Any first gen Colorado/Canyon owners or drivers on the board? I stumbled across a used model, close to my home and am considering it instead of a new vehicle. If I'm going to compromise anyway, maybe I'll just compromise for the cheaper option.
Anyway, any quirks to be aware of or things I need to look out for. 4wd, manual, i4. Pretty basic truck.

Buddy of mine has had a few, he bought 4-5 off a business that was closing its doors.
He cleaned them up & flipped them, but kept a single cab I4 manual trans work truck for his daily. Slowly converted it semi-close to an LT trimmed truck.
Solid little pickup & got pretty decent mileage, just don't expect to win any races with it.

I've owned a 2008 2wd I4 since new. My first small truck. I have not experienced all of them, but there are Colorado Forums where I read of problems with electrics and fuel system gremlins. After putting over 100,000 miles on mine I can say with confidence I hate the damned thing. Seats suck; I feel better sitting on my shop stool. Paint and trim finish is comparable to the last time I painted my mailbox post. Gas milage is not significantly better than any of the prior 6 cylinder motors.I've always drove full size pick-ups, and calling Colorados "mid sized" is a joke. If you buy one forget about going to a lumberyard and bringing home anything but a box of fasteners. If you must have one, I'd recommend the 4 cylinder over the 5.
I'm something of a motorhead so take my comments as such. I'm currently looking for a 1990 to 1998 full size GM w/4.3 V6 and automatic trans as a replacement.

I have driven S series since 16, so I am well aware of the lack of "zoom zoom" from the chevy i4. I find the manual trans does help a lot. I appreciate your opinion on the rest though.

We briefly owned a crew cab with a 5 cylinder motor. The seats were excruciating after about 2-3 hours driving. The headrests on the back seat obstructed the view out to the back. It was a tinny, noisy piece of crap. And it didn't get good enough fuel mileage to offset the undesirable factors associated with it.

I don't own one, but I work on them, which necessitates driving them. I am in general agreement with the above comments. The 2.8/2.9L "Atlas" four is quite a bit more powerful than the S-10's "122" engine, but overall, it isn't much of a step up from the S-10. Replacing the front brakes means knocking apart the front wheel hubs (bearings and front ABS sensors built in), which usually ruins them.

If you want a small truck for transportation or light duty work and you can't find or afford a Toyota Tacoma, the Ford Ranger isn't a terrible truck. You can get a 2.3L Mazda-built four in them, but I'd recommend the 3.0 V6. Avoid the POS 4.0 SOHC engine.

quote:

Originally posted by Oldrider:
I'm currently looking for a 1990 to 1998 full size GM w/4.3 V6 and automatic trans as a replacement

One of the best sites when looking for a used vehicle is Car Gurus. Just plug in the parameters and distance from home:

https://www.cargurus.com/

41

Agreed that the Ranger or maybe the equivalent Mazda B-series trucks would be a solid alternative.
Good friend of mine had a '94 Ranger 4.0 manual trans that was solid through the day he traded it for a Tahoe.

quote:

Originally posted by 41:

quote:

Originally posted by Oldrider:
I'm currently looking for a 1990 to 1998 full size GM w/4.3 V6 and automatic trans as a replacement

One of the best sites when looking for a used vehicle is Car Gurus. Just plug in the parameters and distance from home:

https://www.cargurus.com/

41

Was not familiar with that site. Thank you.

FYI: I have been pricing the new ones: 38 to 40 K for a decently equipped one.
You can get a full sized Silverado cheaper.
Makes no sense.
I will see how the new Ranger is priced.

AMIRI KING did a good evaluation of the Chevy Colorado on youtube.
Its NSFW, BTW

When it came time to replace dad's 3rd or 4th S-10, he ended up in a Colorado. Dad loved his S-10s, and he loves the Ranger he has now. He put close to 200K in the Colorado, and nobody was sad to see it go.

We had an '04 Canyon as a shop truck, came in as a trade in. It had 314,000 miles on the 4 cylinder. It ran well for what it was, used it for panic runs, warehouse to warehouse, usage like that.

It did have an oil consumption problem, imagine that. The drivers were supposed to check oil level weekly, one day in the middle of the week I jumped in it for a short run. Hard braking, oil light came on. I pulled over and checked the level. None on the stick. Drove it (slowly) back to the dealership, about a mile and a half away. Only about a quart of oil in it. No idea how long it had run like that as all the drivers said that they had checked all the trucks on Monday, this was Wednesday. That was in '14, still ran until about the middle of last year.

Never drove it in the summer, allegedly the A/C did work. I know the heater did. Transmission finally went, boss made the decision to put it out to pasture. IIRC it had about 200K or so on it when we got it.

Ok that Amiri King video was hilarious

I had a 2006, I-5 manual, long bed which I drove for 10 years but not many miles. The only problem I had anti-lock brake failure, required replacing the front hubs.

I did not like the bench seats, but I survived.

Mileage was good, I average 25mph, it was zippy enough.

I got almost exactly one half what I paid for it in trade on a 2016 Colorado.

My father bought a 2016 model. You are correct a 1/2 woulda been cheaper, but he is happy. My S10 is literally rotting away or I'd continue driving it. I may have to look further based on what you guys are saying.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfe 21:
My father bought a 2016 model. You are correct a 1/2 woulda been cheaper, but he is happy. My S10 is literally rotting away or I'd continue driving it. I may have to look further based on what you guys are saying.

Coworker has a 2016 Midnight Edition Crew cab, he was out the door for only about 2k less than my loaded 2016 F150 XLT Crew.
That said, his is a nice truck, if you don't need a full size.

Never heard a glowing review of the old Colorado. Rangers are solid, I've owned several. Don't ignore an older Nissan either.

Sadly, I am having to try much harder than I think necessary to continue being a Chevy guy. Have never owned anything without a bowtie. But the newer cars are just not "there" for me. Wrong colors, options and no manual in anything but the fleet model Colorado.
GM, if you're listening, you are really making it easy for the other guys. Just saying...