Car Buying Advice - Indecision-Colorado or Tacoma?

bsparks13

I am in the market for a midsize truck and I'm stuck directly in the middle between a Tacoma TRD Off-Road and Colorado Z71 (both crew cab 4x4 models.) I acknowledge the arguments for each truck after having combed through the forums here -- comfort, towing, cabin space for Colorado and off-road superiority, resale value, reputation, and dependability for Tacoma.

The thing is.. I live at the beach so my "off-road" adventures are just going out on the sand to fish/camp with the family. I don't foresee any rock-climbing in my near future, so that sort of negates the "off-road superiority factor" for the Tacoma.

Are there any other major compelling reasons to buy a Colorado over a Tacoma? Any reason --subjective or objective -- is welcomed and appreciated.

Michaell

@bsparks13 - have you driven either of these? There is more to making a decision than just the numbers.

I've sat in or driven a number of Tacomas over the years and, to me, every one of them suffered from the same issue. The seat feels like it's mounted directly to the floor, and your legs stick straight out. Not like a chair at all.

Doesn't matter how good the resale is or what kind of deal you got if you aren't comfortable behind the wheel or don't like something about the truck.

bsparks13

Michaell said:

@bsparks13 - have you driven either of these? There is more to making a decision than just the numbers.

I've sat in or driven a number of Tacomas over the years and, to me, every one of them suffered from the same issue. The seat feels like it's mounted directly to the floor, and your legs stick straight out. Not like a chair at all.

Doesn't matter how good the resale is or what kind of deal you got if you aren't comfortable behind the wheel or don't like something about the truck.

Thanks for the feedback. I've driven both and I'm generally comfortable in either. The Chevy was a little more comfortable and had a little more headroom but I'm gonna try and get a longer test drive in a Tacoma to see if anything stands out.

[Deleted User]

@bsparks13, I don't think I have anything to add other than what our editorial staff said about each:

Colorado:
https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/colorado/2017/crew-cab/review/

Tacoma
https://www.edmunds.com/toyota/tacoma/2017/review/

I know reading consumer reviews might be a way to obtain more subjective material/reviews from actual owners. Take them with a grain of salt but I would also look at both 2016 and 2017 consumer reviews as there wasn't major changes for each truck from the previous model year (plus there might not be too many 2017 reviews yet): https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/consumer-ratings-reviews.html

I heard they both had a fair share of complaints about their transmissions.

I hope some of this info helps.

Anyone else?

t_j_dusky

In my experience the Colorado is somewhat of a smoother ride than the Tacoma and the Tacoma's are notorious for idling at very high RPM. If you plan to haul a trailer i'd go with the Tacoma and you said that you will be driving on sand so personally i would go for the Tacoma because of the taller ride height and the 4x4 capability is far superior to the Colorado

bsparks13

t_j_dusky said:

In my experience the Colorado is somewhat of a smoother ride than the Tacoma and the Tacoma's are notorious for idling at very high RPM. If you plan to haul a trailer i'd go with the Tacoma and you said that you will be driving on sand so personally i would go for the Tacoma because of the taller ride height and the 4x4 capability is far superior to the Colorado

Thanks for the input man. The Colorado is definitely a bit smoother and has a little more room for my family inside, but the "bulletproof" nature of the Tacoma is hard to overlook. I'm leaning that way but thought I'd try and source some opinions from current/previous owners.

berri

A friend of mine coincidently was down to the same two vehicles. His opinions were pretty much the same, but in the end GM issues like Stabilitrak sold him on buying the Tacoma. Resale probably played into the decision as well I'm thinking.

bsparks13

berri said:

A friend of mine coincidently was down to the same two vehicles. His opinions were pretty much the same, but in the end GM issues like Stabilitrak sold him on buying the Tacoma. Resale probably played into the decision as well I'm thinking.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. Chevy seems to be stepping up the game but I feel like Toyota is still the smarter bet overall right now.

isellhondas

Resale values are HUGE on the Tacoma and not so much on the Colorado!