Anyone familiar with the 04 - 06 Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon???

[KMPrenger]

Sorry for the long post...

Currently own a 2001 Ranger. Looking to move into a crew cab small truck and the Colorado is near the top of the list for me. Don't need or want full size capability, and looking for decent mpgs.

I found an 05 crew cab with 84,xxx miles, 2WD with a clean history for 11,495 off a Ford dealer lot. Hoping to get them down to around 11. The price seems great, in fact in my area this seems to be about 1,500 to 2,000 less (or more) than other similar Colorado trucks. I was totally ready to go look at and purchase this truck.

Then I came across the cylinder head issues with the 04 - 06 models. Anyone who has done research on the 3.5 inline engine has likely heard of the bad design of the 3.5 head which seems to be a ticking time bomb for valves not sealing correctly. Many seem to happen with low mileage, but there are just as many that don't need replacement until high mileage....you just never know. Now I'm completely and utterly paranoid that sooner or later....eventually the head will give out on this truck as well and I'll be stuck with a huge repair bill. (I'm seeing costs from 2,000 - 4,000 from dealer repair) This is a truck I would hope to own well into the 100,000 + mile range.

My brother is a tech for a GM dealer and so I gave him the VIN to check history and the head does not show up as being replaced. He said he has seen these trucks come in for this issue, and I even overheard another tech in the back ground say "Don't get it....buy a Silverado". In other words...they don't like the 3.5 engine.

Now I'm going over and over this in my head. The best options I can come up with are:

1) Pass on this and save up for a 2007+ model with the 3.7 engine (since it seems the head issue is mostly fixed on those trucks)
2) Buy this truck anyway since its already a few thousand or more less than any comparable 2007 + model I can find and roll the dice and hope for the best. If the heads go out, well then I'll just end up spending overall what I would have spent on a 2007+ model.
3) Buy a Silverado...even though I don't need or want a full size truck, but at least the dependability is pretty good.

It may be a long shot, but just looking for opinions or thoughts that I may be missing.

[upflying]

I owned an '07 with the 3.7.
The bad: Cheap looking interior, best was 19 mpg, noisy, rough ride, expensive when you could get a Silverado for the same price and mpg, based on an Isuzu from Taiwan.
The good: bulletproof engine and 4L60E transmission, 100% made in America
IIWY, get a Silverado or get what I have now, a Nissan Frontier..great truck!

[snizzle]

I have a 2005 3.5L MT. I've had no major issues with the truck thus far at 70+K. I've basically replaced the thermostat and changed oil since I purchased it. I've had a slight rattle in the transmission since day 1. The clutch was replaced by the previous owner and my mechanic could not find anything wrong during my pre-purchase check.

I agree with the last post. The interior is about as cheap as they come. The seats aren't comfortable. I have the ZQ8 street suspension so it's even rougher than normal which I regret to this day and only half noticed on the test drive (but blamed on the roads in my mind).

All of that sounds negative, however it's been a nice dependable pickup for me as a daily driver and the utility I've gained is worth the price of admission.

[mikeyg36]

Get the silverado