I did not take it as being snarky. You were right, I was not. I remembered the Mazda rotary (as I still think they advertised it) engine and my memory was flawed. It happens, especially at a “certain” age. No worries.
I own a 2006 Colorado with the I-5. It runs fine and I haven’t noticed any excessive vibration or noise. I haven’t towed much with it though.
How do you like it overall? Pretty reliable, good on gas? Would you buy another? (Looking for comments from the voice of experience here.)
What a dissappointment this product has been. I have always been a die hard Chevy truck guy. This is a 2008 4 Door Colorado 4X4 with a Z71 package. Here are the complaints…20K miliage.
Stuffing under seats is falling out, and I am not a big guy. Little pieces that looks like shop rags that are on floor between vacumings.
More seat complaints, it is a black woven material, if you have pets, good luck on trying to clean hair out of them.
If you lay anything on the front floor hump it disappears under seats and you tear up your hand trying to fish it out.
20 MPG is the best, that is puttering around. My 04 Tahoe 4.8 got that, and a 2000 Silverado with a 4.8 beat 20 also.
It always is shifting down, which is probally why milage is poor.
19000 miles and went its cold when it fires up , sounds like it has a death rap. I have always changed oil at 3k, I have to get it to a dealer, but I am so disgusted I will probally lose my cool. I gave it to my wife to drive.
Everything feels cheap, the 4 wheel drive indicator is just a pencil dot lite and it is possible to bump it in and not know it.
It is a glorified S-10, it only cost twice as much, now I am stuck with it and the remainder of the payments.
A friend of mine has a Colorado with an I5. It’s no V8, but it’s a stout engine.
A buddy of mine had a Colorado 5. Said it had all the power of a 4 and the gas mileage of a 6-
As far as GM aluminum engines go, are Land Rovers and Range Rovers still using the Buick 215 engine from the early sixties?
…and I’ll chime in.
My dad has one of these Colorados, with the 5 cyl. He thinks it’s a smidge under-powered, but he’s a fan of big V-8s (growing up, our family sedan had a 7.4L V-8). His assessment after (iirc) 25,000 miles is that it’s weak, but bulletproof. He tows a utility trailer to our deer lease containing a riding mower, and our rhino. IMO, this a fairly heavy load to tow through hills.
He wanted a larger F-150 sized truck, but needed something that would fit in his garage. The CO was a the maximum that would fit.
In short, he seems to want another (bigger) truck, but grumbles that the CO is “gonna last forever”. I don’t believe he’s had any trouble of any type with it.
He can get a Colorado with a V8 now, I think.
I was remined of the old Audi commercial, when they announced their new 5-cylinder engine; it was a dialogue between a German professor-type and a reporter:
(REporter): “Why five cylinders?”
(Professor):
“vell, four ist too small und six ist too bulky”
Why not use a V-6? Shorter block and even firing, plus less crankshaft vibration.
I drove an Audi with a 5 cyl. for close to ten years and more than 100K miles, with no engine issues.
A coworker is currently driving a Colorado with the five. Bought slightly used, has put at least 60K miles on it and no engine-related problems. Power seems adequate to me when I’ve ridden in it, but then I don’t need to pull stumps or always be the first to the next traffic light. The truck does have the cheesy interior fittings and trim that seem to infest all GM products, but the engine itself seems fine.
I suspect it was because some engineers got bored and decided to see if they -could- make one. Heck, look at the w16.
This useless post brought to you by ralph124c. Thanks ralf.
A friend of mine once took me for a ride in his Hummer H3, which is based on the colorado platform but with a bunch of extra weight added.
It was definitely lacking in power. I woudl equate it to the full size Ram pickup with the V6 engine. Will it do most things a pickup will do? Yep. Would I tow something really heavy with it? No. Does it get good fuel economy? I have no experience with this, but it appears the differ3nce between the V8 and the 5 is minimal, and I have found that the extra low-end torque can add up to better economy simply because you don’t have to be on the gas as hard to get up to cruising speeds.
I have a 2004 5 cylinder Colorado and have found the performance to be ok. It accelerates quickly enough. There are lots of quirks such as the cell phone eating area under the seats and yes, those seats do retain the pet hair. Still, not a bad truck. I’ve always had confidence in its acceleration to the extent that you need to have it. It won’t win a drag race, but you can get up to freeway speed quickly enough.
Wow … this one has returned.
As the OP, I’ll give an update. Circumstances changed last year such that we did not get a truck at all, and we’re going to try to make our current vehicle last a while longer. Still, I’ll thank everybody for their comments–good to know that knowledge about this kind of thing is here. Thanks again!
As for which engine to get, just get the V8, if conditions don’t warrant all eight cylinders, the computer will turn them off for you.
In my experience with Jeeps and other various trucks, the bigger engine usually gets better gas mileage because it takes less work to get it moving and keep it at speed.
The L-98 in my Vette had no problems reaching 30 mpg when stock. Now it has a hard time reaching 18. 
2005 reg cab 4x4 w/5-cyl and 5-speed tranny, 64 K on odometer. 24 mpg combined city and highway. Powerless mutha fer sure. 4-cyl Cobalt leaves me in a cloud of dust. EASILY!
This zombie has now been reanimated twice. Reported for potential closure.
Since this is about a situation long since past, I’m going to close it. If any of you gearheads want to talk about cars s’more, go ahead and start a new thread!
Ellen Cherry