Cons: Distinctive styling, public image, interior materials, seats, road noise, rear visibility, high depreciation
The Bottom Line: A good basic package and many innovative features have been thoroughly overcome by the first-year styling and sloppy execution of many details.
Usually I focus on the vehicle itself in my reviews, but this review will be at least as much about the workings of popular psychology.
Not since AMC’s Gremlin and Pacer nearly three decades ago has one automobile been as universally reviled for its styling as the Pontiac Aztek. The Aztek, a minivan-based crossover/SUV like the related Buick Rendezvous, was introduced nearly four years ago as an early 2001 model. My understanding is that 2004 will be its last year. Is there any reason you might want to get one while there is still one to be gotten? Probably not, but at least as much because of the vehicle’s rep as the vehicle itself. That is, unless you enjoy paddling up the stream of popular opinion. Then all bets are off.
Styling
My initial impression of the Aztek was that it was downright hideous—from just about every angle. And it was back in 2001. For 2002 GM rushed some very needed styling changes to market. A majority of the previously unpainted gray cladding became body color. A spoiler was fitted to the hatch to visually separate the two pieces of glass. And attractive five-spoke 17-inch wheels became available, but only on the heavy, pricey all-wheel-drive model. Frankly, I find the revised vehicle oddly attractive from the front quarter and side. It’s far from beautiful, but it is striking in the good way the designers likely intended before someone forced the gray cladding and small wheels on them. The rear remains awkward and blocky, though.
The Aztek case provides a number of lessons. To begin with, first impressions count. Even though the revisions substantially improved the appearance of the Aztek, public opinion had already been formed and cast in stone. This happens when a vehicle is so ugly that people talk about it—opinion ceases to be individual, and individual perceptions can have little impact.
Second, car companies should design a vehicle around the wheels it will have. When the Aztek was displayed as a concept vehicle, I believe it was fitted with 19-inch wheels. Very likely it was designed around such large wheels. Then it went into production with skinny 15s as the largest option. Ouch. The 17s available since 2003 on all Azteks are not only larger, but their classic five-spoke design is also considerably more attractive than any other wheel ever available on the vehicle. I believe the concept also had much less unpainted cladding than the 2001 production vehicle.
All in all, if GM had introduced the Aztek in 2001 with the appearance the 2002 and the 17-inch wheels as the only available option, then they would not have the PR disaster they have today. But by 2002 the damage was done. It was too late. Even now the 17s are just one option. Every Aztek that makes it out of the factory with another wheel helps perpetuate the current popular perception. So GM has not entirely learned its lesson.
Why hasn't Honda's Element suffered the same fate? Many people around Detroit say, "Because it's a Honda." The brand helps, but it's more than that. The Element is more plainly styled in a more military idiom. Especially in steel-wheeled DX form it looks like something an Eastern European country might create for military or police use, with a boxy shape and upright windshield and rear end.
In comparison, the Aztek is far more avante-garde, with many styling details included entirely for aesthetic purposes. The backlight is heavily raked, the front and rear lamps are oddly positioned odd shapes, many creases adorn the bodysides, and so forth. It's a much busier, riskier design that, in production form, GM failed to follow through on.
I could personally live with the Aztek’s exterior, but not its interior. The interior remains an aesthetic disaster, with too much hard plastic and a sci-fi theme that is just over the top. It looks and feels both cheap and strange, and not strange in a good way. Automakers: if you’re going to use hard plastics on the instrument panel to cut costs, at least have the sense to avoid large flat areas. In the premium cloth or two-tone leather the seat fabrics are attractive, but the seats themselves appear insubstantial and cheaply constructed. This is largely because they are very flat, especially in back. For aesthetic as well as functional reasons the seats need more contour.
Accommodations
Owing to its minivan basis the Aztek is very roomy inside. The front seats are acceptably comfortable, though they offer little in the way of lateral support. The view forward and to the sides is open. To the rear visibility is impaired by large sloping pillars and an overly small rearview mirror. On the other hand, it is aided by the second panel of glass mounted below the main rear window. Beyond function, the shape of the rear glass appears very odd when viewed through the mirror. I can’t recall ever seeing anything like it. People thought the oval-shaped rear window in the 1996 Taurus was strange, but that in the Aztek takes strange to the next level.
The rear seat is wide enough for three people, and flat enough that the one in the center wouldn’t be too bad off. But it is hard and mounted low to the ground, so none of the three will be very comfortable back there if they are adults.
Cargo volume is an Aztek strength. At over 95 cubic feet, it’s near the top of the midsize SUV class. This figure assumes removing the two-section rear seat; this seat can also be folded and tipped forward. The cargo area is accessed through a two-piece tailgate, where the top half lifts up and the bottom half folds down, where it can be used as a seat.
Beyond the sheer volume GM put a lot of imagination into the Aztek (a shame the initial styling made this all for naught). A second set of audio controls is located in the cargo area for use while tailgating. A removable console doubles as a cooler. A sliding rear cargo tray is available. This tray includes interior storage compartments that when open can be used to keep grocery bags and such in place.
A package is even available to transform the rear of the Aztek into a tented camping area. I’ve camped in a tent many nights in the past. Not having to deal with the ground would have been nice. The camping package includes an air mattress, and an electric compressor available separately can be used to inflate it. Using the Aztek as a camper would not be entirely missing the point: you’re still as open to the outside air as in a conventional tent.
