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I'm curious, Why do you think it's not selling?
You think we're all meanies but the matrket place seems to agree with us.
Speaking of turkeys, like the Aztek, Happy Thanksgiving!
It's NOT normal, it's not an SUV, It's not based on ancient styling cues ( like PT Cruz)
It's not MACHO,and it's not glamorous (like Lexus SUV), and it's not cheap!
I'm also ready to say it's not pretty, but form follows function and it really is JUST a funky mini-van no matter what Pontiac say's. The mistake is to try and tell us it's something it's not like a great indie film that get's sucked up into Hollywood marketing and they try to fit it into some standard demografic and suddenly the commercials don't reflect the film at all. I don't really need an SUV but if I need a mini-van but don't want to look like a suburbanite driving a 4-wheel living- room full of kids watching Pokemon on the pop-down video screen, it might be for me.
I could care less if Pontiac hardly sells any of them - that would actually be a selling point for me. I'd say a slightly used, fully loaded Aztec GT may just be our next hauler vehicle. My next choice is another Eurovan, but at $35k+ I think I'll pass.
1) I have a granddaughter.
2) Gonzo, which would you rather have, your VW or an Aztek in a crash?
3) As for PT Cruisers: They look cool, they ride ok, but have no power. I have test driven them. I expect that they will be like the beetle, very available in a year or two.
Also consider wrapping yourselves in bubble wrap if this is such an issue for you. I had a friend that was with me in the US Army. He and I were in the Ranger Bn. We did all kinds of dangerous things. However, he spent about half of his pay buying all sorts of health food. He was a very healthy man. He served in several hot spots with me and eventually got out. Three days after he got out he got backed up by a garbage truck. Moral of the story is CARPE FRIGGIN DIEM.
As for 95 wrangler, I am sorry to say this as I know it is a bit argumentative, but why do you start your user name with your IQ? The beautiful thing about this country is that we are free to buy something that others may not like. Or in other words, some people like vanilla ice cream, some people like chocolate or any of at least 29 other flavors that I can think of. Oh and as for another claimed "ugly" car and it's current worth . . . How much do you think an Edsel goes for these days? And if you know anything about it, it was also a feature laden vehicle, way ahead of it's time.
You and gonzo are using a non seq. argument in that a vehicle sales rates on e-bay is no indication of it's worth. I would conclude that all of those people selling them on e-bay is an indication of people's desires to rid themselves of them at a time when the uninitiated can be taken advantage of.
Buy!
Oh, and as for the safety of volkswagens... I drive a 2000 passat and I suggest you look at these two pictures... one of a 2000 Montana (Aztek) and one of a 2000 Passat. They should speak for themselves.
Montana (Aztek):
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/96026.htm#2
Passat:
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/98002.htm#2
Good luck to you
You seem to have some kind of axe to grind. You obviously don't like the Aztek. You also obviously don't own one.
As for some nut hitting me, poop occurs. I have no control over what happens out there. If it did happen, I would be hurting; however, I wouldn't blame the vehicle, rather I would blame the person who caused the accident.
Christopher Reeves was riding a horse when he fell off, does he think we need safer horses?
Risk is endemic to life, there is no getting around that. I don't live my life worrying about every little thing that might happen. Kismet, Karma, fate or the Norns, whatever you want to call it, it simply is.
The Taoists and the Vikings had a similar belief that, "A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero but one." So do I live my life worrying about a meteor hitting me in the head? And then as I walk out the door, do I worry that some gnat may have some strange strain of virus that will kill me?
That also doesn't mean that I don't need to take some reasonable precaution, but not to the level that you seem to. But then again, this is a Free Republic, and you can do what you like.
As for the PT Cruiser, again, a cool vehicle. The problem I had with it is that I am 6'1" with 54" shoulders and found it too small. I also didn't like the fact that I had to stand on it to get it to go.
I was not implying that the e-bay sales were because it was a dud, rather, I was playing devil's advocate to stress the point that you reinforce, 11 sales on e-bay does not constitute a scientific study.
And about the VW, I was pointing out that a lot of people who bought them for a lot of varied reasons, changed their mind. People have differing reasons and considerations when buying a new car, for some resale value is important, to me it isn't. My last new vehicle was an 83 Ford Ranger that I had until the day it died. It took a garbage truck hitting it to kill it - and it had 385,000 miles on it when it went. So if I have to wait 5 elections, and the car is still around, I will have a rarity.
