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Comments
Thanx.
We do have a discussion around here somewhere about removing decals and other "things" too :-).
Steve
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Local dealer didn't seem to know and only had one 01 Aztek left in stock.
I'd really like to take another look at this truck. If the deals are good I may be able to handle the new looks. The cladding was one of my main objections.
Nextmoon, is this a magazine or online article. If it's magazine I'm not a subscriber, but would love to know the gist of what it says.
I currently drive an Olds Intrigue, great driving car but I am wanting an SUV. I know that's going from one extreme to another but I really like the look of the Tec.
Some have told me it's not professional looking enough and the girlfriend says it looks like it's for younger drivers (I can always get a new girlfriend). What are the ages of some of the owners here?
And are there any consistent problems being experienced?
My girlfriend preferred the Aztek over the Rendezvous. But hates the flat tailgate. But she hates the front angular lines of the Rendezvous more and for that reason would prefer the Aztek. I'm still deciding between the two.
intrigueguy - good luck with your search. I don't know how good those prices are, depends on equipment and condition. The best site I've found for determining used car prices is right here at edmunds. Their "true market value" appraisal tool is quite accurate. Give it a try. Low-mileage Azteks in good condition can be a great value right now, with a lot of folks anticipating arrival of the 2002's. Personally I like both years. Let us know what happens.
noastar - I agree with you completely about the cladding advantages. The stuff is a snap to clean, hides scratches and wears like iron. I use Armor-All on it every few weeks and it looks great. I have even been able to skip washing the vehicle altogether once or twice, by simply taking a damp/wet towel and wiping down the cladding panels (NOT the painted steel panels!) to remove dust and road grime. One of the advantages of the Citrus Green Metallic color is its ability to hide a light coating of dust or dirt. Pewter also has this advantage, as I expect the new Beige will in 2002.
Thanks for the TBS update. That's been tickin me off no end. So that basically tells dealers how to fix the problem? Is it a part change? Just asking cause my dealer's service station won't do jack unless I walk them through the entire deal.
I tried out ultra shine last night while washing my car. Get this... Yesterdays wash took a new record setting 7.5hrs! I switched to Meguire's just to see if the hype was enough to switch from good old turtlewax. Wow! I used their #1 cleaner, #7 Glaze, and then gold class wax. Took forever! But The paint looks like it has a solid sheet of water on it. Also, a drop of product the size of an m&m will cover an entire panel so the cost doesn't seem so bad.
Welp, you kids all have fun here. I'm out for a couple of days to see the browns vs steelers game.
Later.
The TSB is on the Service Operations website on the GM Intranet, your dealer should be able to access it. If he cannot the Document I.D. # is 754881, TSB # 00-08-64-013. They should install a rubber bumper P.N. 10103036, and re-align lift gate. Tell him to use labor OP # B5700- lift gate align.
good luck. It's a pretty simple fix from what I understand. Once you give the dealer the above numbers, they will be out of excuses.
That gray stuff is composed of hardwater minerals, road film and wax built up on the surface of the molded plastic panels. If the plastic is black or gray, it's black (or gray) all the way through. Beware if the plastic is the color of the body, silver or champagne, because that's painted areas like the rest of the car's finish.
Start by washing the area - by hand - with any commercial car washing product as per the direction on the bottle. Use a moderately soft bristle brush to scrub any accumulated material out of the cladding's texture. Don't scratch the paint nearby. If the cladding is still blotchy when dry, try a soft cloth and straight, undiluted white vinegar. This should dissolve any minerals left behind on the surface. Rinse well.
Still blotchy? Maybe it's waxy buildup. Try a cleaner intended for vinyl surfaces, buar and tar remover or lacquer thinner on a soft cloth. Avoid getting lacquer on any painted surfaces - if your car has a lacquer based paint, the thinner will remove it.
To prevent the problem from recurring, use a vinyl protectant like Son of A Gun! or Armor-All before waxing the rest of the car. If none of this worksm your last resort is Convertible Top dressing, which actually has black dye in it like shoe polish. This should cover up almost anything. DO not use shoe polish, which has a wax base that can't take the temperature that a car body sees on sunny days. It will leave black smudges all over anything within several feet of the car, especially your wife's white slacks.
Well, that lasted about a day and a half and, you guessed it, it's back to sticking again. So....I called the service desk and asked them to go ahead and order those part #s, which she said she would do...we'll see.
LOVE LOVE LOVE my cherry red aztek w/ moonroof and awesome stereo system.........
re: interesting photo...
if i could purchase a vehicle just for skiing, surfing, kicking, i would buy that orange and white one. I LOVE ORANGE, and have never seen an orange car that i liked. til now. call me nuts or call me nuts, but if i could have 2 cars, i would
1. keep my red aztek
and
2. buy that orange and white one !!!!
******
re: demographics...
i feel like i am in my 20's, but
am in my 40's. i have only seen older (looking)
people driving azteks, (probably MY age) but i think its due to the high base price of the original vehicles.... there is another blonde
female who drives a red aztek in town whom i finally saw, and we waved furiously at each other. how's this for commradery???
******
so many people have stopped - at the gas station or the beach or at a traffic signal - and said they thought these cars were ugly, til they saw mine. the dealers want me to come and sell them since we caused quite a commotion when i went to pick mine up. i think the kicky color makes the aztek seem more fun which translates into the driver having more fun which means we aztek owners are having WAY more fun than the average person... the poor bah-humbug people who think they are ugly. they should try to smile more.
and be less miserable.
