful with better (more attractive) design and better marketing.

 

[rockyspaw]

 

[rockyspaw]

My sister and her husband (a GM engineer) had one for years. They liked it. The ride was good and it was trouble free for many, many years.

I found several people on an Aztek FB page have reported over 300,000 miles and still going!

 

[Neanderthal]

I tinks youse guyses has gots it all rong. I tink da prblmm was Aztec. If they'd have named it Apache, Crow, Choctaw, Navajo, Chickasaw, Pueblo, everything would have been hunky-dory. Yuk yuk.

But the car was obviously not an Aztec. How clueless can you get, GM?

 

[ksr]

It's one of those vehicles that most people didn't like, but drew a loyal, if small, following. I see a couple on the roads around here, looking like they just left the showroom. The ones that are out there will be pampered and driven for a lot more years.

 

[bmwboy2007]

View attachment 71179

Sorry.. That's just wrong..

 

[BlackGTP]

Coincidentally, I was recently talking to the owner of a very nice 2003 Aztek. She is the original owner, 50k miles, 3.4 V6, AWD...she loves it and has had no major issues with it! I always had a weird fascination with Azteks and considered purchasing a used one for a winter car. It was a quirky vehicle with some neat features, such as a fitted tent for the back hatch! View attachment 71165

my mom had the platform mate Buick Rendezvous. Awkward looking vehicle, but not nearly as bad looking as the Aztec. It had virtually no problems, was put together well and actually a comfortable drive. I liked it except for its looks and of course cheap GM touches brought to you by GM management.

 

[BlackGTP]

Coincidentally, I was recently talking to the owner of a very nice 2003 Aztek. She is the original owner, 50k miles, 3.4 V6, AWD...she loves it and has had no major issues with it! I always had a weird fascination with Azteks and considered purchasing a used one for a winter car. It was a quirky vehicle with some neat features, such as a fitted tent for the back hatch! View attachment 71165

my mom had the platform mate Buick Rendezvous. Awkward looking vehicle, but not nearly as bad looking as the Aztec. It had virtually no problems, was put together well and actually a comfortable drive, I assume traits shared with the Pontiac.

 

[09W]

Ironically, there are QUITE a few of these memes circulating around. I do not recall mearly the derision around the Aztek as I've been seeing around the Tesla. Not a good sign.

 

[09W]

 

[eaton53]

I do not recall mearly the derision around the Aztek as I've been seeing around the Tesla. Not a good sign.

We ain't laughing with you...