Joe
Kelm: "As for the front crash test results I am very curious" WOW I hope you do not find out the hard way ...Like someone hitting you! The Aztek is based upon the same platform as the Montana, just look at the pictures in post # 284 ( they speak for themselves.. I just hope you do not have a family .
By the way, in South Florida the Azteks are now selling at INVOICE.. Hey in couple years your Aztek might be a great bird bath...!
Are people actually buying new cars in Florida? I thought all their time was taken up by figuring out how to vote in a presidential election!
So overall, the Aztek did okay, but not quite as good as the minivans.
Hope this clarifies things!
Drew/aling
Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
It is obviously related to the Aztek . It looked pretty nice, Kind of a acura MDX combined with equal parts Montana and Mercury Mountaineer.
I mentioned to a buick guy that is seems related to the Aztek. He replied that they are related but "Ours wasn't designed by teenagers"
What you say is true, our lives, health and well being are very important. But, there are several things to consider here. It is my life, and my choice. You are probably also vehemently against smoking and are pro helmet laws, and that is fine. Live your life, enjoy! Don't expect me to live mine by your standards. It seems that society wants everyone to be 100% safe, 100% of the time.
I eat steak and eggs over easy, do you decry that also?
By your standards, we should all be driving M-1 Abrams tanks, I hear that they have tremendous impact ratings.
There are suppose to be some other spinnoffs with a little variance. Saturn is suppose to have a version a la plastic body panels and optional 4-cyl? ugh... There is also suppose to be a Snaab version with a higher output Snaab V-6. Saturn actually had their version on display at the Bayside Expo center last month. It looked pretty beefy with some slick 17" wheels!!! The styling is pretty conservative, front end resembles an sl-series. So even if the Aztec bombs (like it seems to be)the platform is not dead.
Montana/Aztek:
http://www.euroncap.com/details.php3?id=vauxhall_opel_sintra_1998
Toyota:
http://www.euroncap.com/details.php3?id=toyota_picnic_1999
Again, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you don't care about the crash worthiness of a vehicle, then you might want to look at it another way: Do you want to give your money to a company that cares so little about the safety of its customers? Hope this helps.
the front rating was 5-star and the rear, 3 star.
Front crash ratings from NHTSA are due in December.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/graphics/2001/aztek-s.jpg
I wonder what those same tests will show about the Kia, Trackers . . . . Then, I also want to say that I bet my Aztek does better in a crash than my two rebuilt RX-7s. And although I drive defensively, I don't drive the vehicles to accidents, I do what I can to avoid them.
The fact of the matter is that I have now heard from about 50 Aztek owners at aztek@therightwing.com. I have not heard one complaint about the Aztek. And in answer to your question, I haven't heard from any unlucky aztek owners that have been in either head on accidents, or side struck ones. I honestly pray that I never do, because I hope that noone has to go through it.
Joe
According to the NHTSA, the Kia Sportage got 3 star front crash ratings to the Montana/Aztek's 1-star. Also, the 2001 Chevy Tracker received a 5-star rear side-impact rating compared to the 2001 Aztek's 3-star. I hope this clears up any confusion as to the safety of these vehicles. As for "driving to" accidents as opposed to "Avoiding" accidents: True, you do have to be a defensive driver... but there are cases where avoiding an accident is an impossibility. I only pray you never have to experience that feeling of helplessness. Make an educated decision before you purchase any vehicle. Also, there was mention above thaby jrbrowzer that the aztek is the best driving/riding of all of the suv's (3) he's owned. This is not suprising because SUV's (with the exception of the nissan pathfinder and a select few) are based on truck chasis. The aztek is NOT an suv... it is a minivan, therefore it is more related to a car than a truck.
As for lslv8, MOST of us do like the Aztek except for jmatero who has some god awful axe to grind! And a few others who simply dont like the looks of it. Hey everyone is entitled to their opinion!
1. The Aztek is UGLY..
2. It's platform is based upon the UNSAFE GM
Montana.
3. You will lose your As_ when it comes to
resale.. According to "Intellechoice" The
Aztek will lose 50% of it's value in just
two years..
4. IT IS NOT A S.U.V... It is a B.U.V...But Ugly
vehicle or at the very least a Minivan with
a camping option.
P.S. Hey Kelm Get off jmatero's back..!!
He is one of the few people here providing facts and pictures to back his statements.
