Comparison shopping: Colorado, Gladiator, Tacoma

[spectre6000]

Oh yeah. That is not to be discounted. I'm pretty sure at one point in time they counted old people being confused about how their infotainment systems worked as a fault against their "reliability" metric. They may be less... humorous when it comes to appliances or something, but for cars it's a rolling punchline. A data point, but one to be considered through a specific lens. That's why I'm 99% sure that the Colorado/Canyon/Camaro taking the 1/2 slot and sharing that transmission with an issue that's been resolved at the factory, and resolvable in the affected trucks with a simple warrantied transmission flush at the dealer is the reason for that position on that list.

 

[shade]

Oh yeah. That is not to be discounted. I'm pretty sure at one point in time they counted old people being confused about how their infotainment systems worked as a fault against their "reliability" metric. They may be less... humorous when it comes to appliances or something, but for cars it's a rolling punchline. A data point, but one to be considered with a heaping helping of skepticism.

I'm not sure they've ever liked the Tacoma, and at least some model years have proven to be popular, reliable vehicles. I've seen other questionable ratings from CR that didn't fit with what I'd learned elsewhere.

S6k, enjoy your new truck experience. Most vehicles today are less likely to leave you stranded or dead than those of a few decades ago, and we'll all say a prayer the next time we fill-up that yours will be a exemplary example of the finest work GM has ever done.

 

[jadmt]

I never gave two hoots about opinions on Consumer Reports. Buy it. Take care of it. Fix it. Have fun.

X10. I have never had an iota of trouble with any of my jeeps, yet my 2016 Subaru was plagued with issues as were some of the new Hondas I have owned.

 

[jadmt]

I wonder why there seems to be a correlation with some vehicles that CR hates and vehicles with best resale value?

 

[jgallo1]

I dont think I would ever trust CR, Book value, or even half the auto reviews out there.
Half the truck review videos I watch, they are engaging lockers and using 4wheel low when you could be driving right past them in an AWD VW wagon ha ha.

Also, I went and test drove the ranger last night. The slimy dealer of coarse was trying to get me to buy that night. He looked at my first gen tacoma and begged me to appraise it. I told him no way but he was so insistent I gave in. He showed me some book values and told me my truck was worth 3.5k ha ha. I knew it would be low at the dealer but that was insane. A 1st gen tacoma with 126k, and in excellent condition. More to point , I think for us who use our trucks and know the value, the best knowledge comes from honest peer reviews. Thats what I always look for.

With the Ranger I have mostly nothing but good things to report. The two hiccups I see are: the elbow rest on the door is in a strange place. You either need to be short or really tall. I am 6'1 and have the wingspan of a freakin condor that could be the problem. I always felt like I could not figure out where to put my left arm. The other one is the gauge cluster seems to be very cramped together. Other than that The truck was really fun to drive and you could actually see out of the windscreen.

It will be interesting to drive the chevy and jeep just to compare.

 

[spectre6000]

Do it. It's worth the effort. The Jeep is genuinely nice. Seems like a good build quality, and they let the designers do their job. It's just too big (1/4" longer than an old Ford Excursion) for a mid-size truck... The whole point is that they're smaller and more maneuverable. I already vented my gripes about the convertible premium.

The Chevy's interior seems less substantial than the Gladiator, but it fit me like a glove. I thought when I drove the Tacoma, that it would fit me as well since everyone complains about how you have to be short to fit in it. I'm about average Japanese height, so I figured it'd be great. Nope. The Chevy though... I can't wait to take it on a road trip! My left elbow falls exactly into the curve of the left armrest, and my right hand falls right on the shift handle when it's in drive, as if that's the natural terminus of the arm rest of a mobile La-Z-Boy. I felt like the seats could have used more bolstering, but that's probably because I'm thinking more sports car than truck with the way the DSSV suspension carries itself. In real life, I certainly won't be... well, maybe a little... I do live in a canyon that's pretty famous for the driving road... We'll see.

