Posted by Samurai the worst part of an Aztek was that inside, the cars were actually pretty thoughtful. The interiors were well thought out... it's just the outside was so fucking ugly.

I know people who actually use the Aztek and its goofy tent feature

My wife was actually in charge of promoting the Aztek to Atlantic Canada when it was released. She said she liked it a lot, it was clever inside and drove well, but as soon as you stepped outside it and actually saw how it looked; you vomited.

So she didn't want one.

Chris...

My buddy who deals in used cars picks up Azteks regular from the auction so I tinker with them from time to time. There is nothing bad about them really. They do drive well, for a minivan chassis thing, and are very functional. They are just sooo damned funky looking. He gets them pretty cheap tho, from $800-$2500 at the action and always makes money on em. I consider them the Pacer of our generation.

Posted by jeepdave My buddy who deals in used cars picks up Azteks regular from the auction so I tinker with them from time to time. There is nothing bad about them really. They do drive well, for a minivan chassis thing, and are very functional. They are just sooo damned funky looking. He gets them pretty cheap tho, from $800-$2500 at the action and always makes money on em. I consider them the Pacer of our generation.

mechanically, pretty solid... it's just that styling! It's awful! Getting nitpicky, the base engine was nothing to get excited over... the 3400 was one of the worst iterations of the 60-degree V family.

If you think the Azteck is weird looking, check this thing out.

Posted by _cow_ If you think the Azteck is weird looking, check this thing out. http://i51.photobu...biter/DSCN0083.jpg http://i51.photobu...biter/DSCN0145.jpg

Change the oil in one

The Previa.

Lets put the engine under the driver, thats an awesome idea!!!!!

Kenworth and Peterbilt did it all the time.


Its a COE Minivan

They used to have fun with it when I'd take it in for maintenance. They liked to hand it off to the new guy who would pop the hood and scratch his head. It never got old watching the new guy's face when they'd tell him it was electric and there was no engine, or it was a wind up. Sometimes they'd scream "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO ENGINE? GET BACK OUT THERE AND CHANGE THE FUCKING OIL" The poor guy would run back out and still have no clue what he was supposed to do.

Posted by Agent Skelly I know people who actually use the Aztek and its goofy tent feature

The tent should have been mounted on the front!

Posted by _cow_ If you think the Azteck is weird looking, check this thing out. http://i51.photobu...biter/DSCN0083.jpg http://i51.photobu...biter/DSCN0145.jpg

Mid engined minivans rule. I want an AWD supercharged Previa.

Damn, I never knew the Previa's engine was under the seat. And we have one at work! Learn something new every day...

Posted by bandi Mid engined minivans rule. I want an AWD supercharged Previa.

Mine made it 225,000 miles and she was still going. I could have held onto it, but it was staring to die a slow death. None of the interior lights worked, the heater died, the ac quit, the sliding door only opened when it wanted to. All minor things, but kids tent to bitch when they have no heat in the winter.

It had NO storage other than the glove compartment. Every time you hit the brakes, shit would roll all over the place. There was no center console, just open floor space. Also, it was like driving a giant convection oven.

On the plus side, the seats all folded flat and made a bed so you could sleep in it, and they all came out, so you could move a ton of crap in it also.

Posted by TurboZutek My wife was actually in charge of promoting the Aztek to Atlantic Canada when it was released. She said she liked it a lot, it was clever inside and drove well, but as soon as you stepped outside it and actually saw how it looked; you vomited. So she didn't want one. Chris...

I think if you like the body style and want a better interior, go with the Rendezvous. My grandfather has a Rendezvous and actually, I find it pretty not bad.

and mid-body engine minivans? HELL NO. Lee Iaccoca wanted the Caravan to have the engine UPFRONT for a good reason.

Posted by Agent Skelly and mid-body engine minivans? HELL NO. Lee Iaccoca wanted the Caravan to have the engine UPFRONT for a good reason.

and what was that reason?
the only reason that anyone went with front-wheel drive was packaging... you could build the cars cheaper and faster, use smaller engines that lost less power in the transfer from flywheel to transmission to drive wheel/

Posted by Agent Skelly and mid-body engine minivans? HELL NO. Lee Iaccoca wanted the Caravan to have the engine UPFRONT for a good reason.

I had a Plymouth Voyager which is basically the same as a Caravan. Anytime I ever had anything replaced it was double the labor charge because of that stupid transverse engine. It shouldn't cost almost $400 to replace a water pump. No one ever wanted to touch the thing because they never wanted to reach over to the "back" of the engine.

The gaskets under the valve covers needed to be replaced, they wanted almost $500 for it. I junked the van. I had the same gasket replaced on the Previa (it was the factory gasket on a 19 yr old van) and I paid about $120, including an oil change. (A Previa takes more oil than your average 4 cylinder btw)

In front (sorta) of Century 21 Raceway in Colorado

Posted by Agent Skelly I think if you like the body style and want a better interior, go with the Rendezvous. My grandfather has a Rendezvous and actually, I find it pretty not bad.

Uglier than the Aztec.

And they are total flaming pieces of shit.

Posted by Agent Skelly and mid-body engine minivans? HELL NO. Lee Iaccoca wanted the Caravan to have the engine UPFRONT for a good reason.

Cuz you could make it out of a K Car.

You're comparing apples to oranges here.

Posted by _cow_ I had a Plymouth Voyager which is basically the same as a Caravan. Anytime I ever had anything replaced it was double the labor charge because of that stupid transverse engine. It shouldn't cost almost $400 to replace a water pump. No one ever wanted to touch the thing because they never wanted to reach over to the "back" of the engine. The gaskets under the valve covers needed to be replaced, they wanted almost $500 for it. I junked the van. I had the same gasket replaced on the Previa (it was the factory gasket on a 19 yr old van) and I paid about $120, including an oil change. (A Previa takes more oil than your average 4 cylinder btw)

this post makes no sense.

these vans [Previas] were thrown away here because one, they were complete pieces of shit and two, they were fucking rotboxes. You see a Previa here, and they are usually falling apart or sitting in a field with blown transmissions or engines. The Sienna that replaced them wasn't really any better. But, the Voyager/Caravan weren't really a piece of sunshie, despite what Skelly will tell you... one of the four speed automatics was a boat anchor!

any garage that charges someone extra because a vehicle is a FWD is a fucking moron. FWD has been mainstream now since the early 1980's. You know how you work on the back of a FWD V6? Pull the front dogbone and let the motor rock forward. The only V6 that i have ever seen that was truly a dumb piece of shit engineer was a tie between the Chrysler 2.5(?)V6 in the Breeze/Stratus/Cirrus and the Sienna 3.0L Twin Cam. Most Ford and GM V6's could be worked on from underneath... that Stratus engine, you had to disassemble the intake to get at the rear plugs which meant you had to buy an upper intake gasket set. On the Sienna V6, same deal; the rear plugs were hidden under the intake manifold.


$500 to change valve cover gaskets on a Chrysler V6? Are you sure they weren't laundering drug money or doing hog tranquilizers on the side?

$500 to change valve cover gaskets on a Chrysler V6? Are you sure they weren't laundering drug money or doing hog tranquilizers on the side?

I called several places and all prices were in this area. Maybe it's just the difference between where we live.

As far as Previas rotting? I dunno, you can see the pics. Mine was 19 yrs old. There was a spot of rust inside the bottom of the driver's door, but it wasn't rotten. That was after 19 SW PA winters of road salt. The guy who had it before me had records for every little thing he had done to it. I found a Chilton's manual inside with tons of notes in the margin also.

Plus, I got it for free, so...I think it was a great van