******
skied this weekend and since i havent shopped for ski racks to install on my factory racks, i just put the skis inside the car. one of the back seats was taken out for hauling some other large items, and wow, the skis went in and out with no problem. i am digging this car.
when there was precip up on the mountain, the
temperature said "ICE" instead of the actual temp, then went back and forth between the temp and ice until i was out of that area. VERY COOL.
******
the BEST thing is getting 400 plus miles to a tank
of gas in high altitude and no highway driving. this amazed me. yosemite and the eastern sierra with the windy roads and 25-55 MPH, i thought for sure that i would get really lousy MPG, but was amazed. did well in death valley 2 days later too...
i havent seen anything about the new models. could they be discontinuing them??? how horrific, because i KNOW what my next car is going to be.
p.s. the gray/black cladding is awesome for keeping little dents off of your paintjob. car doors seem to hit in rather than the upper painted parts. pretty groovy....
xo
I have to admit when I see a seat in a caddy I just drooooooool.
When I'm a rich psychiatrist I plan to own a Caddy SUV, probably a Caddy sedan, and my Tek (which by then will hopefully be heavily modified like the one in the pic. I would like deep purple and black better though.
Oh yeah, and on my chair note... I think cars need to come out with LaZy Boy Editions that have laZyboy chairs in them. That would be the bomb.
2. The 'plastic' is not being removed. The cladding is being painted to match the rest of the car and to bring the appearance closer to the concept vehicle which got such rave reviews back in '97.
3. Nothing is being redesigned. The vehicle's actually body shape will remain the same for the 2002 model year.
4. There are absolutely no plans to discontinue the vehicle either now or in the forseeable future.
Anywho, thanx again.
There you go hitch direct from good old JC whitney!
I did the same thing when the dealer refused to give me a rental car when I took my Tek in for the recall and to deal with a "Service Engine Soon" light. Needless to say, I got a rental, just as the warranty specifies.
There is no restyling to the nose. It may appear so due to the body coloring instead of cladding color up there, but it is illusory.
The rear does have an added spoiler, but otherwise it is the same. The 2002 spoiler will be retro-fittable to the 2001s so, clearly they were designed to fit the same rear end.
If you would like to leave your email address I would be glad to send you photos that will prove my points. I have friends on the Aztek Dev. Team so my information is up to the minute and accurate.
Strangely enough, the front turn signals are different. Instead of amber plastic, they are clear plastic with amber lamps. Don't know why they bothered, but I wish I had 'em on the 2001 so I could put different colored lamps in them.
And you aren't wrong about the appearance. The car definitely appears different, but it's all triks of color. The physical dimensions are identical to the 2001.
Hopefully the new 'politically correct'-ified Aztek will sell better, although I think getting away from the grey cladding is a cop out since so many vehicles today are moving towards it (someone say Volvo?)
What have you friends told you about the spoiler being retrofittable to the 2001s. The hatch part numbers are different between the years to accept the reatainers and spoiler, I have been told.
You should be able to switch the parking lens units on your 2001, as the mounting spots should not have changed.
I'm thinking about swapping out the lenses. But I'm waiting to see what other goodies will become available with the 2002. Since the accessory catalog for the '01 was 10 pages long I figure we should get some cool goodies for the '02.
Like folding canvas camping chairs with Aztek logos...
1. Does anyone's security system automatically arm itself? On the dash board, no light means not armed; steady means ready to be armed; and slow blinking is armed. If I leave my car unlocked the light will eventually blink slowly indicating armed, but opening the door simply shuts the light off w/ no alarm? Also you're supposed to be able to set the alarm w/o the key fob just by locking the doors and shutting them. I do this and the light eventually says armed, but again no alarm if opened via the window. Anyone else noticed this? Go outside and try it if you don't believe me. I have to make sure to use two locks on the key fob to activate my alarm. I'm having this checked out soon.
2. What is the red light on the stereo for? The upper left corner one? I don't recall it ever lighting up. When is it supposed to? What does it mean?
Thanks owners.
PS. Not sure about the 2002, but in my opinion it doesn't matter. We got the good ones :-)
Has anyone noticed a trend towards the outter spacey (see tokyo show). I think the 2001's will be remembered as before their time.
steve_ "Toyota Sequoia" Apr 11, 2001 10:14am
Steve
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I have posted my comparison pics at http://www.PictureTrail.com/gregeaston.
I hope they will show that the car's shape hasn't changed, only the cladding.
Please let me know what you think.
Steve
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I tried (obviously to no avail) to convince Jim Vurpillat (Aztek brand manager) that the cladding should be an optional item. You would be able to get it in charcoal, black, or body matched.
I see why they did what they did, but there are still 40,000 or so of us that liked it just fine the 2001 way.
But if they make it look just like the concept car for 2003 I think I'll be just fine with the body color.
...maybe I should post the pics of the concept car so people know what I'm talking about. I think I'll go dig some up.
I haul canoes around, and the further apart you can put the canoe racks, the better (up to around 5 or 6 feet anyway). My van is marginal because of the sliding door hardware in the internal raingutter. I can lift the rear hatch about 2/3rds of the way up with a canoe on top; having to remove the boat to get to gear in the back would be a real pain.
Most people aren't cartopping 17 foot long items on their roof though :-)
Steve
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Steve
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Steve
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I love the diverse group of people in here, but this is kinda the reason I want to see pontiac make an owners site. This place teeter-totters from owners discussing owner issues to aztek basing and 2002 rumors. I prefer the teeter to the totter myself
Later.
The theft systems are simular between his Montana and your Aztek but it dosen't arm itself as you have described. Take it to the dealer as you were planning.
Check out the silver 2001 SEMA 'tek. I think we can all agree that if they had looked more like that when they came out Pontiac would have sold ALOT more.