Tacoma vs Colorado/Aspen

In the market for a new mid sized truck for my daily driver. I live in the midwest and have a full size SUV for towing already. Looking for something in between my Tahoe, and my wifes sadan.

I have been looking at both the GM products and the toyota. I know this is the tacoma site, but looking for opinions from people like me that maybe looked at both, owned both or switched.

My goals are decent MPG, reliability and longevity. My wife makes me keep cars for upwards of 7+ years because she sees them as a waste of money.

Can anyone comment? the Tacoma seems to be slightly higher priced than the GM. Both look great. This is the first time i have been in the market for a 1/2 sized truck. Owned many full size F150's in the past but for a daily driver my large SUV or truck doesn't suit. Anyone versed in the products that can comment on what i should be leaning towards?

 

I thought the Colorado was a decent truck, but I don't "do" automatic transmissions.

 

I was in your shoes before buying my Tacoma. I chose the tacoma for various reasons, in part due to their reputation, the aftermarket support, and when compared to the GM twins I thought was better overall quality. MY wife sat in the GMs and she hated it compared to the Toyota.

MPGs will be pretty close to the same unless you get the diesel but then you have to deal with diesel. Many of the products on the GM twins are new so can't comment on their reliability or longevity but GM has been declining.

The Toyota uses a lot of like parts, while new to the tacoma they are not new to Toyota and have a good history. I believe the 3rd Gen will Iive up to Toyotas reputation but there are some nuances to the truck that have been problematic such as sneaky leaf springs, differential howl, low fluids on delivery, gear hunting.

I have not experienced any of these problems and most of them seem to be on the 2016s which are first production runs and like most cars are the minority.

I would throughly test drive both in various driving conditions

 

FYI, you are on a Tacoma Sight. Bias will lean far to the Toyota. If you do go with Brand X I would suggest the GMC version. Cleaner lines

 

If you're into upgrades and mods, Tacoma will offer more options as well as more trim levels and model offerings. If you just want to pick it up and use it as a daily street driver either will do. I think the Tacoma will hold value a bit better.

 

go test drive both. I've know some people change their minds after test driving. That's the least bias suggestion i can give. But it's hard to beat Toyota's reliability and longevity, if the 3rd gen is anything like the previous gens, they'll last a long time

 

If you're not in a hurry, I would wait to see what the new Ranger has to offer. It should have bigger rear seats, if that is of benefit to you. Engine should be slightly more efficient than the Tacoma as well. But resale wise, Tacoma will always be king.

I considered the Colorado, but I just couldn't stand the interior. Tacoma is no lux mobile, but the Colorado just felt cheap. But that's the same with all GM's, though. I remember looking at a C5 and was taken back by how crappy the interior looked compared to the stunning body.

 

I work at a Chevy dealer and can say the new Colorado has been fairly reliable so far, however, our employee lot has one new Colorado and six Tacomas including mine. In this class of truck I’d stick with Tacoma, but you may want to give the Colorado a test drive and decide for yourself.

 

Test Drive!

 

Toyota offered a MT - easy decision. I looked at the Colorado and seemed like a good truck, but the interior, nope. I, for the most part, keep my vehicles a long time and Chevy trucks have not been kind to my family straight up POS, granted this was a few year back ~mid 2000's. We have all switched to Toyota and could not be happier.

 

Test drive them both. Then test drive them again. See if the dealer will let you do an overnight test drive. I test drove both back to back days. I preferred the 8spd and engine combo in the Colorado, but pretty much everything else I preferred the Tacoma.

Two coworkers have 2016/17 Colorado’s with quite a few miles on them now. My Tacoma has been to the dealer more than their two combined ha Still love my truck though.

 

I see the Colorado used in local state and govt trucks a lot. The interior as well as exterior is gross. Interior is totally pathetic. It looks so commercial / institutional. I couldn't bring myself to getting in that thing every day less drive it.

Had my Taco 2 years and only thing was a battery which was replaced free.
Who even questions Chevy longevity vs Toyota ?

 

The comment about bias is spot on. I have owned a 93, 03 and now a 13 Tacoma. The 2 I got rid of had 150,000 plus when I got ride of them. Never had to do anything to them, gas, oil and tires was all. My next truck will be a Tacoma, probably a 2023...

 

The seating positions of the trucks are different, make sure you drive both before you decide. I wound up going with the Tacoma because the reliability should be better, I like the looks of the Tacoma more, the Tacoma OR has a little bit better off road system (except for the zr2), the Tacoma offers a sunroof, the Tacoma rear seat folds down better, it folds lower and has a flat hard surface when its folded down. I think the latest Colorado has a little bit more power and a better trans. than the Tacoma.

 

If you're keeping it for 7+ years the answer is simple: Go test drive a 7 year old Colorado and a 7 year old Tacoma see which one held up better... Then see what a 2011 Colorado sells for vs a 2011 Tacoma. The answers will become VERY clear

 

Drive a Nissan while your at it ! Best bang for the buck ! But end of day Toyota is a Toyota best money spent.

 

Everyone on this board voted already when they bought a Tacoma. You’re not going to find a lot of people who think the competitor was a better choice. If they did, they would have bought it instead.

I personally don’t like the way the GM looks. I don’t like that it wasn’t really designed with intention to be used off-road, evident by the low hanging front fascia, and the poorly sized fenders/wheel wells that will rub with larger tires unless you cut them.

Also, manual transmission V6. That’s enough of a reason to buy a Tacoma for me. There are many more, like the reliability, aftermarket, good ride, etc.

People who think the GM diesel is going to be desirable for mpg need to also factor in the additional $3500? Cost for that engine, and in many areas the higher cost of diesel. Depending on where you live it may not actually start saving money until you’ve put well over 100k miles on it. The diesel is better for towing from what I understand, and if I towed a boat or something regularly and wanted a midsize then perhaps I would take that into consideration.

Again, people here bought a Tacoma because they think it’s a better vehicle. The more I use mine for off-roading and exploring the Southwest, the more I’m happy I bought what I did. The truck is definitely capable for this, and in a lot of ways really starts to shine when you hit the dirt. It’s still comfy enough that I daily drive the manual in LA traffic every single day. I love this truck the longer I own it.

 

What is a Colorado Aspen, different trim level?

 

looked at Colorado before I bought the Tacoma. I thought the interior of the Colorado was cheap and there is no room in the back seats. I also felt he Tacoma just looked nicer which was also important to me. Best truck I've ever owned was a 4Runner, so going back to Toyota was easy.

 

Your backseat passengers may not love the Tacoma, but they will hate the Colorado. It’s like a park bench back there.