Y’all are the best. The Pontiac Aztek has been a bit of a theme around here lately, so when we were thinking about some stunt we could pull to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of The Autopian and encourage people to become members it didn’t take long for us to arrive on the idea of purchasing an Aztek if 200 people became members or upgraded their memberships. There’s still a week to go and we’re well beyond that number.
Obviously, thank you all so much for becoming a member. And a reminder that just because we’ve hit our goal it doesn’t mean the discount is done. If you want to become a member just go to our membership page, select an annual plan, and enter code: mustang2yearanniversary and you should get 20% off of the purchase.
Alright, so now that we’ve hit our goal we need to actually buy one of these. We’ll take you through the process, but I’d love to hear from you all about what you’d like to see in a Pontiac Aztek and, specifically, if there are links to any for sale you think we should follow.
Here’s one a reader found in the Discord that includes an encouraging description:
I love how it being a “Walter White special” is somehow the least disturbing part of this description: Real seller, VERY minimal body damage, and Las Vegas.
There’s no holy grail version of what we want and David already bought a tent, so that’s not a must-have anymore, though there are a few things we would give extra points for:
- Two-tone! Everyone loves two-tone.
- A working tent, because two tents are better than one.
- The early GM digital heads-up display. HUD!
- The Pontiac Aztek cooler.
- The functional removable rear table option.
Everything else is sort of gravy.
David is based out of Los Angeles so somewhere nearby is ideal and also brings with it the possibility of a low-rust situation. If you find a super low rust version in, say, New York, I’d be extremely tempted to buy it and drive it to Los Angeles, though I’m not sure how well that would go over with the family. Also, now I kind of want one of these.
The plan is to purchase one quickly, start blogging about it, and then set up a situation where David can live in it for a week. We’re also going to start using this as the company car when we’re in Los Angeles for a while, since the $2000 Nissan Leaf has some obvious shortcomings.
This is going to be fun.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/tacoma-lool-2001pontiac-aztek-in/7739771608.html
Here’s a possible
Biggest deal will be keeping it cool on hot days.
I am in.
Mission Accomplished will never not be funny.
One week, no dating: Not a big deal.
One week, no shower: Starvation.
Also, this is what Motecuhzoma envisioned?
One week without a shower isn’t so bad. When you’re homeless, you can go for months without one! Finding a gas station with a private lockable single-user bathroom so you can birdbath using the sink is key.
Andy may be referring to the fact David’s sustenance is shower spaghetti.
No shower = no food.
Turo this afterward so people can roleplay as their favorite auto journalist while visiting LA. Feral cat sold separately.
I don’t know how Turo works, but there must be a way to pay extra so that David can spend a night in there with you.
I think you should get an awd version. Turn it into an overlander once David is done with it.
with only 2 weeks to fix before taking it to Moab 🙂
I’d be interested in the tech article to see what the AWD system looks like, can it be modded, how robust it is, etc.
Hmmm.. will you be changing the name of this website to:The Aztopian? 😉
The Aztekopian? Maybe.
(σﾟ∀ﾟ)σ I like the sound of that name!!
Hahahahahahaha! Muwahahahahaha!
David, as someone who recently joined up, I’m sorry.
You dirty dog, you!
As a newly upgraded member, I regret nothing.
I said before, and I’ll say again, a week of car camping is nothing. Make it a month and then it’s something to talk about. Or, you could just add a day for every 10 memberships over the 200.
Car camping is relatively luxurious. I’ve camped out of my trikes, which have much less room.
I’m just astonished that there are a bunch of reasonably low mileage, well maintained cars out there for sale for <<$5k – these just happened to be shaped like a Pontiac Aztek. I thought after the pandemic the absolute floor for the price of any car that isn’t a complete POS was $4k?
Here’s one in Orange County: https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/rancho-santa-margarita-beautiful/7738716788.html
That vehicle has been loved and well cared for over the years just based on the pictures. Probably as safe a bet on a 20 year old vehicle as you will find.