I spoke with the salesman today, and he said shipping typically takes between 1-3 weeks. So if my truck is built next week, I should be taking delivery in 2-4 weeks. 2 weeks is fine. 4 could be cutting it REALLY close with the baby...

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Personally, I think you’ll be happy in the Colorado. The front seats are comfortable, and the front of the cab is roomy. At 6’8” I’m very comfortable in my wife’s ZR2. My brother who’s only 6’5” daily drives a Z71 and he loves his truck (he does north of 20,000 miles a year on his vehicle).

 

[jadmt]

Test drove Gladiators in Sport S, Overland and Rubicon and gotta say all were super nice. If blind folded I would not be able to tell the difference. I drive a 4 door lifted rubicon and the Gladiator did not seem big at all in fact seemed really nimble. This was at Dave Smith and if you have ever been there they have 1000's of vehicles and parking lots are jammed packed and not problem navigating the lots.

 

[spectre6000]

Yeah... Aside from manual windows in the most base trim, there really isn't a ton of difference on the Jeep-Jeep (the rebadged Fiat and luxury SUV things aren't really Jeeps) interiors. The Jeep was definitely a close second. The interior quality was the best of all of them. If you're coming from a big floaty Jeep, I can see a stock Gladiator feeling pretty tight. In a lot of places in the country where you have big open spaces, that size probably isn't much of a liability either. Up here in the mountains, size can be a liability, and you need to be as small and tight as you can be while still getting the job done. For me, the size was a demerit, but not at all a deal breaker. A footnote, but still non-zero.

 

[jadmt]

I live in the mountains all our wheeling is in the trees and rocks. I don’t think the 6” extra length or 1.5’ Turing radius would make a difference for me Nor would the narrower by an inch gladiator. I would not want to take either one on the dusy ershim ?. The gladiator would be easier to upgrade to put bigger tires on to do something like the Rubicon trail with. Both are nice no doubt and I would chose either over a Tacoma or ranger.

 

[spectre6000]

Our driveway, like most of those around here, is super tight. I can get out with only a 2-point turn IF I pull into my parking spot just so. My parents were here this past week for Thanksgiving, and my dad needed a 4 to 5-point turn to get out with his JLU from my usual spot. Granted, he didn't pull in the right way, but I have one of the easiest and most open driveways in the neighborhood. Size matters on a daily basis, wheeling clearances notwithstanding. Plus, it's nice to be able to navigate parking garages, which I'll probably see about as frequently as the trails.

 

[phsycle]

It'be been over 2 weeks. Where is your truck?

 

[spectre6000]

Seriously! I actually just had a text conversation with the salesman. The last update was a week ago: It's built, but no assigned VIN, and without that piece of information it's difficult to get anything more granular. As of today, the story is unchanged. I asked if that was normal, and my salesman conferred with another more experienced salesman who says "no". The prevailing hypothesis is that maybe they're still digging out from the strike backlog... If anyone has any insight into GM's dealer inventory ordering system, I'd love to hear it.

This Friday starts the timeframe wherein "any day" is a good day for baby to come... We're hoping to keep her cooking right up to her due date, but we obviously don't have a ton of control over that should she decide to come early. If she was born in the same relative time frame my wife was, she'd be here Friday. Same scenario but with my brother in law, she'd be here tomorrow. The past is not a hard indicator of the future in this case, but it's greater than a non-zero probability. I guess if something isn't going to go exactly according to plan with this pregnancy, this is about the best checklist item you could hope for though.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It seem weird to me to build a truck with no VIN?

Good luck on kiddo, ours is 5 weeks today. Seems more like 6mo ago though... and it is amazing how much he has changed already.

 

[spectre6000]

I got the VIN today. It's waiting for a quorum to be loaded on a train and sent my way.

Update: our kiddo will very likely be here sooner than scheduled. It's looking more like 1 1/2 - 2 weeks from now. The damn truck is going to get here WHILE we're in the delivery room!