The Colorado more than likely has and IFS, also you can't take the doors or the top off. Well you can but it would take a while.

 

Want honest advice about the finances/reasoning?

It makes no sense to get rid of a perfectly functional, paid-off vehicle that still has life left in it. That's the accountant inside me. The best financial advice is drive a paid-off vehicle until it is no longer economically feasible to do so, wants be damned. The financial rule of thumb is to finance a vehicle no longer than 36 months, at no more than 10% of your gross income on a monthly basis. Paying cash is better.

You will be able to find parts for your Colorado for a long, long time. Probably longer than the truck will last. That shouldn't be a consideration. The Atlas 2.8/2.9 and 3.5/3.7 share lots of common parts and there's plenty of them on the road, you can practically find a 4L60E trans in just about any front yard in rural states, and the rest of the truck is GM parts bin stuff.

You probably don't NEED a Jeep, but you WANT one. The fact that you WANT a Jeep, and own a Colorado says you aren't in love with owning the Colorado. It does what it's supposed to, but the truth is, you're already cheating on it by looking for something more fun I really enjoyed my Colorado, but it is NOT a Jeep, and I fear you might come to the same conclusion.

It really comes down to what you want to do. If you haven't driven one, maybe you should go settle that. Take the top off, go drive around and get waved at by other Jeep owners like a celebrity, and then come chat about it on here with a HUGE community of Jeep enthusiasts who will tell you to buy one. Don't blame me if you buy it on the spot.


A correction to my previous post: The new NAG1 automatic transmission (2012+) is a 5-speed auto, not a 6-speed auto. It was built by Daimler (also known as the W5A580) and it's pretty good.

 

Do you know anyone with a JK? Maybe just swap vehicles for a week and test it out.

 

I love my 07 jk, had a z71 Colorado that I teased fir jk and I loved that truck. I honestly can't say I like one better then the other both are nice vehicles, I aftermarket wasn't as good for z71 as states above

 

If it matters; the reliability of a new JK will be about the same as a 5 year old Chevrolet.

 

It's a laughing matter, and then it's not. Both the JK and the GMT355 Colorado/Canyon have shared the throne at the bottom of the list for reliability, and at some points, safety.

Both rigs keep/kept me employed in my home garage, beer in hand, chasing down rattles and pecuilar noises, fiddling with poorly designed trim pieces. Neither of them ever left me stranded, though.

I can see why the typical Toyota-driving, non-vehicle-enthusiast, "Consumer Reports" buyer would shy away from the Colorado (or the JK, for that matter). My decision to purchase both of them was predicated on none of those reasons. I love small/midsize Chevy trucks, and I love me some Jeeps.

 

I don't know about that my 2006 z71 Colorado had over 100k miles on it and never had a problem with it, it still looked new when I cleaned it out before I traded it in last year. Then again I serviced it my self and always on time. I used it for work doing construction and I wheeled it quite a bit, the only problem I had with it was that my stock tires only lasted about 20k miles and I started getting flats ever month, my new rubicon already had the cylinder head replaced I have a feeling the engine won't last as long as that one in the z71

 

It would have to be a very close friend to swap a JK for a week. I could not stand it. If you want a Jeep, I say get one. We have had ours for over a year now and I still smile every time I drive it. I get to keep thinking about what is next for it. It would be very hard to get tired of a Jeep since you can always do just a little more to it to make it yours.

 

Like other people on this forum I too have owned a Colorado. I loved that Truck and miss it from time to time. It wheeled great I have no complaints about it whatsoever. I had a 6" suspension lift on it and some 35's I put a eaton E locker in the back in and it was a dream off road.

Traded it in for my 2013 Jeep sport and could not be happier. I'm still hitting the same mud holes beaches and trails without the lockers and the Jeep feels like it floats on top of all that. Yes I'm going to get another Eaton for the rear eventually but I love my Jeep the way it is now.

I always see lifted trucks on the road next to me at stop lights when I'm out. They all look at me with my top off and my doors off. I think they wish they could do that with their truck then I know I made the right decision.

Here is a picture of my last Rig and what I have now. Love them both glad I have the JK now

 

The reports speak for themselves. I agree with you, though. My experience was different. Granted, I only had my Colorado for about 30,000 miles and bought it new. It had the 3.7 5-cylinder. The 3.5 5-cylinder had a myriad of head issues in the early years, rivaling that of the Pentastar issues. No issues with mine to report in terms of reliability, but I experienced several annoying build quality issues. The bed squeaked/rattled since new. I tightened down the bolts to the frame to no avail. The headlamps fogged up with moisture in the first week. Back to the dealer for lamp assembly replacements. The automatic doorlocks made all kinds of noise, one of them didn't lock all the way at times. Never cared enough to take it to the dealer. The interior rattled to holy shit but I didn't care, it was a truck. And, every time I started it, it sounded like a bucket of bolts--apparently that is "normal" for all Atlas series engines, just a function of the cam tensioner on startup.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the truck. Not as much as I love my Jeep, but neither are exempt from a little build quality shame IMO. I literally wheeled the shit out of mine and ended up causing about $4k worth of damage by stuffing it 100 miles from civilization at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. That was a fun recovery. Smashed in the rockers and doors and had to dig the truck out.

Apparently Chevy runs deep around here. Lots of stories to swap about Camaros, and Colorados. SPCmario, did you go to high school in the area?