2024 Chevrolet Colorado: A nice ride but notable for what it lacked
Revamped for 2023, the small truck has won accolades for its comfort and speed. But issues during test week coupled with low reliability ratings and some missing standard features drag it down.
2024 Chevrolet Colorado 4WD Z71 Crew Cab: An everyday hauler with a bit of economy over a full-size pickup.
Price: $47,075 as tested. Z71 Convenience Packages added $3,000 for a variety of “options” like a tilt and telescoping steering wheel, map pocket, and rear armrest, but also heated and ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, memory seats, and more; sunroof, $1,000; trailering, $620; blue paint, $395.
Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend called it “comfortable as a daily driver,” liking the “high payload and towing limits,” and “handsome, straightforward interior,” but not that it had “some cheap interior fittings” and “quality concerns.”
Marketer’s pitch: “The most awarded midsize pickup of 2024.”
Reality: A bit stripped-down, and savings can be hard to find.
What’s new: The Colorado was all new for 2023 and carries into the new year mostly unchanged. It offers one engine with three dramatically different tuning levels.
This is disappointing for what it didn’t have. I didn’t think a truck without adaptive cruise or Sport mode was a terrible thing as long as it’s priced right. This is not priced for that, though, and those missing features are especially troubling considering it’s the middle of five trim levels.
The Driver’s Seat point: I try to focus these reviews as if I were someone who landed at an airport and got one of these cars as a rental. I didn’t have to pay for this one, but it was waiting for me at PHL when I landed, so there’s no pretense this time around.
Competition: Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, Toyota Tacoma
Up to speed: The 2.7-liter turbocharged engine creates 310 horsepower in the model tested. The also-310-horsepower LT version gets to 60 mph in 6.0 seconds, according to Motor Trend. The test vehicle got onto I-95 from Island Avenue with ease, and I was quickly overtaking other vehicles.
Shifty: The 8-speed automatic transmission features a real gearshift, a low mode, and buttons to let you select gears if needed.
Somewhere in either the engine or transmission lurked a balkiness that would occasionally rear its head. Pulling out delicately could be a challenge; it felt like the first time I ever drove a stick shift, but it was an automatic.
In the same vein, slowing down suddenly and then resuming your original speed challenged the Colorado. It could take a long second to find the right gear before getting you on your way.
On the road: But as for handling, the Colorado behaved nicely on highways and around town. Like most small pickups, it stayed inside the lines easily. Interstates, side roads, they all went by without challenge, certainly more than can be said for some larger pickups.
Country roads could be a bit more challenging, so easy, fun handling was not to be had. Chevrolet should up its game; the competing Ford Ranger XLT delighted me going wild in the wilds.
And in all situations, the ride was definitely bouncy. Rough roads were enhanced greatly, even for a truck.
Driver’s Seat: The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat and I had just spent two hours on a Spirit Airlines flight (Verdict: Not as horrible as we’ve heard) and found the Colorado front seats a delightful reprieve. And the feeling remained even after a couple days back to regular life as well.
Sadly, the dashboard menu controls could take a long time to respond to input. I toggled the screen through various menus a couple times before it actually caught up; same for the dashboard brightness.
Friends and stuff: Rear-seat headroom and legroom were tight, and there was no space for feet underneath the front seats. The seat itself is as plush as the front, but sits up fairly straight. Narrow doors hampered entry-exit.
There’s a tool kit for tire changing underneath the rear seat but not room for much else. The seat back does not fold down.
All Colorados are now four doors with 5-foot beds, easy to remember, but perhaps not checking all the boxes you might hope.
Towing maxes out at 7,700 pounds.
Play some tunes: The 11.3-inch infotainment screen seemed larger. A lone dial controls volume, otherwise it’s into the touchscreen, which is pretty and fairly simple.
That stubby dial led to a moment of technological comedy. While trying to turn up the sound, I scraped the front of the screen and suddenly the music stopped. “What the f—,” I muttered, only to see my words captioned back to me on the screen. Maybe the search function should sit somewhere else, although hilarity did ensue. (This is probably a good lesson in having my bad habits thrown right back at me, now that there’s a Sturgis Grandkid 1.0.)
Sound from the system is pretty good, about an A-. The equalizer can zero in on the tough parts, but the only surprises came when my swearing was typed back to me on-screen.
Rearview: More swearing occurred when the rear camera turned itself off until I could get the vehicle rested and restarted. A quick restart failed to fix things.
Keeping warm and cool: Big dials control the temperature, and buttons handle everything else. Round vents on the corners and center rectangles are all easy to direct.
Night shift: The low beams sit far too low to be useful, pretty much in the danger zone.
Fuel economy: As in most small pickups, this was dismal, just under 17 mpg.
Where it’s built: Wentzville, Mo.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Colorado reliability to be a 1 out of 5. General Motors does have a long track record of trouble-prone debuts.
In the end: I had planned to run the review as a companion to the Tundra pickup review a few weeks back, but I learned of a stop-sale order on the Colorado in February and couldn’t immediately confirm that sales have restarted. They have.
There’s a chance some of the issues in the test vehicle were pre-production issues, or addressed by the stop-sale.
Though it’s a nice drivable truck, there are many reasons to choose a Ranger XLT, Gladiator, or Tacoma, even if the Colorado’s troubles are ironed out.
But when I think of the options list and wonder if there are actually $40,000 trucks out there in 2024 without tilt wheel, adaptive cruise, or an armrest, I just shake my head. That’s pretty cheap for a company that made $19.3 billion in 2023.