Why not Aztek?

So I searched GRM about the Aztek and mostly found commentary on its looks (obviously). But can it tow? What kind of mileage does it get? Is the AWD good enough? This over an Astro? I have three dogs and a wife and we need more room than the Jetta wagon provides. I figure given the lackluster sales that it would be cheaper than an Astro, but will it be able to flat tow my 83 Gti? Would be a second car, not a DD. Need function not fashion.

nevermind

I can't answer most of those questions but every time one shows up at the local bone yard it gets picked clean with in several days. And I mean everything is gone. Now that could mean the the original parts wear out quickly and need replacing or that there is a growing interest in them and they are now becoming popular. Usually it means the latter as in when a Miata shows up it's a mere skeleton with in days.

What it is, underneath, is a GM "dustbuster" minivan. Aside from the Dex-Cool eating intake manifold gaskets, it's a pretty stout ride.

Brilliantly functional ride, just ugly. IMHO

i like them overall. great use of interior space. ride quality is better than expected.

i usually don't care to tow with a FWD-based vehicle, but that's just me.

Astros are frame-based. Azteks are unibody. Pretty much straightforward GM in terms of internal parts.

I think Azteks will develop a cult following. They are pretty useful vehicles.

Feedyurhed wrote: ....or that there is a growing interest in them and they are now becoming popular.

This depresses me. If that happens they will never get cheap enough to stuff an LS6 in as a challenge entry.

You can get awd ones. Like a Honda element only bigger and a little more power. There is already a cult following in the overland adventure arena.

In answer to your question "why not aztek?" the answer is because you love your fellow man. Why force others to look at it? In my daily commute I often think that I hate people, yet I still wouldn't make my fellow human beings look at one.

I had a neighbor that had one. He absolutly loved it, it was so ugly though. I picked at him about it, but he just loved the thing. He was a sherrif and threatened to handcuff me to the fence if I kept messing with him about it so I kinda dropped the subject.

DrBoost wrote: In answer to your question "why not aztek?" the answer is because you love your fellow man. Why force others to look at it? In my daily commute I often think that I hate people, yet I still wouldn't make my fellow human beings look at one.

Magazine worthy for sure!

Never drove one but never heard anything good about them. That aluminum rear subframe sure is sexy from behind in traffic.

I know there's a ton around here and they seem unkillable. I've only seen one in bad physical shape, the rest looked clean.

my sister in law had one for awhile. I was always impressed with how much you can stuff in the back

Ugly but useful. Kind of like me. You should be able to tow 2500lbs with it.

Flight Service wrote: Brilliantly functional ride, just ugly. IMHO

This. I was all for ripping on Azteks until I ended up with a coworker that has one. I want to say he gets around 21-24 mpg, I always glance over at the display on the dash. He's got over 250k on it now and loves the thing, keeps talking about looking for another used one with less miles to have around.

I actually kind of like it, wouldn't suit my needs really, but I think its a better vehicle than people give it credit for. Its as good as any other "crossover" thing, with some more interesting features and accessories.

Good way to get into meth from what I hear...

whenry wrote: That aluminum rear subframe sure is sexy from behind in traffic.

IIRC, they lifted that setup unchanged and put it under the Solstice, too.

Only one person is cool enough for an Aztec.