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Comments
I am looking at a GT with Towing, and trying to get a feel of what the price is before the rebates. Dealers won't discuss employee price over the phone, and I don't have time to go play song and dance.
Thanks for your quick response!
Also. if you go to the GM web site and click the incentive page, then dial the 800 number, you can talk to someone with the latest info about incetives. I did this and was able to weed through BS from dealers I did not buy from.
Dan
I will dial that 800 number and see what they say. I am really interested in finding out what the employee plan price is so that I know for sure if I can afford the GT. If not, I will consider the base.
This card allows $500/year max earnings for seven years, but there is no limit to how much you can apply to your purchase.
Just call them up and they'll switch you over.
Three weeks ago I purchased from tirerack.com a complete set of 235-60-R17 Goodyear Eagle LS tires mounted on ASA 17X 7 inch alloy wheels.
I've logged almost a thousand miles on the odometer with this new set of wheels. The car gets taller.The steering and ride quality improves. So far there is no problem. What concerns me is when the front wheels are turned farthest to the left or right, there is just about an inch clerance between the tire and the wheel well.
Now I am considering another set of wheels. A set of 245-55-R17 Bfgoodrich Scorcher T/A with yellow accent on 17X7 inch Enkei RS5 wheels for the front and another set of same brand and accent but bigger size 255-55-R17 on 17X7inch Enkei RS5 wheels for the rear. Would I have a problem with this new setup of wheels???
Any idea or information will be appreciated.....
The 245's should be able to squeak by in the wells this time of year, but if you live anywhere where it snows and slush can accumulate in the wells you will rub the tread right off those puppies come winter-time.
exzur - Got any pix of your new wheels on the car? I am interested in changing wheels/tires someday... for example I know the aluminum wheels from a 97+ Grand Prix would fit on this car. They come with 225-60-R16's standard. those are 16X6.5 rims. If you have pix but don't have them posted on the web, would you want to email pix to me?
thanks
PS to all - Wife got another positive comment from a coworker this Friday! She was talking with wife and said she liked the green paint and that it matched the outfit my wife was wearing (a dark green dress).
I asked my wife what she likes most about her 'Tek. She said she likes the command-position seating, the sunroof (distracts our kids when they are grumpy) and the interior space.
I noticed a cool little feature... when you are in the vehicle and hop out, the multiple dome lights come up slowly to full brilliance when you open a door. This helps to avoid blinding you if hopping out of vehicle at night! Kind of like theatre dimming - in reverse!
www.mwshowgo.com/kermit/index.htm
check out www.mwshowgo.com/kermit/index.htm and tell me what you think!
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
i finally did a trial run putting up the tent and inflating the mattress on my own (i am a gal), taking out the back seats completely, and just following every direction, and it took me a total of 30 minutes, doing it slowly and methodically.
pretty cool. going to use the camping package tomorrow night in the san gabriel mountains for the perseids meteor shower. LOOKING FORWARD to it. my husband came out after i was finished putting everything together (i insisted that i wanted to try and put it together on my own), and kept walking around muttering "this is so coooolll", and was thinking about all of the places we can use it: the beach, the desert, the mountains, etc!
i posted some pics on my music journal
www.checheche.com/journal.html
thanks to everyone for opinions and advise regarding setting it up, tips, etc : i.e. how someone slept and their heads were towards the front of the car and below their feet, basically. we are setting up the pillow towards the back, with the stereo controls and the cup holders right at arms length!
che
Whew! I am done. Thank God. Drove quite a ways to save, but got the thing for less than $20K. Anybody want a '93 COlt Vista with only 77K miles on it?
Thanks for all the help and advice.
My bet: the Vibe will have killer sales, and the General will either shift new production to Mexico and nuke the aforementioned cars, or they will put it into the Quebec Camero/Firebird plant.
Some of you guys seem to think GM will peacefully resolve the problematic Azztek described above. I bet otherwise.
Man, I miss ol' kissfan's postings.
checheche - cool site you have! I saw your pix of the tent. Have fun with camping in the meteor shower! Summer is flying away rapidly in the breeze, wife and I are trying to fit in one more camp-out. It's easier now that we have our Aztek.
