Quick Silver Z

Though the repairs on my daily driver Ranger look great it is only a matter of time till the rust comes back through. I have the search for a small car narrowed down to a Mazda3 5 door hatchback but am really better served by a small truck.

The Ranger mark is dead as of 2011 (in the USA) and I'm not sure I would buy another if it were dipped in Ziebart. I have no use for an extended or crew cab and Nissan no longer makes a regular cab. Toyota does but they come with no creature comforts, power windows, doors, cruise, etc..

That leaves me with the small truck offering from Chevrolet (also dead after 2012) but now that I am doing my usual intense internet research I'm seeing lots of reliability issues.

Does anyone have or know someone with one of these buckets, whatcha thinky???

MVR 155

My brother in law has one (Z71, 4x4, crew cab, cloth buckets etc..). He likes it although he just got it earlier this year, I think its an 06. No issues with it to date.

Quick Silver Z

I’m looking at the 2.9 4 cylinder with auto trans, found one in “Jet Stream Blue”. Seems older models had problems with batteries, door locks, etc.. I could live with that and would consider GMPP but then I found this…

“Still, the picture is bleak. The IIHS has not rated the Colorado regular cab. The Colorado extended cab gets the top rating of Good in the offset frontal impact test, but that’s the only assessment performed on this cab style. The Colorado crew cab has received a full regimen of IIHS tests, and the ratings are Acceptable for frontal impact protection, Poor for side impact protection, and Marginal for roof crush strength.

The news does not improve with regard to reliability. J.D. Power and Associates predicts that the Colorado will provide average dependability over time. Consumer Reports is not quite as optimistic, predicting below average reliability over time.

The Vehix View
Poor side-impact crash-test performance combined with unimpressive dependability preclude us from recommending the 2012 Colorado, which, with the departure of the Ford Ranger, is now the smallest truck on the market. Unless you really want a sport truck with a V8 engine and aren’t concerned about what happens if you get T-boned in an intersection, avoid the Colorado."

HEB

I don't know if this will help,I had purchased a 2004 Colorado extra cab two wheel drive, auto in 2004 new. I had no major issues in 3yrs and 45,000 miles. If it had been a 4 wheel drive that I could have flat towed behind a motor home I would have kept it.

tommyn

I have a friend who owns a dozen of the base delivery trucks. He has had one bad apple over the past few years that ate several drivetrains. The others were beat like a hooker that ower him money and went 250000 miles. He usually retires them at 250k miles. I will tell you the GM corossion protection is not much better than ford. I looked at 40+ Trailbalzer SS's before I purchased the two I have. The bottoms of the doors are weak spots. I have pulled the door panels on my trucks and treated them with a heavy industrial rust preventive.

Quick Silver Z

Thanks Gents, if I had known corrosion was an issue I would have filled the doors with products on day one. This didn’t occur with my previous 2 Rangers so I plead ignorance.

I know what to look for if I bought another Ranger just hoping a Colorado would be at least as reliable.

Any input on the Mazda3???

jackhall99

Bob, I bought Jackie a new Mazda 3 in Jan., but at only 10 months experience with it (trouble free, BTW), my review would be marginal. It is a ton of fun to drive though.

RonsGS

Did you consider a Jeep Cherokee ? Not the Grand or Limited but a base or Sport model. I have one I use for work, It's a 99 with 225000 miles on it.It still runs good, the body is holding up even though it sits outside all year long.

Quick Silver Z

No, too much $$$, not enough MPG.

DevilDog II

Could I perhaps interest you in a 2011 Cruze RS with only 5,000 miles on the odometer?

Quick Silver Z

You could have before you started posting about what a POS it is.

DevilDog II

Actually, it's a great little car, but the 6-speed automatic transmission really sucks. It seems like it's always searching for the right gear, which is very annoying.

Quick Silver Z

Yes but that is a pretty major item to have issues with.

I’m leery of the CVT in the Subaru and the Mazd3a has a wiz bang techno tranny. How many 3 speed on the tree I’ve owned in the past, you put em in “D” and never (rarely) had a problem. It’s the search for improved mileage that is behind all the smoke and mirrors and then their creators don’t want to stand behind their creations once they go wrong.

Sadly, no vehicle comes close to perfect, I'm just trying to minimize future woes.

My days on needing a small truck are diminishing, maybe I can live with a rollerskate?

You're not alone Steve! http://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/Cruze/2011/

Black94LT1

I have a 2010 ext cab 4wd Z71 that just hit 10K miles (bought last Nov) and so far no issues. Overall seems well built and solid. I have no need for a full size truck and my previous S10 was 10 years old, so it was time for an upgrade before no small trucks were available.

DevilDog II

I talked to my son who works at a Chevrolet dealership and he says the Colorado is very dependable from a maintenance standpoint.

BMcD-Z06

Bob - I bought my son a new 2007 Mazda 3 sedan as a graduation gift - he went to ISU and saved me way more than his sisters did. The car has been nearly bulletproof. Good luck with your search. They make the MazdaSpeed model which could give you some cheap fun!

Quick Silver Z

A crew cab came in while I was a Piemonte getting the Nox oil changed. The guy had chronic door lock issues and was NOT happy. I asked the Service Manager about Colorado reliability and he made a face that would be hard for me to replicate.

He said the 5 cyl has valve problems that end with an upper engine rebuild, he said they have performed several. I told him I was considering the 4 cyl and he said “those ain’t much better”.

The salesman I was working with (Manager’s brudder) called when I got home and asked were we stood. I told him I could not find one Colorado review better then mediocre (glad yuz guys are having good luck with them) and he didn’t offer one word in their defense.

I test drove the Mazda3 and while a doable daily driver I have a squishy feeling that I’m turning in my “man car” by going from a small truck to a roller skate. I have been well served by my Ranger’s for over 18 years! Mazda low balled me on trade value admitting their man knows nothing about trucks so that deal is at a standoff.

At this point I might get new tires for the Ranger, do some DYI rust prevention (a little late for that) and hang on to it. In 2013 they will bring the completely redesigned Colorado from overseas to the US. Hopefully they can work out the initial bug over there. If the world doesn’t come to a Mayan end between now and then I’ll get my Colorado then.



FYI – If I see a big meteor heading towards us I’m carjacking the first ZR1 I see, just sayin’…

kevakasper

Is Honda still selling thier truck-let? My Dad has a Honda mini van ( Same basic drive train) and he has had 6 years of trouble free driving. Plus that thing gets close to 30 mpg.

kevakasper

Or.....I know where there is an '02 ZO6 that you could slap on some snow tires.....

Quick Silver Z

Nah, too much $$$, too little MPG, bed is small and weighs over 2 tons…