Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
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I bought it on the next day and I took delivery of it the day after on thursday the 12 of decemcber
This is the best car I ever bought I now have 1500 km on it
I had a 2000 Montana on a 3 year lease when it was finished
I leased the Aztek for 4 years and I plan to buy it at the end of the lease
once the lease is finish
"Firestone Supreme Si" to be exact. They charged me the same price and acted like I was getting a deal...hmmm...$291 on the rim and out the door for 4 of 'em...including Warranty & free rotation, etc. I like 'em and all but part of me wonders if I got ripped off. ?
Steve, Host
We did have one problem with it, however. It got broken into! They stole our gifts and my briefcase out of the back. What was interesting is that they were able to get in without setting off the alarm. And how did they do that? Well lets just say that they were able to trick the car into thinking that a key had been turned in the keylock. If you want more specifics, email me. I was absolutely shocked to find out that this is a known problem with most GM cars. My Tek was sold to me with a 'content theft deterrent' system. I was told that that meant that if the door was opened without the key or the keyless entry fob, that the alarm would sound. What I was not told was that it was so easy for a burglar to trick the vehicle into thinking that a key had been inserted and turned!
Has anyone else experienced this?
Also, could someone tell me what the TSB (I think I have the acronym correct) is for the rear hatch not opening on first try?
Regardless of the theft, I still love my Tek!
Loretta
Bummer about the break-in...
Steve, Host
These are the only two problems that I have with the vehicle, which means, it is very reliable and low maintenance. I still like it a lot and would buy it again.
Edmunds doesn't like it for the following reasons:
1. cheap interior (what if you get the leather package?)
2. poor visibility (can the rear spoiler be removed?)
3. excessive body roll (would larger tires help?)
4. floating over smooth pavement
5. drop-off in power after you get going. (There are a few fixes to increase power.)
What do you think?
We test drove it a month ago and it was better than I expected. The engine though did seem to be straining somewhat.
We have a very steep driveway going down from the street. We live in the snowbelt in New England. Does its AWD system have enough "mojo" to get it up a hill or do I need a 4wheel drive system with a low range.
For the money ($3,000 rebate) and interior room its seems unbeatable. They are also reliable from the info I have heard.
We are also considering the Pilot and 4Runner but they are much more money with no rebates. Also we are interested in Escape/Tribute but they have had major problems. Edmunds says their engines are very loud and they have small gas tanks.
On the ugly subject, I think it is so ugly it's cute, but I'm ready to drive it in the lake for all of the problems I'm experiencing.
Anyone else out there with high miles and even higher lack of satisfaction?
As for tires, that has nothing to do with the car. Aztek uses the same tires as alot of other autos.
Bad luck on the computer board. There are folks who buy from Dell or Gateway whose motherboards barely last a week, so its unlikely to be a Pontiac problem. Just my two cents..
http://autoshow.msn.com/autoshow2003/photos/L_Centieme_3_4.jpg
Would make sense that the Aztek would be similar in appearance to this vehicle seeing how the RDV and the Aztek are based on the same frame.
In one year, I had the head gaskets replaced, all 6 cylinders in the engine were replaced, a new engine block was put in, the air conditioning broke, the heated seats broke, the rear hatch broke, the car had a serious engine temp fluctuation which was never fixed, even with the new engine. In addition to these problems, the windshield cleaner jets broke, the keyless entry worked intermittently, and the car did not have child seat anchors as advertised. Add to that one of the worse crash ratings in its class. Moreover, I never saw above 15 mpg, despite the advertised 22 mpg.
I am not one to favor one auto manufacturer over another. I do not subscribe to brand loyalty. But I can tell you, that this experience has made me rather skeptical of GM quality. I bought a Ford Explorer Sport Trac with the reimbursement check I got from GM. It now has 8000 miles on the clock, and not a single problem. I love it. I just feel sorry for the poor sap that bought my Aztek second hand.
P.S. For those die-hard GM owners out there, please do not defend GM by saying at least they did the right thing and bought this lemon back. They did not do the right thing. It took 6 months of arguing with the owner of the dealership, the GM Fleet Manager, the Fleet Managers boss, and countless calls to GM customer service before they reluctantly agreed to buy it back. One of the reasons I finally got GM to buy back the car was because their fleet manager screwed up. On one of our numerous service visits, he offered to buy back the car. Luckily, this offer was written on our work invoice. GM tried to weasel their way out of it. They said it wasn’t legal. They even fired the Fleet Manager, and instructed the new fleet manager to deny our claim. I just kept on going up the food chain and never relented. Finally the owner of the dealership and GM representatives met and decided to buy back my car in order to get rid of me.
This is all new to me, and in light of these "incentives" I'm unsure about calculating them. Help with this will be greatly appreciated.
Other dealers seem to have one or two at most.
I would suspect Aztek is not long for this world
laboheme - I would recommend no higher than invoice and deduct the rebates from that.
johncos - sorry you got a bum car. Happens with all makes. Quality is critically important nowadays. But if quality is all that matters (as opposed to also considering value, versatility, unmistakable styling and feature content), you chose poorly in jumping to Ford. Based on this JDPower survey of initial quality, http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2001-05-17-jdpower.htm#rank , new Fords have an average of 162 defects per 100 vehicles in first 90 days, while Pontiacs have 167... hardly a difference worth switching brands over. Hope you are happy with your less-versatile Ford... because the quality odds are not in your favor to any significant degree. Anyone who doubts how happy Aztek owners are with their fun-machines should note that the Aztek recently won JDPower's APEAL award as well: http://www.gm.com/cgi-bin/pr_display.pl?2549
laboheme - Normally I've found the edmunds TMV to be pretty accurate with used cars, but anything is possible when buying new. Ask another dealer with a similar Aztek for their best price, and get a bidding war going. That will reveal their true bottom line.
lennx - Don't know where you live, but all the Pontiac dealers around Detroit have at least a couple Azteks available from what I can tell. Try a few different zip codes in http://www.gmbuypower.com ...
