Pontiac Aztek has its faults, but they were never as bad as many members of the media portrayed them.
I know a lot of those auto writers, and I found it interesting that most of the ones who were getting cheap laughs from their Aztek-is-ugly-har-har jokes usually don't have the wit to get any other kind.
Unfortunately, that lame coverage tended to keep impressionable buyers away from Aztek, since it takes mondo moral fibre to believe in something other people laugh at.
It's also unfortunate that Pontiac bowed to this pressure and rushed through a minor facelift of Aztek for 2002, since that tends to validate the criticism and lower the value of the original models.
The bad press will be good for future consumers, however, since GM of Canada has dropped the retail prices on the four Aztek models significantly and more standard features were added. A base front-drive Aztek now stickers for $27,295 (it was $29,255 last year) while the AWD version is $30,230 (down from $32,895). Go for a better equipped GT model and the price is $31,300 (was $32,895) for the FWD model and $34,140 (was $36,185) for the AWD.
GM of Canada has also made the removable centre console and an AM/FM/CD stereo standard equipment, along with three-spoke 16-inch cast-aluminum wheels on FWD models and 17-inch cast-aluminum wheels on the AWD versions.
Bear in mind that an MSRP is always a starting point for discussions and is therefore the one price that people never pay for a vehicle.
I know a lot of those auto writers, and I found it interesting that most of the ones who were getting cheap laughs from their Aztek-is-ugly-har-har jokes usually don't have the wit to get any other kind.
Unfortunately, that lame coverage tended to keep impressionable buyers away from Aztek, since it takes mondo moral fibre to believe in something other people laugh at.
It's also unfortunate that Pontiac bowed to this pressure and rushed through a minor facelift of Aztek for 2002, since that tends to validate the criticism and lower the value of the original models.
The bad press will be good for future consumers, however, since GM of Canada has dropped the retail prices on the four Aztek models significantly and more standard features were added. A base front-drive Aztek now stickers for $27,295 (it was $29,255 last year) while the AWD version is $30,230 (down from $32,895). Go for a better equipped GT model and the price is $31,300 (was $32,895) for the FWD model and $34,140 (was $36,185) for the AWD.
GM of Canada has also made the removable centre console and an AM/FM/CD stereo standard equipment, along with three-spoke 16-inch cast-aluminum wheels on FWD models and 17-inch cast-aluminum wheels on the AWD versions.
Bear in mind that an MSRP is always a starting point for discussions and is therefore the one price that people never pay for a vehicle.