2002 Pontiac Aztek FWD 3.4

Summary:

I love it, but afraid of poor reliability

Faults:

Rear hatch won't release properly

Front bearings failed at 40,000 miles.

General Comments:

In general I love the concept of the vehicle. great hauling space and good versitility, but starting to have reliability problems. Dealer agreed to fix front bearings for $100 deductable after I complained about an $800 bill. Must be a common problem. I have never had front wheel bearings fail before and now both at the same time.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 7th February, 2005

12th Apr 2005, 09:22

I agree with you. It took 3 times to get my rear hatch to open properly, luckily under the lease warranty. However, I just bought my vehicle out, and at 48,000 miles my front bearings just went (both sides). Very frustrating.

22nd Apr 2005, 08:04

I am in the same boat. At just about 49,500k miles both bearings went. My rear hatch has never opened on the first try unless I am standing there pulling at it before I trigger the switch.

19th Jul 2005, 10:31

I also am frustrated. I have 41,000 and the front wheel bearings are causing problems. The rear hatch also didn't work from day 1 and after numerous trips to the dealer it was fixed. I love the car, but wish I didn't have to dig in my pocket constantly for repairs.

21st Jan 2006, 09:36

I also had a problem of the front wheel bearings going at the same time, I have around 47 000 km on my vehicle as well, luckily I am on the warranty still! Any one have problems around 100 000 kms???

16th Feb 2006, 17:33

Nothing but problems. Starting with faulty wheel bearings having to be replaced not once, but three times. Also been serviced several times for the back hatch release. Then in August would not start intermittently. Finally had it diagnosed as a faulty BCM module and the car still has the intermittent problem. Help?

27th Aug 2006, 05:53

The wheel bearing issue is remedied by 2 things. Purchase premium bearings. OEM's were not so good. Alignment - get a front end alignment once a year. If your car is driven almost every day of the the year, it will need the alignment checked and corrected. Front wheel drive cars are more dependent on the front end to be set up correctly or else you get premature wear on the components.

5th Mar 2008, 09:12

Bearings went at 39,000, but had taken a few 3,000+ mile trips... Have the camber adjusted (custom job, paid approx. $400), tire wear and brake wear seem to have vanished since. BCM is a pain and expensive. Replace and door locks and starting issues went away. Now, it's a 2002 with 89,000 miles, replaced head gaskets at 80,000, but no problems since...

2002 Pontiac Aztek Front Wheel Drive 3.4 Liter V6

Summary:

"Car of The Future" Today

Faults:

Thus far, nothing. However, there is some wear on the left side of the driver's seat.

General Comments:

I've loved the unique look of this vehicle since it came out as a show car.

I couldn't believe it when Pontiac actually went into production with it.

This is the look that all the car magazines in the 60s said the cars of tomorrow would have; everyone, but Pontiac lied to us and gave us "tastefully gray" lumpen Camry/Accords and their numerous clones as well as troop-carrier-look jacked-up, overweight station wagons (the ubiquitous S. tupid U.gly V.ehicles.

The vehicle is very tightly constructed compared with Chrysler-built minivans.

Chrysler used to make short-wheelbase Voyagers and Caravans that had lots of features, but when we wanted to downsize from our Grand Caravan, all they had were dismal loss-leaders for much more money than a well-equipped Aztek.

Thus far, 22.4 mpg in mixed driving, 18.6 on a city delivery route my wife and I run for a local magazine company.

This is comparable to our 4-cylinder Ranger, but in a much more powerful and comfortable machine. Our city mileage far surpassed that of our Grand Caravan, which gets 24+ mpg on the road, butlow teens in town. I'll probably get better town mileage once I adjust to the fact that I don't have to floor the gas to get underway with a full load of magazines.

I'm glad that people are such sheep who let the snobs of the motoring press think for them. Good used Azteks are dirt cheap as a result.

Depreciation is not a factor in that I keep vehicles 8-10 years anyway.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th November, 2004

18th Nov 2004, 10:17

The Aztek will cease production in December 2004. If you think used ones are cheap now, just wait.

There are way too many complaints from Aztek owners on this site to think that its debatable styling was the only reason GM decided to drop it.

14th May 2005, 16:38

Who said G. M was going to stop building the Aztek? I just bought a brand new one yesterday. 6/14/05. So far I like it, but reading all these stories are starting to worry me.

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