Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure on the 2001 Pontiac Aztek
When fuel tank, filler or evap failure gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Pontiac Aztek report fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 12 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 125,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 90,603 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
17% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33,000 miles | 66,585 miles | 100,000 miles | 120,008 miles | 123,603 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 50,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 21; the 2001 has 15. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
While the vehicle was parked consumer noticed fluid leaking from underneath the vehicle. It was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the fuel tank needed to be replaced due to a cracked weld. *ak *nm
The fuel tank of my 2001 pontiac aztek began to leak at the neck(of the tank). At my dealership (marietta gmc, pontiac) I was told that there is a tsb on this problem and the mechanic stated that the procedure was to replace the tank at a cost of $ 950.00 to me. I feel that this is a safety concern and should be addressed via recall. If my home had gas fired water heaters or furnaces in the garage I most likely would not be writing this letter, because the first indication I had of this problem was with the leakage inside my garage, this could have caused a fire or explosion. Clearly this is a failure of materials as there has not been any abuse to the tank in any manner. *nm
2001 pontiac aztec, check engine light came on in early april 2007. I took car to american chevrolet in danville, il for service. Service department informed me that the code indicated a problem with the fuel system, and a pressure check of the system revealed a defective gas cap. I believe the cost to read the check engine light code was $79. I had them order the gas cap and was to return in 2 days to have it installed. The next time I filled the tank,( about 2 days later), there was a strong odor of gasoline and a puddle of gasoline under the car. I returned to the dealer and informed them of this development. They inspected the car and told me that the fuel tank was now leaking at the filler inlet pipe in the lower part of the fuel tank. I viewed the car and saw gasoline dripping from the filler inlet pipe. The service tech informed me that I would need a new fuel tank. I asked the service tech if this was a common problem for the aztek model. The tech stated that he had never seen this problem before with any fuel tank. Their repair estimate for new parts and labor was about $1000. I told the service tech that I could not…
Also reported on the 2001 Pontiac Aztek
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
Air conditioning failure
Other electrical problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel tank, filler or evap failure happen on the 2001 Pontiac Aztek?
Across 12 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel tank, filler or evap failure on the 2001 Pontiac Aztek?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed