Used Colorado or used Tacoma for double the price?

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Warlord

Warlord

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Oct 15, 2006
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Southern Ontario
In my search for a truck with decent mpg I’ve turned my attention to smaller trucks. I’m looking in the range of 2008-2012 4 cylinder trucks. The used market around here seems to price Colorados and Canyons at 8-10 grand and similar mileage and condition Tacomas at 17-20 grand. Ten grand in savings would pay for a lot of repairs and the GM twins seems to get similar or better fuel economy. I’m not a Toyota elitist so this situation is causing me some trouble.

What would you decide?
 
I owned an 07 Colorado. It was OK. I would not hesitate to buy another. the 4- and 5-cylinder get the same fuel economy and cost about the same to buy.
 
I have a 2005 5 cyl M5 base Colorado. Picked it up about 4 years ago now with 20k miles and a blown motor. Put in a new crate motor.
It is functional, but I am not highly impressed. Fuel effeciency is not as good as I would expect from the size of vehicle and power. IMO, a 4.3L short bed Silverado is a much better choice for almost every application I can think of, and they seem to get close to the same mileage.
As to the difference between the Colorado and Toyota, it's longevity. The Toytota motor will outlast the 4 and 5 cyl Colorado by an average factor of 2 to 3 times. Even so, I could not justify a used Toyota at those prices unless it was very low miles, great condition, and I knew maintenance was performed.
 
I think the older models had head issues and got significantly worse mpg. That’s why I’m only looking at 2008 and up.
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
You can buy a NEW colorado 4 cylinder for 17-20 grand! Under no circumstances would a used 4 banger Tacoma make any amount of sense.
+1
 
Originally Posted By: Warlord
I think the older models had head issues and got significantly worse mpg. That’s why I’m only looking at 2008 and up.


You read the thread on here where buddy's head cracked the and shop gave him an insane estimate to entice him to sell it to the owner of the place right? I think it was an 05 or 06
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
You can buy a NEW colorado 4 cylinder for 17-20 grand! Under no circumstances would a used 4 banger Tacoma make any amount of sense.


I should specify it must also be 4x4. In Canada we pay a lot more for vehicles.
 
If you are looking for a 4cyl Colorado, go new because they are cheap. I had an 08 and now a 11 Colorado/ canyon both 5cyl, they work good and no problems. I also can not justify more than twice the price of a Tacoma. For 08-12, you should be able to get them lower than $8k especially for a 4cyl
 
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
What caused the motor to blow ?

20k total miles or 20k after you purchased it .


20k total miles, and a valve broke (I assume it made contact with a piston). After removing the engine I noticed that also a number of cam rocker arms (forgot the right name for these) were off. It had fresh oil but somehow bad gas, revving it with no load, or something else must have thrown off the valve timing and caused piston/valve contact.

Was my #2 son's truck we bought new. He had some personal problems, and let the truck sit for an extended period (maybe 2-3 years). Took it in to get smogged (Cali with tailpipe sniffer) and said they reved it to redline by the sound of it. Let loose on the drive home. He asked me to buy it from him as a favor, and I did.
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
I think the Nissan Frontier 4x4 is going to be more reliable than the old Colorado, and way cheaper than the Tacoma.



Agree on the Frontier, but fuel efficient they are not. The turning radius is annoyingly huge on them too. We average about 18-19mpg with our 2017 Frontier crew cab 4x4, 4.0L, auto. Truck was purchased a few months ago with just over 8K miles on it for $23600.

IMO, the best deal going for a fuel efficient truck is a used Ram with the 3.6L and ZF8 trans. I'm averaging over 23mpg with mine (calc by hand) and bought the truck a few weeks ago with 12K miles on it for under $23K and it's a 4x4 with quad cab. It's seems huge to me, but gets better than small truck fuel economy.
 
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Yeah, 4 WD does make a big price difference, plus there is the dollar conversion rate difference.

I do a 1k round trip drive about once a month now. I find myself making every excuse in the book to take my 2013 C1500 Z71 5.3L Silverado. The Colorado gets exclusively used for local driving. Highway gas savings of my base 2wd std cab M5 small truck over a V8 auto trans 4wd extended cab "Luxo-Truck" are suprisingly not that much.
 
Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
I think the Nissan Frontier 4x4 is going to be more reliable than the old Colorado, and way cheaper than the Tacoma.



Agree on the Frontier, but fuel efficient they are not. The turning radius is annoyingly huge on them too. We average about 18-19mpg with our 2017 Frontier crew cab 4x4, 4.0L, auto. Truck was purchased a few months ago with just over 8K miles on it for $23600.

IMO, the best deal going for a fuel efficient truck is a used Ram with the 3.6L and ZF8 trans. I'm averaging over 23mpg with mine (calc by hand) and bought the truck a few weeks ago with 12K miles on it for under $23K and it's a 4x4 with quad cab. It's seems huge to me, but gets better than small truck fuel economy.


I don't think shopping trucks for fuel efficiency is really even worthwhile. How much are those Rams used? Way over budget in this case.

I went from a 30MPG car to a truck that gets 17MPG on a good day, and barely notice the differene in my fuel budget. Granted I drive both regularly, but still. Unless you're driving 2,000 miles a month I wouldn't really worry about it.
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
I think the Nissan Frontier 4x4 is going to be more reliable than the old Colorado, and way cheaper than the Tacoma.



Agree on the Frontier, but fuel efficient they are not. The turning radius is annoyingly huge on them too. We average about 18-19mpg with our 2017 Frontier crew cab 4x4, 4.0L, auto. Truck was purchased a few months ago with just over 8K miles on it for $23600.

IMO, the best deal going for a fuel efficient truck is a used Ram with the 3.6L and ZF8 trans. I'm averaging over 23mpg with mine (calc by hand) and bought the truck a few weeks ago with 12K miles on it for under $23K and it's a 4x4 with quad cab. It's seems huge to me, but gets better than small truck fuel economy.


I don't think shopping trucks for fuel efficiency is really even worthwhile. How much are those Rams used? Way over budget in this case.

I went from a 30MPG car to a truck that gets 17MPG on a good day, and barely notice the differene in my fuel budget. Granted I drive both regularly, but still. Unless you're driving 2,000 miles a month I wouldn't really worry about it.



I hear you, but in your case, that's a ~76% increase in fuel cost dropping from 30 to 17mpg. You don't feel that?

I know it doesn't mean much, but my 2017 Ram express 4x4 stickered for ~$38K. I bought it used for $22800. Previous owner owned it for 9 months.

I've seen a few other 1yr old similarly equipped used Ram express models in my area, priced in the low $20K range. Here's one: https://www.joececconischryslercomplex.c...86416df2337.htm
 
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