New truck ideas?

I have a 05 Colorado. Went from a 01 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 to this. When I 1st bought It I had lots of problems. Such as Front end alignment out of spec. took 3 times to fix.

Body was out of whack. Parts did not match up. Took The dealer 2 times and they could not fix it. It was fixed at a Paint and Body shop.

I have the I-5 motor. I live In Ca. I don't get anywhere near the stated MPG That the sticker said.

60-65 MPH I get 16 If I'm lucky. I get a very loud muffler heat shield pop after it's warmed up. Dealer says its the heat shield above the muffler. Can't be fixed. I've learned to live with it. Would I buy another one ? NO. Do I like the truck ? Yes. Long trips cause elbow to hurt as there Is no padding on the Elbow rest. Never thought of that till the day after I bought it.

Don't apply much downward force on the hood when you wipe off the wax. It will push in easy and will dent. Have to watch that a lot.

Wind noise in cabin is bad. Motor is nice and quick in traffic and uphill climbs. Have the tow package, But never had to tow anything yet. It was on the truck. Told the dealer To take it off but he left it on and took the price of it off.

Good Luck. Anything else you want to know, Just ask.

Is the gas mileage of the small truck significantly better than the full sized truck with a 6 cyl engine?

It didn't look that way for 2006 to me and the smaller truck costs more so the payments are bigger.

I ended up with a full sized, reg. cab, 8' box, 6, auto/OD,3.23:1 gears, tilt,air and it gets average 20 mpg Canadian. We live 30 miles from town and lots of driving is done on the highway.

The factory estimates for the big and small trucks were similar for gas mileage since the small truck can't pull with highway gears. The small truck was way more expensive (don't have the figures off hand anymore) and too small for my needs.

- Regards Gordie

I would stay with a full size. Unless you want a smaller truck. I have a

2000 1500 2WD 5.3l and get 20 MPG. Just something to think about.

I've got an 04 1500 Crew Cab and get about 15 in town and as high as 22 on the highway (with the cruise set on 62). Recently went camping. There were

5 of us in the truck, had the bed loaded up with all kinds of stuff, and pullend a pop-up. Going there into a STIFF head wind, I set the cruise on 65 and got 15 mpg. On the way back, with little wind and the cruise set on 85, we got 18mpg. I was pretty pleased with both, and plenty of power and stopping power. I don't think the smaller trucks have much of an advantage in mileage or price and are a significant disadvantage on power and room. YMMV.

The fuel mileage claims I find strange as hell. Only 16 mpg on the highway running a slow ass 60-65 mph? Hell at 73 mph my '91 4.3 ltr throttle body in an S-10 Blazer, that's about as box through the wind as you can get, delivers 20-22 mpg.. Gotta be something wrong there. The 3.5 ltr I-5 has multiport injection, and should be getting better than that, and it weighs less. Whitelightning

I hear that. I took it to the dealer and they reset the computer twice and after about 500 miles to reset it maybe gets about 1-2 MPG Better. Then it goes back down again. They told me it had to relearn. But it gets no better then what I listed.

I've just been noticing that myself... the "small" trucks do seem to run about 500-1000 bux more then their larger siblings... find that strange. Figure the smaller truck would be less due to its lower utility... but then agian i guess most people get the smaller vehicle for looks are are willing to pay the premium. Although gas mileage isn't a CRITICAL factor for me, it does come in handy, but i don't see a reason to spend an extray thousand bux here or there to gain a few mpg, has to be a SIGNIFICANT improvement or it will take years to break even in the extra price of the vehicle vs saved fuel burn. I still love this rental i'm driving though, real brease to whip in and out of tiny apartment complex parking lots, recall taking no less then 10 whipsaws with my larger truck the other day to get it out of the parking spot.... But i'm starting to lean back towards a full sized truck a little bit more. Now then... being that i've never bought form a dealer... whats the best way to get the best price? Seems so many different companies are pushing "supplier" this or "something else" that kind of pricing, and it all seems to me they are just throwing buzzwords to get you to think you are getting the best deal. Any suggestions? (this goes for ALL makes, even the japanese ones)

"Sigwings" wrote in message news:YeednUZJw8DyI9bZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

I know this is a Chevy site, but the new F-150's are pretty nice, and with the right engine, fairly fuel efficient. Plus, The prices have become very competitive. You should at least check one out for a test drive.

I bought mine using Supplier Pricing and it was a good deal. You might be able to haggle down a little lower than that, but not worth the time for me. If I was buying new and couldn't get supplier pricing, I would first go to Edmunds and get their fair value pricing, then visit two dealers and let them know that I was going to be buying that vehicle this week and tell them they are competing against each other and whoever gave me the best deal gets the sale. And do NOT spend more than an hour at either dealer. Once you make the initial visit, do everything else over the phone and have them fax you the write up so you will know every charge.

If you want to go to higher miles per gallon get a Duramax. The little gas burning grocery haulers really don't get very good mileage. I got 18.35 mpg yesterday doing a 212 mile loop through the northern AZ mountains. Started at 6,600', went down to less than 4,000', back up to over 7,200' and back. Drove the speed limit up to 65 mph.

Ron '06 Silverado 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed Dually 4x4 Duramax HO Diesel with Allison 6 Speed Automatic

I ran the numbers before I bought my gasser. Can't justify the better mileage by the premium for the diesal.

Diesel prices are higher now than they should be based on the cost of a barrel of oil because the governments low sulfur requirements that became effective January 1. As I understand it only about half the diesel refined in the US now can be sold in the US. That will change late this year when most major refineries complete the new units required to produce low sulfur diesel and diesel prices should once again be cheaper than regular unleaded.

Ron

i have a freind that works in the engine dept at a GM dealership, and he loves the i5 engine in those trucks...he's never made so much money before in his life as he has since they came out...he really hopes that gm keeps the i5 in production so he can keep rebuilding them....as for me i've been a die hard chevy fan ...and i work on them on a regular basis..but if i was to voice my thoughts on the trucks i've see roll out of GM the last few years..i'd probably get kicked off this sight....quality control is a thing of the past...mind you the other big two out of three are not any better....

So are you saying he like's working on them because there junk ?

"So are you saying he like's working on them because there junk ?" those are not my words ...but ya. thats what get out of that...that's his take on the I5 engine...i personaly haven't had any come in my shop but any day i expect to see one off warranty hanging off the towtruck...my issues are the truck line up in general...sorry mostly gas lineup...fuel pumps, rear disc brakes,O2 sensors and fairly new

4x4's that are not fit for the road...seriously unfit..because the front ends are falling apart....by the time the owner comes in with a compaint, its, inner, outers, (tie rod ends) uppers and lowers.(ball joints)....everytime.....right rear disc brakes hanging up till there's nothing left....front wheel bearings/hubs on 4 wheel drives...i'm busy as hell because of this stuff but i'm not a optamistic as my freind...i still have to stick up for chevy trucks cause i drive one... but its a 1989 4x4 ...i'm only the second owner but plan on being the last owner. i don't think chevy made anything worth bragging about since the mid 90's or at least anything you can depend on anyway...but that being said...after a dozen or so beers, i'm still the one who stands up in a crowd and shouts"i'd rather push my chevy, than drive a ford"

Cool, I asked as I have a I5 in my Colorado. But I bought the 7yr GM Plan also. :)

Thanks for the info.