Tonight I was again pleasantly surprised by our Aztek. The jack is very easy to access! A small thing I know, but I notice! On my other cars, you have to unload a lot of stuff to get to the jack (exception: our 98 Blazer). On the Tek, you simply remove a little access door and there it is! The Blazer requires you to take off a big heavy shade-holder. Our Grand Prix requires you to unload ENTIRE trunk then lift out the spare!
Why I needed the jack... used it to lift vehicle a little while spraying undersides with undercoating. Not everywhere (especially not on e-brake lines or exhaust parts), just the gray steel plus some high-abrasion areas in the wheelhouses. I used five spray cans and concentrated a lot on the floor pan under the seats.
I believe GM is on to something with the Aztek, just not the something they set out for. They expected young Vibe customers to go after the Aztek, but instead active families bored with cookie-cutter minivans are perhaps becoming the core Aztek market. With a few appearance tweaks and aggressive pricing, the Aztek will do just fine.
www.mwshowgo.com/kermit/safety.htm
Today's cars, minus the heavy gas sucking frames of yesteryear, are actually generally safer across the board. I DO pay attention to both the insurance and government tests, and rely on them for guidance. I have no doubt that my top-scoring Mercury Sable wagon will survive many a crash well. That is why it is my wife's principle mode (and the children are found most often in it).
We traded a '97 Montana in on that Sable, partly due to price, partly to a need to downsize (didn't know about baby three at that time), and partly due to safety. When looking at all the categories I mention in the first paragraph, the list of vehicles becomes few. While I am no structural engineer, I have noticed the difference in build between the Montana and Aztek, and I believe it to be far better. I DO know something of physics, and Kermitek's point on weight to inertia should not be taken lightly. I believe my Aztek will fair poorly in an offset crash with a stationary object at high speed, or against a Suburban or larger vehicle. I will do well in other circumstances.
The point is, if I could pick and choose my accidents, I would choose my car accordingly (I would actually pick the no accident option). Since I can't, I make the best call I can with the needs that I have and the information that is available.
Rationalization is a powerful thing. So is compromise. So is reasoning. So is....
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
jonahb "Talk to the Hosts" Aug 14, 2001 10:15am
Most humble apologies.....
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I am a recent owner, June. I'd been going to C/D to talk about my new Aztek GT/AWD, but I only end up defending my purchase. I've never met, nor spoken with, another owner and I have a few issues.
Firstly I love my car. It's a great auto, but I think the whole outdoorsy thing is a bit off for this car. They show people driving it wearing plaid flannel and even show the excess plaid flannel blankets on the camping shots. Lets face it, how many full bearded, ax wielding, outdoorsmen are going to buy something so techno oriented. That was just a horrible marketing mistake.
But anywho, after 3k miles the only prob was bad wiper blades. They had dried out from sitting on the lot so long. Other than that my fully loaded car (sunroof, towing, captain’s chairs, etc) is doing fine. I have noticed at the pump that it prematurely shuts off unless I use the lowest pump notch, but then it overflows. Anyone have any insight on that problem?
I've heard people talk about the camping package, but has anyone used it in the rain yet? I did and it was promptly returned that week. There were no holes, however you'll see in a minute that it was just poorly and cheaply designed. First off you'll notice you have two elastic straps that attach through the rear doors onto the rear coat hooks. Well, it doesn't take genius to know that the straps will act like a carrier for the water. The outside of the strap gets soaked and capillary action pulls it through the door seal soaking the inside strap which will then begin dripping. Within 30mins of a downpour you'll find two large puddles in front of the rear doors. Add to this the roof situation. Anyone who puts up the tent will notice that the top does not meet flush with the roof because of the roof rail tracks. They suspend the tent about one inch off the roof allowing all the water from the roof to pour into the hatch. Most is diverted, but if you have any blankets that go past the floor bed and onto the liftgate they'll be soaked. Add to this the side zip windows which leak where the two zippers meet. Those drops intrude a good way into the hatch.
