The Pontiac Aztek Earned Its Bad Reputation Fast
Few vehicles have been dragged as thoroughly as the Pontiac Aztek. The moment it debuted, critics zeroed in on the front end, a jumble of angles that never resolved into a coherent shape, and the cladded plastic body panels that made it look cheaper than its price tag suggested. Buyers worried the plastic signaled flimsy construction, and Pontiac never fully talked them out of it. Once the pricing came out alongside the styling, the writing was on the wall. Consumers were not willing to pay a premium for a crossover that looked unfinished and drove without much excitement. It became a punchline almost overnight, and even a later cameo on a hit television show could not rehabilitate its image. The Aztek remains the textbook case of a design nobody asked for.