On the Road
The Aztek continues to be powered by the same gruff-sounding, 185-horsepower, 3.4-liter V6 as GM’s minivans. This engine feels fairly strong at low speeds, but a bit winded at highway speeds. The 200-horsepower 3.5-liter six that is in the 2004 Chevrolet Malibu and will be in the 2005 minivans would have been better. GM’s trusty 3.8-liter six would have been better yet. As it is, the 3.4 is at best adequate. A four-speed automatic is the only available transmission. A fifth ratio would help both economy and performance.
I drove the front-drive Aztek. The all-wheel-drive version weighs a couple hundred pounds more, so I suspect the engine is even more of an issue with it. The all-wheel-drive system is similar to that used by Honda: typically all power is routed through the front wheels. Only when these slip is some power directed rearward. Such a system aids traction on slick surfaces, but does not help balance out the chassis in aggressive driving. So on dry paved roads the all-wheel-drive Aztek will tend to handle much like the front-drive version.
Surprisingly, the Aztek handles fairly well for a tall vehicle, especially compared to the Honda Element. The steering could provide more feedback, but the effort is about right (at least for my tastes, which incline towards moderately high effort) and builds naturally as the wheel is turned. Lean in turns is less than I expected, and the Eagle RS-A performance tires that attend the 17-inch wheels stick well. Some understeer is present, but less than I’ve experienced in many sedans. For a tall, front-drive vehicle the chassis feels surprisingly balanced, with little plowing until it nears its limits. The Aztek should acquit itself well on the backroads that lead to those camp sites.
Ride quality is not so good. It’s smooth enough on most roads--only minor harshness is transmitted through the suspension—but the tires clomp loudly over tar strips and such. Maybe this is less of an issue with other tires—but the 17-inch wheels are a requirement. Worse, some road surfaces generated a boomy resonance inside the Aztek. I noted a similar resonance in the Nissan Pathfinder Armada. It might be a danger with large square interiors, but clearly something could have been done to eliminate it as all large SUVs and minivans are not afflicted.
Pricing
GM reduced the Aztek’s price considerably for 2002, and after rebates and discounts its price remains very reasonable. With ABS, front side airbags, power driver’s seat, a roof rack, and the must-have wheels, a front-drive Aztek lists for $24,675. The typical dealer discount and current $3,000 rebate reduce this to about $19,800. This is a lot of vehicle for under twenty grand. All-wheel-drive adds about $1,800 to this price, for a total of about $21,600. Additional options include leather and a power moonroof.
Honda was pursuing a similar concept with its Element, but has had better luck selling it even with continued heavy use of gray plastic body panels. A front-drive EX with side airbags lists for $20,440 ($21,790 with all-wheel-drive), and Edmunds suggests no discounting (which I find hard to believe). So the larger Aztek is less expensive. The Honda has a higher quality, easier-on-th-eyes interior, and its more comfortable (for two people) rear seats do not have to be removed for maximum cargo volume, but otherwise the Pontiac is the superior vehicle.
Buyers who intend to venture off the road need a real SUV, which the Aztek and Element are not. Nissan pitches the truck-based Xterra with a similar active lifestyle, youthful theme. The Xterra is available with a four, a six, and a supercharged six. In performance the Aztek and Element likely fall closest to the second, so I’ll price that one even though I suspect the supercharger is well worth the extra $1,200 or so it costs. Equipped like the above Aztek, an Xterra XE V6 lists for $23,210. The typical discount and a $1,000 rebate bring this down to about $21,300 ($23,200 with four-wheel-drive).
The Hyundai Santa Fe is also distinctively styled, but in a less outdoorsy fashion. With the 2.7-liter six (I highly recommend spending a few hundred more for the stronger 3.5) a front-drive Santa Fe GLS with ABS and a roof rack lists for $22,364, and costs about $20,300 after the typical discount and a $1,000 rebate. All-wheel-drive adds about $1,400 to the price, for a total of $21,700. The Hyundai is significantly more refined and comfortable than any of the above, but like the Element offers about 20 percent less cargo volume than the Aztek. (The Xterra offers even less.)
Pontiac advertises the Aztek against the Toyota Highlander, but the Highlanders interior is so much higher in quality and its exterior is so boring that I cannot imagine many people seriously considering both vehicles. The Aztek is much less expensive, though.
Overall, if you like the Aztek the price certainly won’t turn you away. But be warned that even with the low price depreciation will likely be steep. On the flip side, a used Aztek could be very inexpensive.
Final Words
First impressions count. The 2001 Aztek was so hideous in so many ways that it people continue to think of it first when discussing vehicular ugliness. By 2002 a number of styling updates and larger available wheels improved its appearance markedly, but by then the damage was done.
Beyond its appearance, the Aztek is a very functional vehicle, but is also not without functional shortcomings. Its engine is marginal, its interior feels cheap, its rear seat isn’t comfortable, and the ride produces too many unpleasant noises. Overall, the basic package makes a lot of sense, but its far too rough around the edges. Normally GM might have continued to improve the vehicle, but its destined to go away soon. At this point even Lexus levels of refinement could not change the public’s perceptions.
If despite the Aztek’s shortcomings you find yourself attracted by the basic functionality of the package, its low price, and perhaps even its all-too-distinctive styling, then do me a favor and get the 17-inch wheels. It’s the only way I can bear looking at the thing.
Note on my rating: Without considering price I would have given the Aztek two stars, but because the price is so low I have given it a third.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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