With the elky totalled, im starting to hunt a new truck for a replacement. Pimpm3 parking lot Silverado is on the table, but i really want another 97-99 dakota. Long story short, not getting a dakota.
Dad mentioned the Colorado/canyon as a similar truck to dakota. Saw a couple today in traffic, and i like the looks.
Would have to be 2wd/auto/extended cab pr 4 door.
What's the story on these?
I don't have any personal experience with them, but they do seem plentiful around here. This one's a 4x4 but has the "5 cup vortec" lol
2010 Chevy Colorado Z71. $15,900
Dont own one but we service a fair amount of them between fleets and private party. Every 3.7 powered one ive ever been near rattles. The fleet guys seem to overload them alot and kill the rear axles. Since your shopping 2wd you wont have the common issue of stripped fill plug on the tcase. They use a 24mm head so people tend to overcrank them alot.
Dont really get many complaints about them from customers. Some are well over 200k on original engines at this point. They seem to be more rust resistant then the s10.
No direct experience, but a guy at work said that his front rotors were an expensive nightmare to replace.
Read Toyman’s thread.
In reply to Ranger50 :
????
Woody said:No direct experience, but a guy at work said that his front rotors were an expensive nightmare to replace.
That's because the rotor bolts to the back of the hubs, so doing a front brake job typically results in replacing wheel bearings at the same time. At a dealership, it's like a grand to have front brakes done.
The engine bay on these is also the proverbial 5lb bag. Want to change the valve cover gasket? Prepare to remove the alternator, throttle body, left front wheel well and intake manifold.
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
I think Ranger is referring to this thread.
EastCoastMojo said:In reply to Dusterbd13 :
I think Ranger is referring to this thread.
That's the one. I checked the mileage on mine a couple of days ago and it's right at 196K. The other truck is right at 224K. I can comfortably recommend them to anyone. They are the perfect size for what we do. We've hired another tech and I'm actively looking for another one.
They may just be the perfect pickup. Bigger than a Ranger or S10. Smaller than the monster full size. The only thing I would like to see them have is a 8' bed.
Edit to add: My sister has a 2006 version. Her only complaints are, it uses more fuel than her Leaf and it had a flat when she hit a piece of steel in the road.
Dusterbd13 said:In reply to Ranger50 :
????
Toyman bought a pair of these to replace his work vans and started a thread about the experience. I don't remember the details, but I think some of the maintenance/repairs were not normal or easy to perform.
Other than front brakes, how is maintenance on these? Goal would be a 10 year truck. What are parts pries like? Could i pull a car on a tow dolly?
Also, in toymans thread, i saw something about tunes. What are the options there?
Is there enough room in the extended cab for a teenager?
The extended cab is going to be tight for a teen.
It should pull a tow dolly without too much trouble. Mine is rated at 4000#.
I've done front brakes on both of mine without changing the rotors. Fronts are easy then. The rears are a bit of a pain because the spring for the parking brake is attached to the shoe. Hooking the damn cable up is a PITA. Some cussing and needle nose vice grips helps. Maybe a lot of cussing, it's a pretty hokey design. The only other PITA was the thermostat. It has to be changed through the drivers wheel well.
Parts prices don't seem to be any worse than most, but I haven't had to do much to them. Idlers, thermostat, brakes, shocks and tires. That's about it in the last 112K miles.
I may be imagining it, but I feel like I hardly see Colorados anymore. I'm not sure if they didn't sell well, or if they just didn't last but I see far more Rangers than Colorados in my area.
Just checked my local CL, and there are only 7 1st gen Colorados shown. I did the same search for Rangers, and removed the model years before 03 since the Colorado was only produced from 03-12. There are 25 03+ Rangers. I'm not sure why the discrepancy exists, but at least I'm not imagining it.
I only bring this up because if they're not lasting as well as others in the class, then they may not be a good "10 year truck", but I don't have conclusive proof of that being the case. Toyman and others have positive things to say though.
That's an interesting question. In 2005, there were more Colorados sold than Rangers.
From 2002 through 2012, there were app. 967K Colorados sold and 1.087M Rangers sold. That does not take GMC's Canyon into account.
So, do they go to the scrap yard, or are people keeping them?
In reply to Toyman01 :
I'm thinking scrapyard based on the rolling wrecks I see running the roads currently. They don't/didn't seem to hold up to abuse well, IMO.