Again, most normal people do not like the Aztek , it has not even come close to target numbers sold for GM. Hey I bet you people who own a Aztek are the same type of people that cannot punch a hole in a election card here in FLORIDA...
OH one last thing.... GO BUSH...
Gole take it like a man and quit your crying..!!
You just make their lifes more miserable and put on offensive.
BTW Gore is not a man.
The machines(computers) are controlling every detail of our lives, why not the politics?
(a very scary projection).
A: Buying one at full sticker when they first came out.
:-(
Thanks,
Todd
Montana Crash Results:
http://www.scottvw.com/forum/Forum5/HTML/000021.html
http://www.euroncap.com/details.php3?id=vauxhall_opel_sintra_1998
Aztek Side Crash Results:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/cars/1717.html
Montana Crash Results:
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ce/html/96026.htm
With apologies to Joe Cocker and Lennon-McCartney, I'm trying to make sense of the safety discussions and the crash-test results/links. Thus far, Aztek (a stealth Montana?) has been presumed a bad safety performer, based on many recitations of the Montana's frailties in testing.
Yet this week, State Farm, one of the big boys of this sort of thing, lists the Montana as a TOP 36 PERFORMER, in conjunction with a new policy-pricing program. It's up there with the Volvos, big BMW's, Buick Regal (!), Jaguar and Mercedes, full-size vans and Suburbans, etc.
See this: "Following are two lists: State Farm's 36 "best-rated vehicles" referred to above and the vehicle safety discount and physical damage index for all 2001 makes and models.
http://www.statefarm.com/media/release/list2.pdf
So to my question: what gives? A good design? Driven only by soccer moms, and never over 50 mph?
Just wondering.
What we need to do is to wait for the IIHS 40mph offset crash test results for the Aztek. I have no idea when or if they intend to crash test this vehicle, but if and when they do, it will be most interesting.
I don't really pay too much attention to the NHTSA 30mph front test since it is not a good test of the vehicle's structure. It is entirely possible for a vehicle to receive 4 or 5 stars in the NHTSA test and yet do poorly in the IIHS test (ex. Nissan Pathfinder, for example). However, if it does well in the IIHS crash test, it will most definitely do well in the NHTSA test as well (4 or 5 stars).
Hope this helps!
Drew/aling
Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
As for the Aztek being ugly, that's just your reflection you are seeing. My Aztek is sweeet!
Resale is not a problem, if you don't intend to sell it. How many times to I have to mention that? Keep your beamer, I'll keep my Aztek, and I won't say that you are a pompous as_ because you are trying to convince a whole bunch of people that you know better than us. Are you a liberal? With your intense desire to dictate, and berate people that you think are not capable of understanding what you think you are saying, I believe you are. You sound just like Al Gore and all those tobbaco hating, animal exploiting, everyone needs to be protected liberals.
Oh and as for the link to the crash photos - it looks like a crash! It looks to me like a big wheeled vehicle hit an Aztek and really messed it up! Bummer. So what is it that I am supposed to be able to tell by this?
As for the Tracker getting all those stars, wow! I can't imagine that little tin can getting all those stars, kinda defies the laws of physics (Specifically laws about mass and energy dispersion). Did they use the same sled? Or was it outcome based testing? Maybe the person doing the test felt like you do about the Aztek and wanted to decide for everyone what they should be driving - let's not forget this is the Klinton era.
As for Sporin, why are you being such an incorrigable miscreant? Why is it that because we have made a choice that you don't agree with, you make pitiful attempts at mocking us? I say pitiful because no matter how much you try I will still be an Aztek owner. My question for you is: Why are you here? I mean, you own little foreign cars, don't you have a life? I mean can't you find anything better to do then to try to make light of other people? GROW UP!
I am in the process of reviewing both of thoese tests with some fellow MENSA members. One says that he believes that the discrepancies need further review. He is going to review their methodology. I will keep you updated.
http://www.crashtest.com/explanations/nhtsa/usncap.htm
Good luck!
Drew/aling
Townhall Community Leader/Vans Conference
So why are you here and not driving your wonderful clients around in your used BMW which cost 9,000 more than my Aztek GT?
And ooh you THINK you have a better job than I, and this makes you somehow morally superior?
I would opine to the contrary, you seem ignorant, boorish, pushy and holier than thou. You seem to think that because you drive clients around, you are better than someone who might work at BK. Well I would rather associate with someone who works at BK that is not so churlish and opinionated.