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Chevrolet Colorado
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Comments
Options:
Z71 Suspension
Ls
Air Conditioning
Power Steering
Power Windows
Power Door Locks
Tilt Wheel
Cruise Control
Am/Fm Stereo
Single Compact Disc
Dual Front Air Bags
Abs (4-Wheel)
Bed Liner
Towing Pkg
Alloy Wheels
Any input would be great.
Robert
Rob
Quite an ironic joke to see the add for a "100,000 km warranty" next to this window as I write. Of course they can offer that. They don't honour it anyway. It could be a million ks for that matter. It still just adds up to another big "0".
Buy another GM product? Good luck!!
RG.
Following is more insult to our pain: I just had my Colorado to an independent diagnostic shop in attempt to fix the hesitation problem. He was able to see that the computer is running the engine too lean during normal acceleration in the 1,500 to 3,000 rpm range. Once he took the rpm's up over 3,500, then the computer gave the engine proper gas. On my 2800 engine, I am getting so much misfiring that I have to change the oil every 3,000 miles (that's highway miles because I have 27 miles one way to work).
Back to the insult, the diagnostic shop knows the cause: Chevy has the computer programmed to run the engine too lean during normal acceleration. How does one get Chevy to correct the issue when they won't admit the problem ?
I am giving thought of continuing to nag them.
I'll continue to update this form as the story contiues......
kcram - Pickups Host
Let me tell you about my experience with Chevy Colorado. I purchased my first one 12/04. It was a brand new 05 Z71 4x4 crew cab. In 18 months it had no heat (crimp came loose in the dash), loose hood and plate holder, bad shock, leaky power stearing, failed battery, shorting out dash lights, something about the air bag coil needed replaced in the stearing column, leaky rear window, broken windshield (can't blame that on GM), assorted rattes and squeaks,AC hose melted to the hood. Then the transmission began making grinding metal sounds. That was the last straw!!! I traded that POS in for a new 06 Colorado crew cab 4x4.
Took it in for first oil change and fix the dome light. That was minor compared to the previous truck. Now 2 days later there is a puddle of red in the driveway!!! Service says it needs a specialty trany part and will be in the shop for 4 days?
How is it possible to get 2 in a row?
My previous experience with Chevy is wonderful. 15+ years in a Celebrity, 6 years in a Blazer until the kid totalled it, & 2 years in my trouble free Tahoe.
Anyone know of a witch doctor that can get rid of this Colorado jinx?
The other thing I would like to know if anyone has done is to change the parking brake to a hand operated one. My old 90 Isuzu had one mounted under the dash and I am sure this could be done here too. Does the Isuzu 350 have a foot or hand brake? Maybe that could be used if it's a hand one.
The problem of different sized cupholders on the gearshift cowl has been solved by cutting a "pop can cooler" in half and putting it on the bottom of a standard Tim Mug (tall version). Now the wife and I can both have the same size coffee when we travel together.
Gigglein@aol
thank you.
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kcram - Pickups Host
Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon Group
Anyway, I expect these changes, but I don't expect much more from the powertrain. GM hasn't updated the base V6 to go into the new Silverado, which in my opinion is a very capable powertrain, but proably too underpowered for the Colorado to be competitive in terms of HP. It has plenty of torque, but not enough HP. That base V6 is basically the same since it was introduced back in the 80's. Oh it's been worked over to produce almost 200 HP, but since that 200 HP number hasn't changed since the mid 90's I am thinking that it is about maxed out on the power end unless it is force fed or bored out. I don't expect a V6 to make it to the Colorado, although a V6 version of the 5.3 V8 would probably make good HP and Torque numbers.
So in short, I don't expect the Colorado to "improve" much until it is completely redesigned which may not happen until the next decade. Although I will have to say that I am interested to see how much of an improvement the 3.7 I5 is compared to the 3.5. And IMHO I don't think that the Colorado is that horrid of a vehicle as everyone on this forum seems to think. It could use some vast improvements, but I don't think they are coming, but what is there is on par for what many drivers need.
Currently I drive about 40K miles a year so gas mileage is a big concern, but also power. I love the torque rich power my 4.3 has, but wish it had more horsepower, although it is more than adequate for the truck - I just always want more. The I-5 concerns me however as it totes having 220 HP, but only 225 FT lbs of Torque. Why is concerns my is the 4.3 has over 150 Ft lbs of torque so the lesser torque means less punch off the line and pulling hills. Plus the Colorado has to wiegh more so it is going to feel slower off the line and when passing on the Hwy. This is probably my biggest concern. I need to know how the engine performs in the real world.