I enjoy my 11 Colorado LT. 2wd, regular cab, 2.9L. I have a few qualms with it (majority is cosmetic, ex delivery truck from Napa), biggest is it was optioned for AM/FM radio. Other than that a belt tensioner assembly recently, it's only received general maintenance, oil changes and a set of spark plugs. Decent mileage, it slots in between my 3/4 ton gas Silverado and my car for fuel mileage, but spends majority of its life as a 'winter' daily or general runabout around the farm.
In reply to Toyman01 :
Interesting sales numbers. That's another piece of the puzzle. If people were keeping them, and limiting the supply in the used market it seems like prices would be higher than Rangers, due to lack of availability. The range of prices seemed pretty comparable though in my quick search.
It's totally possible that other locales could see the opposite situation, and the numbers would all balance out.
It's also possible that I may just notice Rangers more since I own them. I'll try and look for Colorados as I drive around to see if there are more than I realized.
The two that my buddy had said that his MPG was light years away from the sticker estimate.. in a bad way.
Could be his driving style, YMMV, etc.
Otherwise his only real complaint was size. They seem to lack interior room but feel big on the outside.
Dusterbd13 said:Other than front brakes, how is maintenance on these? Goal would be a 10 year truck. What are parts pries like? Could i pull a car on a tow dolly?
I have over 250,000 miles between my 06 and 11 and have never done the brakes. Mine have been very reliable. I did a wheel bearing at 120k on the 06 and can't remember doing anything on the 11. Ranger50 has a hate on for them but doesn't back it up with any facts, just his opinions. Like most GM's a properly done tune makes a world of difference. Excellent online support and used parts prices and supplies.
2.9/5spd.
Header
Stock 2.5" SS exh with a small glasspack and FM 70. I've been asked when I put the V8 in it. Really.
DIY intake
Tune
4.10 gear
Locker
2" drop
factory 18's with 235 50's
Before the tune. It pulls much better/harder after the 4.10 gear and tune but you do have to drive it with anger - and it invites you to do so.
Just put about 20 miles on an 11 extended cab 2wd lt trim Colorado. 2.9 (i think thats tbe 4)
My only complaint is that the steering wheel is too far forward. Needs to come back towards the driver about 2 inches. Is there a fix for this? Even if it included welding....
Thanks for tbe feedback guys. Please keep it coming!
No easy telescope on the wheel (that I know of) but it does have tilt
I've been making a concerted effort to keep my eyes peeled for Colorados/Canyons while I drove around for the last several days. I've seen 4. I've seen more squarebody S10s during that time than Colorados. I wasn't counting total S10s or Rangers, (because I'm only 1 man) but there were far more.
One random guy's observations are hardly scientific evidence, but it's really interesting that they'd just disappear in the numbers that they have. I don't recall frequently seeing them stranded on the side of roads, or rusted out and falling apart over the years. It's like they just vanished.
Every one that I have talked to that has them loves them. I had one regular customer that owned one that drove his for a job that really piled on the miles. All I ever did on it besides regular maintenance stuff was a trans output seal. The rotors are dumb, most dealerships will have an on-car brake lathe if you just want to machine the rotors. It would be my pick if I wanted a small pickup.
Since you started this ive tryed talking to customers that drive them. Only complaint that seems common is discomfort from the cloth seats in larger guys. Only one has major problems at 35k miles and that company refuses to fix it before 50k. The aep guys like them better then the s10's they replaced. They seem to survive well around here if there maintained.
STM317 said:I've been making a concerted effort to keep my eyes peeled for Colorados/Canyons while I drove around for the last several days. I've seen 4. I've seen more squarebody S10s during that time than Colorados. I wasn't counting total S10s or Rangers, (because I'm only 1 man) but there were far more.
One random guy's observations are hardly scientific evidence, but it's really interesting that they'd just disappear in the numbers that they have. I don't recall frequently seeing them stranded on the side of roads, or rusted out and falling apart over the years. It's like they just vanished.
There's a good reason for that; they sold about 200,000 S10s per year when they were made, and about 40,000 Colorados per year. They just weren't as popular as the S10. So I don't think it's an issue of them "disappearing," they just weren't there to begin with. It looks like the sales are trending way up with the latest generation though so maybe they'll be a more common sight.
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