Handles Full-Size Tasks - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Handles Full-Size Tasks - 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Long-Term Road Test

It may be smaller, but our 2015 Chevy Colorado truck can still handle many of the same tasks as its full-size brother.

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adamb1

When you live in fly-over country, you have a yard that is larger than a postage stamp and you own a 16' trailer to haul those things that don't fit in the bed. I wouldn't want those boards rubbing on my paint job on the way home.

ckuers

I know you guys are car people, many of the updates to your long term road tests are evident to that. You've even done articles about paint protection and cleaning.

Why the heck would you rest the lumber on bare paint like this? You don't have a couple of towels that you could have placed between the bundle of baseboards and the 3 contact points that it shares with the truck's paint? It's like you intentionally try to damage the vehicles you test (the Silverado with engines and random things sliding around the bare painted bed). Stop treating the trucks like step children, heck, they may even be worth MORE when you try to sell them off once your testing is done...

I can't think of anyone that I know (and most of my friends aren't car people) that would subject their vehicles to this type of use. Maybe it's because the vehicle is owned by Edmunds and not you. In that case, I put even more shame on you. You should always treat other people's things better than you would treat your own.

I'll step off my soapbox now.

stever

I enjoy seeing these kinds of posts, and the ones with surfboards resting on the dashboards. I keep ropes in my minivan but often forget padding (a painter's drop cloth lives in there about half the time though).

The best thing you can do with a new "utility" vehicle is to key the driver's door. Then use the darn thing.

zimtheinvader

stever said:

The best thing you can do with a new "utility" vehicle is to key the driver's door. Then use the darn thing.

I grew up around the attitude that a truck was nothing but a tool like a shovel.

But that was back when trucks had vinyl floors, plain steel wheels and vinyl bench seats and came in colors like "white" and "brown". This thing cost $35,357 has navigation, Bose audio and Cyber Gray Metallic paint. It is a "vehicle with utility" more than a "utility vehicle" and an average owner if not just concerned about overall appearance would at least be concerned about resale value. Not too many people buy $35,000 mid-sized trucks to drive them into the ground like was common with basic, simple, bullet proof trucks back in the old days.

zimtheinvader

adamb1 said:

I wouldn't want those boards rubbing on my paint job on the way home.

But it isn't 'their' paint job. It is easy to forget that they are exponentially more removed from ownership than even a teenager driving their parents car. At least the teenager has to answer for the things they do that leave permanent marks on the vehicle. These guys don't have to answer for regular abuse let alone skuff marks on the paint. It is like having a fleet of rental cars with the damage waiver option on them. I love being in rental cars with the damage waiver option, not because I abuse the car (that's just not in my nature) but because it removes any worry about how I load it, where I park it or what parks next to me. That's how they live everyday.

stever

@zimtheinvader, do you want the Edmunds fleet to be "special" or driven more like the typical consumer drives theirs? (Typical in my case meaning my car never gets waxed, rarely washed, and a little deferred maintenance isn't unusual).

I suppose we could go all Car and Driver and blow up some Corvette engines, LOL.

jstrauch81

Really Edmunds? Are you testing the durability of the paint? Clearly Ed is a "genius"...

jstrauch81

stever said:

@zimtheinvader, do you want the Edmunds fleet to be "special" or driven more like the typical consumer drives theirs? (Typical in my case meaning my car never gets waxed, rarely washed, and a little deferred maintenance isn't unusual).

I suppose we could go all Car and Driver and blow up some Corvette engines, LOL.

Speak for yourself, some of us actually take care of the things we own, they tend to last longer and look better if you do..

stever

We've had five cars since '82 - the past four all lasted at least ten years. And none wouldn't have been worth much more after ten years if they had never been eaten in or never hauled hay and sheetrock or had canoes dropped on the roof. 99% of cars today are appliances - use 'em up and get another one.

With my luck, twenty minutes after I Zaino'd a car, some turkey in a Colorado would T-bone me.

robs249

A Suburban with the top glass portion of the lift-gate open would work great for hauling material like this!

zimtheinvader

stever said:

do you want the Edmunds fleet to be "special" or driven more like the typical consumer drives theirs? (Typical in my case meaning my car never gets waxed, rarely washed, and a little deferred maintenance isn't unusual).

I guess we need to take a poll as to how much care gets put into the appearance on people's cars.

There will be all sorts of levels of care and neglect but I'd think we could eliminate the put a pallet on the hood people and the spend every weekend detailing it people and come out somewhere in the middle.

I've got an 11 year old truck with 211,000 miles on it that the paint still looks good on and it has hauled dozens and dozens of loads of dirt, rock and gravel; as well as countless runs to the dump with entire kitchens worth of old tile countertops and anything else projects generated.

stever said:

We've had five cars since '82 - the past four all lasted at least ten years.

I'd say that right there puts you in the minority as I doubt most people buy new cars and keep them 10 years. The average age of a car on the road may be over 10 years but most that buy new then buy another new on in a much shorter time than that. But that doesn't make sense to me either as nearly half the cars we've owned were taken away on flatbeds when we were done with them because we drove them until they just couldn't go anymore.

I'd just think if someone truly didn't care about the appearance of their vehicle it would make a lot more sense buying a $12,000 or less used truck rather than a $35,000 fancy new truck.

stever

Two of those five (including the current van that we haven't owned for a year yet) were purchased used. I don't mind a nice looking car but if they run good, that's what really counts. Fortunately most "modern" cars run pretty good.

Paint's also a lot better these days too, and our last two vans have been silver, so they don't show dirt too bad, even if they are slab sided. And scratched.

With car sales booming, the average age may be declining - this article dates back to '13 (and doesn't specify how many are one-owner vehicles):

Average Age of Cars in U.S. Jumps to Record High of 11.4 Years

(Funny, I am on the hunt for some pallets to make a compost bin. Pallets fit in the back of the van easy though).