The Aztek Was Brilliant

Remember the Pontiac Aztek? It was made for four short years, from 2001-2005. That was twenty years ago, which means no one who is under 25 today has any memory of the Aztek when it was new. Maybe they ought to be reminded – so they can understand what they never got to experience in a new car.

Back in 2001, the Aztek was mocked because of is looks. It did look strange. It was designed to look “Xtreme” and it was marketed at then-still-young GenX’ers, such as myself. It was however basically a minivan that looked like it had been badly beaten in a back alley. It had corrugated plastic body cladding and a dumpster-looking rear end. The functionality was superb – it included a dual/split tailgate and a removable center console that could be used as a portable beverage cooler. There were rear stereo controls, a sliding cargo floor with hidden storage cubbies and an available camping package with an attachable tent and air mattress – but the appearance was polarizing. That’s why it lasted just four years – and became a co-start in Breaking Bad, the series about high school teacher-nebbish Walter White who becomes a drug kingpin. He drove an Aztek because he was  a loser (and wanted to look like one, so as to avoid attention).

But the Aztek was – arguably – a winner. The kind that (like Walter White, before he becomes Heisenberg) is under-appreciated by everyone who takes them for granted.

Consider what you got back in 2001 for your $21,995 – which was the base price back then of a brand-new Aztek.

Superficially, what you got was a compact crossover SUV dimensionally similar to a current/2026 Toyota RAV4, which stickers for $33,495. Back in ’01, when you spent $21,995 you got a standard 3.4 liter V6 engine and a four speed automatic transmission. This was what we used to call “boilerplate” in the news business – meaning, nothing remarkable. Because it wasn’t.

Today, if you buy a new RAV4, you get a hybrid-augmented four cylinder engine and a CVT automatic. The new RAV4 does get much better gas mileage. But the Aztek came with a V6 – something that was totally unremarkable in the early 2000s. Four cylinder engines were – at that time – still found almost exclusively in small, economy cars. There was a kind of congruence between engine size and vehicle size, as there is with suit sizes. A big man doesn’t wear a shirt made to fit a small man – at least, not outside the circus.

The Aztek’s V6 was also an overhead valve V6; i.e., it had just one cam operating two valves per cylinder via pushrods. The OHV layout has many practical advantages, including compactness (the engine takes up less room in the engine compartment, making it easier to service) and fewer parts, which correlates with fewer failure points. The GM 3.4 V6 was one of those Walter White engines that was steady and reliable that almost everyone took for granted. Now they’re all gone. Unless you’re able to spend about twice as much on a new crossover. If you have about $40k, you could buy a new Mazda CX70 or Hyundai Palisade. They have sixes, but with turbos (Mazda) and overhead cams and four valves per cylinder (Hyundai) and direct injection, too.   

That 3.4 V6 is like that girl you didn’t appreciate all those years ago. You maybe think about her when you think about what you’re married to now.

Four speed automatics were also unremarkable back in the early 2000s. They had one overdrive – which served the purpose of greatly reducing steady-state cruise RPM, which greatly increased gas mileage at highway speeds. The four speed automatic has been supplanted by automatics with multiple overdrives that serve no meaningful purpose but do add greatly to the cost and complexity of the transmission. Slight increases in fuel efficiency are achieved at the cost of a transmission that’s more failure prone and much more expensive to replace. Many. of these compliance transmissions shift weirdly, too. They “hunt” for the right gear; the downshifts and upshifts are sluggish. Nothing meaningful has been gained – but a lot has been lost.

The 2026 RAV4 and most of the other vehicles in its class no longer come standard with traditional automatics of any type; these have largely been supplanted by CVT automatic, which use a system of pulleys and drive belts to continuously vary the range (rather than the gear) your in. Instead of clean transitions between first and second and third and fourth, you get a kind of slippery feeling forward surging sensation, often attended by a lot of noise. CVTs have also proved to be less reliable than the simple, durable four speed overdrives we took for granted that are now long gone.

Perhaps the most under-appreciated aspect of the Aztek is that it accepted you controlled it – and not the other way around. Laugh at its looks all you like; the Aztek had no cameras looking at you. It did not try to “assist” your steering or braking. There was traction control, but there was also an off button – and when you turned it off, it was off until you turned it back on. It did not come on again once your speed had increased beyond a crawl. You could pretty much do what you wanted with the Aztek and whatever you did was between you and the Aztek. No one was watching or listening in.

No wonder Walter White liked it.

. . .

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