2016 Tacoma vs 2016 Colorado Turbo Diesel (Polite conversations only)

Dodges buyback is court mandated. They fought it to the bitter end. Toyota wanted to do a buyback and sued Dyna. A bit of a difference there. I just thought I'd point that out.

My buddy already fixed his front end twice on his personal 2500. He is in the process of trying to get reimbursed but it doesn't look good.

 

All car companies will fight till the bitter end on something they are liable for. Toyota sued Dyna because they could for liability. Story may have been different if Toyota knew it was single handedly liable for the frame rust. My point was that all major companies would give anyone the run around for as long as possible.
Frame rust is one example. Accelerator problems and airbags were fought by Honda and Toyota tooth and nail.

My BIL had had some serious work done on his rear fenders. Actual cutting out of metal and patch work and repainting. Still rusting the hell out. It's younger than my 250 (which has zero rust because of the care of it's owner ^_^).

 

I don't know many Dodges that get to year 3 without major work

 

But, with Dodge, you get a big massive grill, a Hemi and fine Corinthian leather.

 

Have to agree to that. Toyota in some cases is no better than GM when it comes to putting customer safety at risk and being only interested in profits as detailed in this story. http://www.sc.edu/uofsc/stories/2015/01_shannon_bowen_toyota.php#.VhWEnytGTFk

It's a very interesting read on how car companies fail to react to safety issues like these unless forced to.

 

Is that a street legal TDI or one involved the current VW gongshow? If it's the latter then that doesn't really count

 

Trust me, leave the diesel conversation with BlueT alone. He'll tell you how with a local restaurant he'll be running his Diesel truck for free with no issues and 40 mpg plus on the road. He won't listen to anything to the contrary.

 

I think it's interesting that people keep bringing up how many years/miles it will take to recoup the cost of the diesel upgrade due to fuel savings. I think that's sort of missing the point of the whole thing. Fuel savings is a huge benefit but not the main one...having enough torque on tap to tow a house is something you'll enjoy for the entire time you own the truck; whether you own it long enough to recoup the cost or not. It's the better engine, period, and some people are willing to pay for a superior drivetrain.

I've been following the release of this truck VERY closely. I've decided I'll wait almost another year before I do anything but at this point I'm still leaning toward the diesel Colorado or Canyon.

 

If I wanted extreme torque I'd buy an F150 Ecoboost over the I4 Diesel. Still apples to apples and another ~80ftlbes of torque there at the same sort of RPM. I think the problem is that everyone can't see that there is a million ways to cut this. Even in Europe where Diesel is popular they still sell plenty of gas engines. Particularly in the high trim lines. Neither fuel is a miracle that does everything and has no disadvantages.

At the end of the day, if you are happy with how it drives and okay with the payment, who cares what it burns?

 

I think that's a good perspective. But to be fair, I think we'd both agree an NA V6 will struggle to hold a candle to a turbodiesel in pretty much any capacity. That being said, a turbo V6 is where things start to get REALLY interesting...and awesome.

If the F150 wasn't so damn big I'd own one. I need about 85% of an F150 with either of the existing ecoboost V6 engines. I don't even care if it's the 3.5 or the 2.7L, either will do just fine.

 

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NA V6 versus I4 turbo diesel depends on what you want and how it's geared. If they setup the new Colorado to "feel torquey" by having a really high first gear and higher spacing between the rest of the gears then it's going to be hard to argue the Diesel doesn't drive and perform better.

For the average commuter it will be a tough call. For those performance oriented they will go for the I4 diesel maybe. For those who aren't they will probably save the cash and go with the V6. It'll be interesting to see the sales numbers. I know Dodge is a little disappointed in Ecodiesel sales. I think they really expected to perform well against the drivers that had been lured to Ford and GM's fuel economy in their mid line V8's and turbo V6's. Quite simply, all they've managed to lure away from those companies are the guys that have a hard on for Diesel. Now this Colorado Diesel looks more impressive than the Ram on paper so that should help, again what the sales will do is anyone's guess.

 

Another review of the diesel here: http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2015/10/2016-chevrolet-colorado-diesel-first-drive.html

"We also had the chance to drive congested city streets, hitting quite a few stoplights, as well as cruise a two-lane highway at 65 to 70 mph. Over the course of our 58-mile impromptu test route (we admittedly ran a little on the "enthusiastic" side), we averaged a combined mpg of 33.5 mpg with the air conditioning on, the windows up and just one adult passenger in the empty 4x2 Colorado LT crew cab."

 

I wonder the amount of time spent in each driving style. Irregardless, sounds like this engine will get very good mileage.

 

Street legal. The older ones didn't require any diesel after treatment. BlueT is right though, diesels cars usually beat EPA estimates. My brothers 02 Golf TDI 4 door 5-speed with 150k plus does 48-53 mpg average and he commutes in Seattle area traffic. Not bad for a car "rated" at 42 city 49 highway. It can hit 55 mpg highway too. Very impressive machine, but they aren't made like that anymore, the new Golf is a heavy turd now.

 

This.

BTW this 2016 Colorado won't drive like a mid 2000's GTi. Period. Those engines were geared perfectly and flew off the line. Emissions and poor quality has turfed that.

 

I just don't understand the US market on a mid-size diesel. In other countries where they do a lot of off-roading and really actually USE their trucks, I can get that. Here in the US, it seems like people really don't use their vehicles to their full capacity. The off-roading it seems most people do are driving down well groomed paths with a person telling them how to drive around it. Anyways, not going to hate too much on it since I don't do it. The off-roading I have done for hunting was very rough and we had no one guiding us and it was in a diesel. Seems like no one here really does that.
Outside of that, I don't understand why someone would need the power of a diesel but not need the size of a full-size. Can you imagine hauling a big ass trailer with a mid-size? I'd be too worried about snapping the frame in half on a turn or it tipping the thing.

There is no sense in having the torque and horsepower for a payload capacity over 1 ton and a towing capacity of 15,000lbs when you can't use it. I guess that's like people having big ol superchargers and high speed tires on a commuter BMW or a Mustang. But to me, no sense in paying for it when you can't use it.

And an F-150 is not that big. They are taller more so than anything else.
It doesn't take that long to get used to it.

If we are talking gentlman's rides on trucks when it comes to towing, diesel wins hands down, but so does a full-size over a mid. I imagine something like a 10,000lb, 28 foot trailer would be too much for a mid-size.

 

Found this today:

 

I work in Cambridge. The parking garage at work is already somewhat tight in my '03 4Runner. I absolutely do not want to park a full size truck in there every day. That would be a huge pain in the neck.

 

I'll try and keep this polite lol. Just chiming in from a mechanic point of view no matter how they compare as far as gas mileage, wheeling, and driveability are concerned I could care less cuz people will make due with what they have. But I do know diesel mechanics and parts are far more expensive. Not to mention the gas Colorado is $24,900, the diesel is 39,900. A gas motor can easily be replaced for 1/3rd or 1/4 of the price of a diesel motor. And do it yourselfers are more likely to work on a gas motors than a diesel. So in my opinion if your not hauling something heavy with a full size truck the diesel isn't conventional in my opinion. Not to mention you'll probably get more miles out of a gas yota then a Chevy diesel anyway. If I owned either for 10 years I foresee spending way more money maintaining a diesel then a Tacoma. And the Chevy won't hold its resale value.

Just my opinion....