My night of camping started when the straps started dripping at the coat hangers. I tied socks around the straps to soak up the water, but they quickly became saturated and started dripping. I eventually had to get out and rig them onto the roof rails (getting soaked the whole time). Sopping wet, I tried to go to bed. My brother's tent also leaked so he came over to sleep in my passenger seat. When he opened the door, the interior lights and soaked interior attracted every mosquito around. For an hour I tried using a T-shirt to catch the constant buzzing noises (the shirt was so I didn't get bug guts on my headliner). By then I realized the top of my bedding was completely soaked. I hadn't noticed before because I was so wet from going out to fix the straps. We decided to pack it in. I hit a dome light and when I looked at the shirt I about ralphed. The shirt was soaked in blood from popping mosquitoes. I mean literally soaked. We went out soaking, tore it down, and packed it up wet. The way home we used the AC to keep the skeeters off us. It took two days to vacuum out the dead bugs, dry the carpeting, and shampoo/condition the floors and leather. It was pretty nasty in there. My brother and I both had thousands of skeeter bites on our legs, to the point that they were swollen from toes to knees. It's been two weeks and we both have speckled scars.
The good thing is that they took it back no Q’s asked. The sad part is how easily the tenting problems could be fixed. The top of the tent should extend over the front windshield and hook unto the front bumper, that would take care of water and give much needed privacy lacked from the lightly tinted windshield. The straps on the side should stretch down to the undercarriage over the doors. That way the roof is covered and there's nothing to allow water through the doors. A small canopy could be made to extend over one of the rear doors. It could be staked down in minutes and would provide a small area to remove wet clothes before entering the car. Lastly, the thing is just cheaply made. Anyone can see it fits poorly and tends to look like you threw a trash bag on the back of your car. Considering how thing the material is, that's not far from the truth. The thing doesn't fit like in the manufacturer's pictures. Some spots are overly tight and others baggy and hanging off. The windows too need to be modified to prevent leaking. Overall the tent package was just a total disappointment.
Whew, sorry to complain so much, but I had to get that off the chest. In all reality I love my car. The sound, handling, power, and everything else is just great. I would like to see some more aftermarket. I'm decking mine out in alien decor. I want to have alien everything in my car, afterall, it looks like it came from outer space. I'd also like to redo the interior lights in either blacklight or neon green. I want to coordinate the interior with neon ground effects and license covers too. I haven't been able to find anything for the Aztek though. If anyone knows of a site to find Aztek products and accessories please fill me in. Lastly, has anyone seen fight club? You know those pamphlets that guy puts in the airplane where all the people are panicking? I want to find a copy of those to put in the seat pockets. That'd be funny for my passengers.
Anywho, hopefully this post goes through.
1. I for one am happy with the fit and quality of the tent - provided a couple key things are done. First, deploy it in your yard and spray it all (especially the screen zippers) with Scotch-Gard water repellent. This eliminates zipper rain leaks and leaks from low spots with puddles. It's not unusual to need to do this -- most real tents have a rain fly. The Aztek tent has to do it all with just one layer. The tent has some nice touches - like a camplight hanger, a wallet zipbag on the wall, and reflective emblems on the outside. The second time I erected our tent, I did so with nothing but moonlight.
2. Always deploy the stakes and rear lines to hold the back wall tight, if you suspect it will rain. This keeps rain off the entire back door zipper and prevents roof puddles. Also if you suspect rain: disregard the tent instructions and refrain from placing straps or fabric in your rear side door openings. noastar is right - materials protruding thru there can wick water in during a storm. Myself, I don't even hook the front side straps thru the door frame if its clear out. Frankly you don't hardly need those two straps at all (unless it's a monsoon! then ask yourself - should I be camping tonight?).
3. Bring a small plastic tarp, big enough to completely cover the two rear seats when folded (do the Captain chairs fold as nicely as our split 50/50?) (thanks garthodinson for the tarp tip!). Then with help of spouse or friend, put both rear seats on top of roof on top of front tent edge then cover seats with tarp and tuck in edges good. This essentially eliminates all the rain flow which normally would sneak under the tent forward edge and come rearward trying to exit thru the rear glass side gutters. Plus it opens up the entire inner floor for your mattress and then nothing important is out on the possibly soggy tailgate.
4. Always bring an umbrella, camplight/flashlight, and a flyswatter camping.
5. Dome lights can and should be disabled via the dash switch. There is a potential mosquito gap between tailgate and rear floor, which I was told herein can be eliminated by simply pulling the bottom tent flap/edge over it.
6. Use a cheap windshield sunshade as a front window curtain. You can also get inexpensive (approx $7 per veh. side) vinyl curtain kits from JCWhitney & Co. They attach to upper window mouldings via little velcro squares; we used to use them when our family camped in the K5 Blazer I used to have. JCWhitney also used to carry magnetic window screens for the front side doors of vans (have not checked lately).
PS noastar - I feel for you abt losing your typing. I have been burned by this too. So I usually do a ctrl-A and ctrl-C every now and then to save my text to the Windows clipboard buffer - esp. right before I submit the post. Then if the browser crashes, you can simply go into a text processor like wordpad and hit ctrl-V to paste in all your text! Then you can save on hard drive too if desired.
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Thanks for the accessory info, not really what I had in mind, but it's at least good to know stuff is out there.
As for camping. I go on occasion and understand the basics. Bug repellent is always handy, but rarely needed. We were far beyond repellent. There's no getting over the roof situation. I assume that the designers thought the water would trail off the roof and down into the gap where the gas struts for the hatch are hidden. The downfall is that a blanket easily gets wet by drops from there and the fabric causes the water to disperse and within a few hours of drops soaks a few feet of blankets. I think I'll stick with a normal tent next time. There are some easy mods that can be done if I wanted to use my car next time that are far cheaper than the 200 I shelled out for the tent.
Example: If it's really really hot out you're pretty much out of luck when it rains because you don't get all that much air going through with the tent windows up. But if it's a reasonable night, just get some very light screen material like you'd find on a typical tent screen. Then get a bit of masking tape. Lower the rear windows and cover them with the screen. Just tape it up, it's no biggie. If it rains, just put the windows up. With the rear seats removed (which you have to do with captians chairs), there's plenty of room to stretch out with the hatch and gate closed. Personally I hated the airmatress, it was hard enough moving around in such a small place without sliding around.
Since I hate the ground this is probably what I'll do next time. I have a sunshade, call me dumb but never occured to me to put it up.
Moral of the story is, spray the thing like crazy. Set it up in your back yard and place blankets in there and hose that puppy down. Get the roof good and soaked and check for leaks. My way is much cheaper. Figure 2 dollars for the tape and 5 dollars for the material at a sewing store.
My feeling is the car height increased by at least two inches, far from the .25 inch increase my computation indicates. Too bad I did not measure when the car has the original wheel tire combo.
You have a definite point about likely drainage assumptions made by designers. The "Aztent" (saw on another thread & thought was cute) is apparently meant only for light rain or drizzle when installed as directed. So a few more ideas for Aztent owners and the Aztent-curious:
1. I measured the width of our rear seats, both 25" and it is 46" between rack rail channels - so if hoisting folded seats to trap forward tent edge, folks will need to stagger the seats to fit between the channels. Another option: put a rolled-up beach towel under fwd. tent edge, then secure the edge down with a few spare firewood logs or a folded lawn chair. The towel will reduce rearward flows to a small trickle, easily handled by the tailgate glass gutters.
2. Interesting tape and screen idea. One possible issue though - regular masking tape delaminates and gets quite messy once it has been wet and then dried. Maybe duct tape? Another possibility is to cut a piece of screen larger than the rear door windows then cut slits at the top two door corners about three inches in, then fold the resulting flaps over the edge moulding and shut door. Drawback would be the wicking issue if it rains, but maybe not so bad due to window screen being so thin.
3. If too hot, how about a small 12V portable fan? I'm thinking of installing a deep cycle RV Marine battery under the hood of our Aztek, to be used for powering 12V accessories all night. Many sizes of such batteries are available for trolling motors and small boats...