As far as interior fit and finish - if it is better than the S-10 than I will be satisfied. I like the way the S-10 is laid out and the build quality while hated by the car mags at the time I feel it is quite functional and built just fine.
The interior space is also a little concerning. The S-10 has LARGE door windows and a LARGE rear window compared to the other models of it's time. This I really like. I love a lot of window space. While I have never actually been able to spend a whole lot of time in the Colorado, when I look at them, it seems as if the glass space is smaller than that of the S-10. If it is smaller I guess I could live with this.
Anyway, thoughts and opinions are what I am looking for! Thx
Anyway, find a good mechanic that has been in business for awhile by asking friends and people at work and then stick with that shop if they give you good service. Also keep all reciepts and work done so that your warranty stays valid. And if it is warranty by all means make sure you take it to the dealer and work with them first. No sense in paying for something that should be covered. If it is not warranty work, take it to your trusty mechanic as it is also no sense in paying too much.
And then as a last thought - as far as basic maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations, find a Wal-mart to do that. It is simple work and they don't charge a whole lot to do so. You can get out of there for less than 50 bucks (even less the next time around if you get there lifetime tire and wheel balance) for both the oil change and the tire rotation and balance. The next time you go in you will only have to pay for the oil change.
And now one more last thought and I promise I am done - For other basic maintenance items you might be able to do a lot of them your self like the fuel filter. You might even be able to do the brakes on your own. This alone will save you tons of money in the long run. If you consider yourself fairly competent and hands on type of person, for the cost of taking your truck in one time to the brake shop, you can get all the tools you need to change the pads, pull off the rotors and have them turned, repack the bearings, change the fuel filter, spark plugs, air filter, and the like. There again, for a one time charge you have all you need and will only be out the cost of pads and turning the rotors (unless you can find a store like Autozone who will replace worn out pads when you buy their lifetime warranty pads. Why they warrant and will replace a worn out wear and tear item at no cost is beyond me, but they do it, so I will continue to pay only once for the pads.) This again is by far cheaper than taking it to a shop to do all the work.
But you would have to be able to have the time to do all the work your self and sometimes time is money and it is just as easy to pay the money and let someone else get dirty... Anyway I am off my soap box now.
Bottom line - don't overpay the Dealer for something a much more competent independent shop can do for less and with better quality. And don't pay someone else to do something that you know you can do.
Here is what I would do in your position - I would say good riddance and use the excuse to trash the other 3 General's and go get a set of BFG All Terrains in a 31X10.50. The Generals will be the first thing to go when I replace my S-10 with a Colorado. I won't even wait for them to wear out. I might actually drive from the dealership to the tire store... anyway that's just my opinion.
Here is what I would have done with it... I like it's exterior design, but knowing what look GM is headed for in the future in terms of how their trucks look, I would have designed it more along those lines and would have kept the turn signals under the headlamps. It still looks awkward at night. I would have either used the I6 motor from the Trailblazer, or knowing the success if the 4.3 and how durable it is and knowing that it came from the 5.7, why not take the 5.3 and creating a V6 derived from that? The old 5.7 produced in the nieghborhood of 250 horses with out modification, the 4.3 develops 190-200 depending on how it's configured. It also developed an astounding 250 ft lbs of torque. GM now gets over 300 out the 5.3 now, so instead of the meager 200 out of the 4.3, I would suspect that a 4.0 V6 derived from the 5.3 could make comparable numbers to Toyota's 245 hp in their 4.0 V6. Your torque ratings would also be in the high 200's I would suspect. I would make that an optional enginge and also offer a variant of the Ecoteck 2.2 liter that is used in the Cobalt and Ion. Yes the 2.2 (not the Ecotec) in the old S-10 was the same basic motor in the Cavalier and it sucked, but if you were modify the 2.4 Ecotech that is the midlevel engine in the Colbalt, you might get HP and torque numbers that are at least equal to if not better than the 2.8 that they are using now. You might also get better gas mileage out of them. The Ecotech from what I understand is an excellant motor and would probably do just fine as a base motor for a Colorado. The V6 motor derived from the 5.3 could be your upgrade and then if you so choose, the 5.3 (or even the 4.8 as it now produces 285 HP) could be a top end motor to be used on the crew cabs or even a hopped up SS version of the Colorado. Heck Chevy has SS everything except the Colorado and Aveo. Can you imagine a 300 horse V8 powered Colorado?? It would blow the doors of the Dodge not to mention the Taco and Fronty. Dodge has a V8 but it is no more powerful than Toyota's V6. Chevy did do it right when they offered the Colorado in all three body styles at 3 different suspension levels. They also did it right when they offered 2 or 4wd on everything but the sport suspension, but why not go a step further and offer an AWD sport package? I'm not sure I would offer a full size bed with the Crew Cab like Toyota does, but I would increase the interior room more than they did. It still doesn't feel any bigger inside than my current S-10 does. I would offer something more than outdated 15 in. wheels. At least offer 16 on the 4wd and high stance suspensions. The 17 and 18's they offer for the sport are a good choice. I don't think you need to go any bigger. 20's are just for show and on a midsize truck they don't leave enough room to get sufficient rubber around the wheel to give any kind of traction or suspision assistance. The Colorado is a good truck; I will probably end up owning one when I run my S-10 into the ground, but I feel that it could have been muck better designed. I hear rumors that the Colorado is slated for redesign/update around 2008. Maybe that is when they are going to address some of these issues... anyway these are my thoughts and this post is now way to long so I doubt anyone has even read all the way through this ....