Which means it’s unlikely David will have any interest in it at all.
Has the tent too!
Well, prices for the Aztek in LA area are now going up LOL
Buy one in new york, he can road trip it back to LA. Triple feature- a week of living in it, a roadtrip article, and a ‘heres everything i need to fix before leaving’ article!
I second this suggestion
Good one. I’m always up for David Tracy road trip content.
Who the hell still has a useable Pontiac Aztek for sale? I always thought this would be the hardest part of the whole process.
An auto mechanic in New Mexico has one.
My first thought too.Then i remembered there are weirdo enthusiasts for just about anything.
If you want the Las Vegas one, I’ll go look at it for you. Heck, send me the dough and I’ll buy it on your behalf and deliver it!
I volunteer to be a second set of eyes and to try to clean those soda stains off the cooler before the road trip starts.
Personally I vote it be NOT a nicer one. I get all the very valid reasons it should. But I also feel we should insist on reminding David of his roots. Just living in a vehicle isn’t enough. Tetanus fears should be a part of this. Its where he came from. He doesn’t need to go back. But a bit of grounding helps us all when we start flying higher.
They want it as a company vehicle too (tax right off I assume)
California cars are afraid of getting tetanus from David.
Excellent use of W.’s “Mission Accomplished” banner. Right time period, right “worst is yet to come” vibe, no notes.
Indeed, that graphic made me LOL
Another 2 tone
https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/3G7DA03E81S540226
I think this is more what you should be looking at https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/winnipeg/2001-pontiac-aztek-sport-utitlty/1691502432
Lmao at “uTITlty”, those cheeky Canadians
I’ve never been so excited about an accomplishment of humankind as this one. David’s week in the Aztent will go down next to the Apollo missions in terms of greatness. Great job everybody!!!
Can’t wait for move in day!
And our apologies to David’s girlfriend.
So many apologies to David’s grilfriend.
It’s easier to beg forgiveness…
This is amazing. There’s a super clean one (with Monroney!) for sale in FL with a HUD and the fancy stereo system with controls in the back, but they’re asking way too much at $7k. There’s also a very clean white one for $3500, but no HUD.
https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/d/chicago-2001-pontiac-aztec-ver-clean/7734666601.html
Probably a tetanus factory underneath, but at least the living room is spotlessly clean.
Woot!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/675917131?listingType=USED&makeCode=PONT&modelCode=AZTEK&newSearch=true&numRecords=25&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fpontiac%2Faztek%2Fbeverly-hills-ca%3FsearchRadius%3D100%26showToolbar%3Dtrue%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceDESC%26zip%3D90210&searchRadius=100&sortBy=derivedpriceDESC&clickType=listing
This one feels right.
It’s the right color, too. Put the same livery on it as Ski-Klasse, and we’ve got the beginnings of a racing team!
Agreed, because making him use the factory air mattress would be horribly fitting.
I would say hop on that deal ASAP before someone else buys it but I don’t think there’s that many people dying to get an Aztek so you probably have some time.
Tent, cooler, AND the mattress?! And it’s a southern Cal car? Looks like we found a winner.
I’m curious about the different wheels on the pics with the tent installed. But it looks clean, and those round googly-eye HVAC vents really take me back to those Halcyon days of early 2000s Pontiac.
That’s pretty dang nice for the price.
That beats the one I found on CarGurus. Roughly the same price, but 4 years older with reported frame damage. Mine is two-tone at least and practically walking distance from Galpin in Sherman Oaks.
This is the one, for the mattress alone!!
That is clean, and does it say Rally on the back of it?
Seeing all the comments, I expected this was a joke answer, but this might be the nicest Aztek on the market!
Pounce on it before it sells. If we’re going to make David live in an Aztek for a week, it should at least be a nice one. You can probably get most of the money back if you don’t want to keep it. I would hang on to it though since it is a screwball vehicle and this site championships all things screwball.
Sell? No, David will insist it is a soulful vehicle that was simply misunderstood. He’s going to keep it.