New Chevy Colorado mega-thread

It is a pretty good looking rig, with cues of Tacoma on the front lower facia and a side profile that looks similar to the new Tundra. Definitely a huge step up from the old Colorado.

I'm surprised that GM is coming back to the mid-size segment. They old Colorado was often priced higher than Silverado when incentives were involved. I looked at 2004 Colorado with the I5 back in 2004 and it was priced at $35000 Cdn with no spiffs. I ended up buying my 2004 Silverado MSRP $41000 for $29500 with a big discount from the factory. Ended up with a way better truck, more power (a lot more power, small v8 vs I5). Plus, every year they still deeply discount the Silverados.

I just traded in a 2004 Silverado for my Tacoma, but had this new Colorado been on the market back in June I would definitely given it a test drive.

That being said, I love my Tacoma, and I doubt the Colorado will come with a manual transmission.

edit: Commenting on the Chevy reliability issue: I am confident Toyotas are better than GM, but I should note that in 9 years of owning my Silverado I had practically no issues with it. Very strong motor and transmission, suspension, fit and finish (albeit cheap plastic everywhere). A few odd electronic issues near the end, but mechanically a great truck.

 

They (Toyota) might have some real competition if they would have left the V8 in the Colorado.

 

Fuel economy and emissions standards makes the 5.3L V8 not viable. For the same reason, Toyota dropped the 276hp 3.5L V6 from the RAV4 after the redesign.

The 3.6L LFX V6 is in a slew of other GM models (Camaro, Equinox, Impala, CTS...) and has been around for two years. Unusual reliability problems should be worked out by the time the truck appears in showrooms. Not sure where the 6-speed auto transmission comes from though.

 

Nope. The 04-06 Colorados were puking the cylinder heads at an alarmingly early time.

First dealer tells me 3 grand. I found the extended warranty TSB online in 5 minutes, which he said he didn't know about b/c he never had one go. 4 weeks later the parts haven't even been ordered and the dealer is refusing to fix it stating they don't believe it's the head..despite having already certified it as such.

The 2nd dealer (where the guy I first dealt with now worked)fixed the head and charged me 2 grand for all the other things it broke, stating to me GM will reimburse me. GM said they wouldn't and that the dealer could have called to get it covered. The dealer said he's replaced a lot of these and never had anything else go, when I questioned why he said 2 months ago he'd never seen it he wouldn't answer.

GM told me the dealer must have known of the bulletin and agreed that they lied to me and that this has been comped for others, but that they won't do anything.

Had they just fixed the problem which they've already agreed is common, I'd never have left. To lie to me repeatedly does not give me confidence..and to have corporate tell me it's normal to need nearly the whole engine replaced at 78k on a daily driver does not indicate a product that will last.

Oddly, my wife had a 96 Tacoma that was bought back. If anything that caused her to be more loyal to Toyota for at least doing right by her. In my conversation with GM I told them about her case and asked "what's more normal, a 13 yr old truck in MA having rust issues or a 5 yr old truck that's taken care of and just a daily driver to need a new engine?"

 

True, but by the time I bought my 06 that engine was at least in the Colorado for 2 previous years and still died at 78k.

 

Why would that make a difference? The V8 never really sold well. The V6 has more power now and there's a diesel the Taco doesn't offer. Whether the Colorado ends up being really competitive really has nothing to do with a v8 which isn't needed in the segment. Sure Dodge sold a lot of V8 Dakotas but it didn't save that truck from being axed.

 

LOTS of people base opinions off a single purchase. If a company screws me over, I won't go back to them, especially when it's on a purchase as large as a vehicle. People would be all over them here because it's a Tacoma forum and the fanboy is strong with some of the members here... Go anywhere else and say, 'I'd never buy another XXXXX because my last one rusted away and was deemed unsafe to drive' and no one would blame you for not going back and buying another one.

H3T had a V8 and front and rear lockers and it didn't compete well with the Tacoma. The V8 in a smaller truck isn't the selling point everything seems to think it is.

 

^It would be prudent to factor in the cost of an extended warranty if buying the new Colorado.

 

Never really sold well because they didn't make many of them, and you had to get certain options to get a V8 in it. I'd always rather have a V8 over a diesel.

 

The tacoma will still shit on this things face. Not a nice shit either, it'll be like a really drunk beer and hot wings shit. The mightiest of shits.

 

fantastic...definitely sig worth.

 

I was thinking that too, pretty funny.

 

Perhaps it would be along the lines of a buffalo taking a diarrhea dump in someone's ear after eating the rotten asshole of a roadkill skunk and downing it with beer.

 

If the 1st gen's frame failed after just 5 years and Toyota did nothing, he would be justified to avoid Toyotas from there on. Alas the problem wasn't that severe.

 

I just try to avoid the fanboy mentality since I like vehicles from all brands and don't think any one brand is the end all best manufacturer. Only reason I stuck with Toyota when I got rid of the Taco was price. Wanted to spend less than 40 and felt on that price range/trim levels on trucks the Tundra have more. Otherwise I would have ended up with an f150.

As far as V8 it's still overkill in a midsize. The 5.3 didn't give it much more capability over the v6 Tacoma. The I5 was just sort of anemic and they needed the V8 to compete a little better and it was still slower. The 3.6 will be a much better competitor.

 

Not bad

 

V8 is overkill but a diesel in a midsize isn't?

 

Exactly right on your first sentence, J. Hence why I stated in my first post that it's not a fanboy statement and here's why..

Had the problem happened but GM took care of it in its entirity, I'd have no issue at all..stuff happens but they stood by it. That would have not only caused me to continue to buy GM but be even more of a cheerleader for them.

While yes the first gen issues did suck, my wife got a check for double the value of her 96, a free rental, discount on another Toyota. When GM had my truck for 2 weeks fixing what they acknowledged was their fault they wouldn't even give me a discount on a rental.

 

I don't think the diesel will be as much about power as it will be about fuel efficiency.

 

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up but I've been part of a Toyota survey for about 2 years now and from time to time they would ask me about my truck and about Toyota in general. The most recent one was last week and it was about my truck and engine choices in particular. 80% of the survey revolved around which engine I would choose. I was given 4 choices at a time and from what I can gather, it seems that the tow rating of 7,500lbs have been mentioned numerous times as well as a possiblity of a 4cyl diesel. Options they kept giving me was a 4cyl gas, 4cyl diesel, 6cyl gas and also 6cyl diesel BUT the 6cyl diesel was hardly an option out of all the questions. I also think that their target mpg is around 22-28mpg and also numerous mention of direct injection for all engines.