4. I agree about the shiny side of the air matress - works much better if shiny side down and rough matte side up, plus if fully inflated. I found the integrated tow pkg compressor can inflate the Aztent mattress in 25 minutes - Just turn the pump on again after each 10-minute timeout. I was able to inflate while erecting the Aztent, since I used the small conical adapter which came with the mattress, screwed into the air hose, and pushed firmly into the small mouth-inflation nozzle on the mattress. The conical adapter stayed in there just fine during the whole sequence and allowed me to do other things while inflating.
5. BTW on price - one need not pay $195 for the tent combo. the Aztent can be bought alone sans mattress for list $120, and both can be had for less than what a dealer charges via the web (I posted info about that a week or so ago)
noastar - I cannot fathom how you can camp in peace without bug repellent... whereabouts do you live? The only place we weren't bugged by mosquitoes was at higher elevations camping in Colorado several years ago.
On the tent repair ideas... I'm a paint freak. Black paint and I maintain it very well by washing weekly and waxing monthly. I'm very anal-retentive when it comes to keeping my car neat inside and out. I would never put a log on my car, towel under it or no. Nor would I put a common beach towel on my car (would scratch). The tent is dead, and I'm not upset about it anymore. When I do go camping again I will figure out another way. Even scotch tape will probably do to hold up a very light screen material and shouldn't leave any residue. It wouldn't be difficult to walk around K-Mart for a few and find a good strong tape that won't leave a mess. Since the screen is out of the way of the window, they can just be rolled up when it rains.
What I thought would be cool and really cheap would be to get four poles about a few inches shorter than the height of the car. Then get a tarp about 4x8 (I'm guessing). Next get 8 pegs and four lengths of rope.
Position the two roof rails so the roughly go around the center of the rear-door windows. Stetch the tarp over the top of the car so the longways part goes across and the short part goes front to rear. (hopefully that made sense). Then use the poses at the corners and stakes and rope to hold them tight. It basically creates two canopies over the rear windows so you don't have to worry about water getting in. The roof rails will prevent any fabric from touching your paint and the tracks will only let the water in the roof flow down the tailgate or windshield. Should be as sturdy as any dining canopy.
Damn, that's a good idea. Just came up with it too. Actually that's a really good idea. Probably cost less than 20 bucks total and is simple. Probably take 5mins to put up. Well, there's the water problem solved! Hot damn I'm good. I came up with another one too!!!!!!! For those of you with a tent. Combine the tent with my idea. Use a tarp that will sufficiently cover your roof. Make sure you cover the straps and it should take care of all water probs and give you a canopy under the door so you can climb in dry. Find a black tarp it it'll just look like part of the tent package:)
Oh, as for bugs. We live in Ohio. We go camping all weekend and so long as it doesn't rain not a single bug bite, tick, etc. One key is wearing pants and boots. As long as your in the shade it's no more hot and makes a huge difference. When the only exposed area is your forarm and face, there's not much to bite. We also don't use much citronella (probably spelled wrong). I swear that stuff attracts bugs. Also put the lamp outside the canopy about 10-20ft away. use a simple candle at the table. The lamp can warn you of big animals and skunks while keeping bugs at a distance. The candle is good enough light so long as you don't look directly at the lamp:)
Anywho. I'll have to try my idea. Pipes can be found cheap at a hardwear or lumber store as can pegs. I can sleep on a hard floor and actually prefer it to that bed. The bed's comfy, but it's impossible to move on. Does anyone actually get in and out of the tent through the tent door?? Or does everyone use the car door like me?
Me and my wife camped out for the first time about 4 weeks ago in Boyne City. The first night we had a big-time rain storm. All of our traditional tenting friends were flooded. We were completely dry...for a few key reasons.
First of all, we parked our 'tek on a slight downward incline. i.e. the front of the 'tek was lower than the back. When it rained, water flowed towards the front, and away from the tent/'tek seams.
Second, we did not attached the straps to go to the indoor coat hangers. Instead, we attached them to the small holes on the roof-rack.
We did not take any special precautions to avoid the skeeters (and their were alot in BC). They did not get into our sleeping area. Not sure why they did not.
