It has taken me quite a while to finally land on wanting a small pickup truck when I come back from Hawaii. I feel like for the next few years, it will just match up well with my lifestyle rather than having a fast car, that can come later.
The three options I’m looking at are:
1 - '04+ Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon I5
2 - '05+ Toyota Tacoma V6
3 - '05+ Nissan Frontier V6
For either model, I want it to be a crew cab. The convenience of having 4 doors is very nice and allows me to have people in my truck without them having to crawl into it.
Also must be 4x4.
What the truck will be used for:
Light off roading. Really just for fun stuff, nothing major. Whichever truck I get will likely get a small lift and tires, but that’s it.
Towing/Hauling. I will need to tow my bike, multiple bikes, and snowboarders with the truck. So it will most definitely see some loads.
Daily driving from Buffalo to East Aurora for work. So gas mileage matters somewhat, but not a major decision maker since all three trucks should be fairly similar.
What I won’t be doing:
Hard off roading.
Major modifications. Not even an exhaust
So in terms of mechanical quality, interior quality/comfort, price, and just overall design, which would you choose? As far as styling goes, all three look good to me, so that’s not much of an issue. It certainly seems that in terms of price, the Colorado is winning. And I’ve been hearing pretty good things about them too. To be honest, I’m leaning more towards the Colorado already.
I would really like to hear from people who have owned any of these models as well.
Also I don’t really want to hear about Dodge Dakotas or Ford Rangers. :tdown:
just to let you know u can get canyons with a v8, i don’t know if 4x4 is an option with the v8 tho.
I don’t really care for the canyons all that much but i have never driven either of your other two choices. For what they are tho the canyons will do what you want i believe.
btw what is wrong with a dakota? i love my old mans truck.
But as your asking for yourself, I heard great things about the inline5 Colorado, the only downfall would be resale… guess it depended on how long you planed to keep the truck.
This has crossed my mind. I’m really not sure how long I would keep it, but likely a good while. The idea would be to buy the truck and keep it as the DD for an extended period then pick up a “fun” car in a couple years for the summers, but keep the truck still.
To be completely honest you could pick up a nice 1/2 pickup for about the same price,or cheaper, and still get about the same MPG.
I really like Tacomas, the v6 and 6speeds are fun to drive, but they are so damn pricy i’d rather just pick up a Silverado 1500 and have a “real” truck.
FWIW- my buddy had a Colorado with the I5 and he hated it. Always had problems with it, and the thing was GUTLESS
Super cheap materials in the interior, ride was horrible, I5 had no power (had trouble passing), rattles like you wouldn’t believe and the gas milage was worse than my father’s V8 silverado. The specific colorado only had about 25,000 on it too. BTW, I am a fan of chevy trucks, so I am not bias against GM.