Anyway I will buy what ever best suits my needs whether it be American which I prefer, or Foreign. I have never owned a Honda or Toyota or Kia or Hyndai or Nissan, and have mostly owned GM's with a Ford and a Chrysler thrown in and in my experience every single vehicle exhibited to some degree some type of problem. But has that stopped me from buying American cars? No - and one brand new one and one 5 years old still sit in my driveway.
Anyway, gripe as you will about American cars - or in this case the Colorado's being crap, but I highly doubt that is really the case. I would guess that the vehicle is about as reliable as any other vehicle out there...
You might also look into BFG All-Terrains as those are awsome tires - but there again they can get pricey.
Also is it possible that GM would do an interior update? They did an update to the S-10 interior 4 yrs after it '94 debut and that also would be a nice thing. While functional and it will not keep my from buying when it is time, I would like to see a little more effort put into the interior. That is where GM's cost cutting techniques shine through like high gloss fake wood trim (or in the Colorado's case - fake aluminum trim coupled with hard plastic dash and door panels. )
But other than that what I have seen of the Colorado is good and I plan on getting one when my S-10 kicks the bucket when ever that happens.
Anyway - I would hope that the Colorado would have things like that. Maybe not as standard (My S-10 is an LS - but doesn't have power windows or locks or cruise control), but as part of upgrading from say the base to the LS. If the Colorado doesn't even have a change holder or underhood light that is just more evidence of GM cost-cutting to me. Finding little things to cut out to make productions costs less, but still charging more for the vehicle. For that matter my S-10 doesn't have an underhood light. My '95 Sonoma did - but that was a loaded vehicle.
Another item I have also noticed missing on Colorado and for some reason this is a biggie for me. I have not noticed on any Colorado an under hood heat/sound barrier mat on the hood. It's the insulation that goes under the hood to protect it from the heat of the motor and also to act as sound insulation. Both my Sonoma and my current S-10 had/have it. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but it seams that having this would help keep the hood cooler and therefore the paint would last longer on the top of the hood. As for sound insulation - I don't know if it makes much difference, but I would like to think it at least aids a little bit??
FWIW however - why didn't GM just take the 5.3 and lope off a couple cylinders there and use that motor?? They did that with the 5.7 and came up with the 4.3 which in my opinion is one of GM's best motors out there. If it's more power they were looking for, I'm sure they could have tuned a 4.0 V6 derived from the 5.3 to deliver the same if not better HP numbers than the I5 and definately more torque.... even the 4.3 made way more torque than the I5 does. And if mileage is a concern?? Well the I5 doesn't do much better than the 4.3 so I'm sure they could have done something with that too... If they can make an LS2 produce 30MPG with 400 horses, well than I think it would be possible to make a 250 horse V6 (at least that's what I would hope a 5.3 derived V6 would have) have palatable gas mileage as well.
That my 2 cents worth
I had a '95 S-10 that was hit on the front corner at less than 20 MPH and it bent the frame. They were able to straighten it without any problem and I never had problems due to the accident afterwords. The impact was contained and light enough that it didn't even trigger the air bags. While the truck was not drivable (the at-fault-an 80's style S-10 Blazer-vehicle however was drivable- that's another story), it was fairly easily repaired.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=115855
Here is a report on the H3 getting the increase. I would assume that this would transfer over to the Colorado/Canyon pickups??