The second night, we woke up at about 4:30 a.m. and layed awake for about one hour watching lighting in the distance. When our son (who was sleeping in my folks big-a** trailer) was wakened by thunder and began to cry, my wife went into the big trailer to sleep with him. At about 5:00, I got up and packed up the tent/air mattress in about 15 minutes...it poured cats and dogs 15 minutes later. Once again, our tenting friends (many who dared to mock our 'tek) were soaked.
Overall, I would agree that the tent is very cheap. Maybe a nicer after-market tent will become available. Sleeping in a 'tek is o.k. You are dry, above the ground and have a hard roof above your head. It is not very practicle if you have kids, but come-on, it's a 'tek, not a mobile home.
We plan on using it again when we go camping next year. Beats the heck out of a traditional tent.
I was in town last year (from GR) to hang out at the Dream Cruise. That was when I saw my first 'Tek.
Love at first sight.
Will not be able to make it the Cruise this year as the 'tek is leaving Fri a.m. for our summer vacation.
For anybody thinking about making the trip...do it.
noastar - thanks for the compliments on my web site. I'm working on a page dedicated to Aztek camping - and might mention tarp idea there if you don't mind. We used to string up a 9x12 tarp over the rear of our K5 Blazer in rainy camping outings, so we could cook (white gas stove) on the tailgate. The more things change, the more they remain the same...
Hey I'm originally from River Styx Ohio - yes really - how 'bout you noastar?
Dr.Zoom, you can actually sleep on an incline? Better than I. I had a tent on a gentle slope once and all the occupents ended up smooshed at the bottom by morning.
I can't see any flaws in my tarp idea and it sounds really cheap. All I'd have to do is find a tarp big enough so wind can't blow into the open window. Then again if a bit of rain gets in you could just roll the windows up halfway.
Studying for my MCAT tomorrow so gotta run. Wish me luck.
If you are insured, chances are your insurance company has a partnership with Safelite or another vendor, or even GM, and all you have to worry about is your deductible. They have already negotiated the best price possible, as they have to carry the largest burden financially.
I have found that keeping my deductible at $250 limits my risk substanstially in situations like this, while not raising my rates significantly over the $500 deductible plan prices.
I also owned a Montana and replaced the windshield. Price? My deductible, $250.
The HUD windshield on my 98 GTP lists at over $500 (can't recall, seems like it's 650-700). The HUD is a luxury with some overhead costs, but not that much if you select the right deductible. Once I asked my insurance company if windshield claims might drive up my rates, and she said no, statistically they pay out much more for injuries and collision repairs.
1. Small tires
2. Underpowered Engine
3. Horrid Body Cladding, all cladding is ugly.
4. Huge rear end
5. No offroad capability
Other lame reasons.
Here's what I had to say to them...
RRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhh,
What acid are people on these days. Okay, let's take those horrid, unbearable, unacceptable small tires we hear people complaining about. Look at a Dodge Ram 1500, those wheel wells aren't even half full, not even close. And how about some other small SUVs? The rav4 uses THE SAME SIZE TIRES!!!
The Ford Excape has 225/70R15's!!!! The Aztek has 215/70R16's. Gimme a break on the tires already. How about a jeep wrangler? 205/75R15's. What crack are you people on that the Aztek has small tires? They're larger than many and a smidge smaller than most heavy duty SUV's and Trucks. This whole argument is just messed up. Do people actually look at the size of the tires before they start saying the Aztek has cruddy ones? Nope, they just find something else to rail on and have at it.
This is what I mean about the Aztek's image. Someone bashes it and everyone jumps on the bandwagon to do the same. Some people say, "No one influenced me, I just don't like it." That's bull and the fact that people complain about the tires proves it. Does a car have to have the largest tires in its class just to be adequate, well if it's an Aztek it has to.
