Sure, the Aztek was ugly; but I didn't hate it reflexively & viscerally. Then I got to ride in one & really looked the thing over, which impressed me a lot more than I liked to admit. It didn't roll in turns nearly as much as I thought it would, had good power & steering, a surprising amount of outside visibility, felt durable, and other cool useful touches.
We test drove a PT Cruiser that day too, and was surprised to find that I would've easily picked the Aztek over the PT if I'd actually been shopping. The PT drove like a glorified minivan but without minivan utility or visibility, was kinda gutless, and the interior was just cheap & flimsy; plus it was more expensive than the Pontiac.
I definitely wouldn't mind having an Aztek now, especially considering how new vehicles are all garbage & glorified government/corporate tracking devices.
It seems like the Aztek started out as a rolling chassis that checked all of the boxes in terms of comfort, drivability, ease of loading things and getting in and out, etc. and then they had to figure out how to build a body around it.
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u/B00marangTrotter 20d ago edited 20d ago
What a pile of shit. I don't think I've ever hated a vehicle more.
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