Update on our Aztek: Still running great... had a few things replaced under warranty, including battery, console cooler (handle was coming loose and became clunky) and hydraulic struts for liftglass and hood. Other than that, runs like a bandit, 30k miles so far!
Also - anyone in Detroit metro area looking for a perfect set of the 2001 Aztek GT three-spoke 16" aluminum wheels, post here. They also still have the original puncture-seal tires, but only have about 3-5k miles to go before they will be on the wear bars.
See our wild and bold Citrus Green Metallic Aztek GT at:
http://www.mwshowgo67.com/kermit/index.htm
And I have a page for Anti-Aztek safety whiners too:
http://www.mwshowgo67.com/kermit/safety.htm
But about those wheels - no buying or selling on Town Hall please. Thanks!
Steve, Host
I was going for the 03 CR-V but after test driving the 03 FWD Aztek I changed my mind, I loved all the features of the Aztek !
I haven't owned a pontiac and am worried about the reliability of the Aztek. All I speak too are discourging me from getting the Aztek and pontiac in general. I don't care about resale value and am planning to keep the car I get for at least +100,000
Any commnents and experinces with the Aztek are appriciated
My car has almost 32,000 miles on the odometer. So far, it is running great. The minor problems I had were busted headlight and rear stop light bulbs, lift gate door at the back and misalligned driver door. All of these were fixed by the dealer under warranty.
In four months of my stay in Buffalo, I have put almost 10,000 mile on the odometer.
The oil change is done every 3 to 4 thousand miles. The pcv valve, fuel filter were replaced at 28,000 miles. The K&N air filter was put in after 9,000 miles.
I am looking forward to be with my yellow Aztek for a long long long time.
Have been unable to get it to work- Is it possible, or is the owner's manual in error?
I am looking for a new vehicle. I currently own a 94 Honda Passport 127,000 miles. I would like to start travelling with my 3 greyhounds so I need to have room for all three of them.
I was looking at the Aztek, a friend from work has one. I am not impressed with the looks but that I can live with.
I would like your HONEST feedback pros and cons on the Aztek. I am also looking at the Honda CR-V and the Saturn VUE. I have done the comparison on all three but want to hear from you.
Thanks,
Teri
The car I am driving is a yellow 2001 Pontiac Aztek GT AWD.
WD40 is a cleaner, not a lubricant. It began life as WATER DISPLACEMENT FORMULA 40. Now I know what the can says, but its mostly kerosene. Good cleaner, good at displacing water, not worth a damn for lubricating. It dries in no time.
Use silicone, spray penetrating oil, or even a little engine oil on your finger to lube it.
Steve, Host
Has anyone else had this problem??? Help!!!
Steve, Host
i test drove an Aztek and also the Vibe last year in late 2002. THEN, i liked the Aztek better, hands down. in 2003, however, it was just the reverse. the Aztek just didn't do it for me. they have changed some things in 2003 model and i wasn't really happy with the changes. i liked the way the vehicle looked on the outside, but it just didn't do it for me. (gosh! i feel like a traitor!!!)
i am quite pleased with the Vibe. if any of you out there are agonizing over this decision as i did, i suppose it depends on many issues. one thing that really helped me was that i did a "cost to own" which you can find on EDMUNDS' site. another thing was that the Vibe has so many more standard features. i sat and wondered, why would ANYONE buy a Vibe when the Aztek is only about 2K more? seemed like a drop in the bucket when you're shelling out 25K or thereabouts. but i then found out how many standard features and especially the safety features which are important to me.
just my 2 cents' worth. i still love the Aztek and wish i could have bought one, but now i just love my Vibe better. lol thanks for listening.
If you like the Vibe, you'll love the 2005.
Also, folks should know that compared to the Vibe, the Aztek is much bigger. If you have dogs and kids the Vibe is just too small. Although I do like the look of the Vibe.
Again, I have said this before, I bought my 2001 yellow AZTEK because, to my eyes, the car is beautiful. At that time, I did not even consider if the car is reliable? If the car will fall apart in a year or so. I love the looks of the car, that's why I go for it.
The odometer of my Aztek is displaying almost 34,000 miles. So far so good.
If your heart is on the Aztek, why get the other the car? Is it because, people thinks, the car is ugly? Reliablity? I don't think so.
The coming out of the Element, and similar cars to follow, will prove this group of people wrong.
For any of you debating the value or versatility of this vehicle, let me tell you that it is the most versatile vehicle on the planet. I have hauled all sorts of things with it. Not to mention camped in it and just generally enjoyed it.
For those of you who have read posts here and on other boards regarding problems, keep in mind that issues brought up on boards like these seem magnified because of the type of group that it is. Is there a persistent, common hatch issue - yes. However, that is really minor compared to some of the issues of other vehicles.
If you want to know what owning an Aztek is about, check out the 2003 NE Rally and its website http://www.aztekrally.org where you will find a whole passle of owners who love the thing. Also you will see Greg Easton's name a few times.
Joe
A second look at the Aztek (Detroit Free Press)
Steve, Host