As for the rear of the car. Look at the competition. SUVs have huge flat rear ends. An SUV is basically the shape of a shortened school bus. So why do people bash the Aztek? "That huge rear end." I hear that all the time. Perhaps if the rear window had no slope to it. Maybe if it had a huge flat butt like every other car. Or maybe it's because it's all glass, something other SUVs could take note of since it provides unheard of rear visibility. Or maybe it's because they don't understand the idea of the Aztek. Maybe instead of copying the school bus model they decided to build something that had never been done before. It's not an SUV, far as I can tell never claimed to be either. It's shape is more along the lines of a hatchback. Think Ford Aspire, Chevy Metro, Volkswagon Golf. The cab is not your typical box. Remove the hood and the cab is basically a bubble shape (maybe think VW bug). But to make the bubble they used sharp angles. That's why the rear end has a slope to it.
Now the Cladding. I haven't heard one single person complain about the cladding on say... A Ford Escape. Why is that you think? A huge plastic bumper that goes all the way up to the bottom of the Headlights. Now where have I seen that, perhaps an Aztek. Or the Excape's cladding that covers the bottom of the doors and goes around the wheel wells. Saw that on an Aztek too. What's the difference? It's an Aztek so we're supposed to bash it because everyone else does. How about a Suburu Forester, a car everyone loves. Cladding in the front and ribbed cladding under the doors (you can even get it two tone!). I have no clue if the cladding is formed sheet metal or not, but the effect is the exact same. Suzuki Grand Vitara also has side ribbing on the bottom half of the doors. How about a Ford Explorer, not as pronounced as the Excape, but it's still there. Honda Passports have huge expanses of plastic cladding on both the doors and the bumper. The cladding is so high it may even have more than an Aztek and yes, it's ribbed for that "fast look." How about a Mercury Mountaineer? Same deal, plastic abounds though it happens to be painted.
All the arguments about the Aztek are just so full of it. The Aztek is a car that is just too fun to pick on. It has nothing to do with tires, cladding, or performance. The Aztek has tires exactly like most others in its class. The Aztek has cladding like most others in its class. The Aztek has a powerful engine that until the supercharged Nissan Xterra was the best in its class. The Aztek gets gas mileage that is better than most in its class (disclude 4-bangers and it's probably best in class).
The car doesn't fall apart, and it doesn't ground out when you take it on dirt paths (not that most people will every use it for that anyway). When you push the gas pedel you get pushed back in the seat as the Engine tugs the nearly 4000 pound beast from 0-60mph in 9.3 seconds (according to Edmunds.com road test. An AWD model tipping at over 4000lbs only takes about 1s longer.
It's sad people bash a car simply because everyone else does and it became popular to do so. The ugly things people complain about on the Aztek are things used by other cars that no one says a thing about. Maybe people should take a look at other cars. If body cladding was such an ugly thing then we all would have laughed at the Ford Escape and Nissan Pathfinder. If small tires killed traction and any hopes for offroad capability then the Jeep Wrangler with it's pathetically small tires wouldn't have become the offroad legend it is and people would laugh when they saw one.
The Aztek didn't do anything as wild as people think. It's a new design that incorporates things used on many other SUVs. People don't find fault with the Aztek, they just make it up so they can say it has fault. I think I've proved my point. You can't argue that all the reasons people give for the Aztek being an ugly car that needs lots of remodeling are just complete nonsense and if they were really problems they'd complain about all the other cars I mentioned. Hypocrites man...hypocrites.
Dream Cruise: well we went with the whole family on Friday night, had a blast! We ate ice cream on the grass beside Woodward and watched the awesome traffic. Then we got in and cruised Woodward ourselves. We saw one red Aztek parked in Pontiac along Woodward, with two folks sitting on the tailgate, to which I waved. I also saw a couple other Azteks here and there, two yellow and one white. Other than that Azteks were pretty scarce! I felt cool being in such a unique vehicle! We went by hundreds of onlookers, no negative reactions came out. Most folks were trying to get the muscle cars to burn rubber for the crowds... and a few cars eagerly obliged.
Info:
Receiver hitch for 2WD and AWD is made by Hidden Hitch, I ordered mine through the BAGE Company and received it within a week. Price about 130 plus shipping.
Bike rack for receiver hitch. Ordered rack from Sportrack. Model Transport. WWW.bicycleracks.com This company make racks seen on city buses. Bike goes on rack fast, and front tire stays on.
Later,
Dan