Go Bottom Go Bottom

Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2006-02-26          125152

I've been doing a little research on small pickups. I'm thinking along the lines of a Chevy Colorado or Ford Ranger. I've had a two or three Dodges in the past that weren't much and I'd rather stay with a domestic brand. I think Ford still uses the 3.0 V6 that gave us good service in a couple Taurus cars, and Chevy uses a 5 cyl engine that I have no experience with, so just wondered if any one who has one could offer their thoughts, good or bad about the 5 cyl. Frank.

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
AV8R
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 882 North Central Wisconsin
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-26          125154

The five is a version of the six offered in the Trailblazer. It had some teething issues early on with dropping the #5 cyllinder sleeve (sleeved aluminum block), but, I think that has been overcome now.

I know little else on the five. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
wr5evk8jj
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 61 Haymarket, VA
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2006-02-26          125177

My recollection of the Ford Ranger was that it was a rebadged Mazda B2000. Don't know if that is still true though. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-26          125178

Maybe the Ford Ranger & Mazda badging is the other way around. Ford was selling a small Ranger like pickup (the Courier) before they bought Mazda. My Ranger was built in the Chicago Ford plant. Of course these days maybe the Chicago Ford plant is really a Mazda plant. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-27          125214

Ford had a marketing arrangement with Mazda long before the share swap.

Mazda sold Ford cars & trucks in Asia, Ford sold re-badged Mazdas in NA.

I have a friend who has a fleet of small service trucks, for years he had Mazdas & Toyotas and was happy with them. The local Ford dealer convinced him to switch to Rangers and the fleet was replaced in short order, with more Mazdas.

It seems that the Japanese design / American build just didn't work out well. They had repetitive break-downs with items that lasted the life of the vehicle on the Mazdas.

Best of luck. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
yooperpete
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1413 Northern Michigan
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-27          125218

Hardwood:
I'd suggest staying away from the Ford Ranger. It is a Mazda based design that I've heard has lots of issues. I haven't heard much about the 5 cylinder. Have heard rumors that gas mileage isn't the greatest. Also haven't heard much about the Dodge Dakota.

My suggestion is to get a real truck in the half ton category like a 1500 Chevy or F150. Have heard there are some good pricing incentives on the larger trucks that get you almost down to pricing of the little ones. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-27          125228

There is no such thing as an "American car" anymore.

Putting out a product with a defective engine... something so basic... speaks volumes about the corporate thinking.

They can blame the unions, but there is a deeper problem here. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
Peters
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 3034 Northern AL
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-27          125231

I think the Mazda is just a rebadged Ford with slight differences in the interior trim. The hardware was sold as a Ford before they started to rebadge as Mazda and stopped importing the Mazdas.
The Toyota Tacomas are assembled in Freemont CA and Baja CA.
The Ranger/Mazda are out of St Paul or Edison NJ. They are listed as Ford plants.
Colorado is made in Burlington VT or Shreveport LA. You can buy it as an H3 also.
The quality is sometimes quite different depending on the assembly plants with in the US. On some vehicles I would check the plant before I would consider it.
....


Link:   Ford Plants

 
Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo



Colorado 5 cyl emgine

View my Photos
kwschumm
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 5764 NW Oregon
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2006-02-27          125233

My Ford Rangers have been lousy. The 2.9l V6 (same family as the 3.0 I believe) had cracked heads from defective castings. The 4.0l was replaced due to piston slap and defective wrist pins and the new one is doing the same thing. Now they claim it's normal. Not to mention all the other stuff that has been replaced, sometimes several times. If you get one be sure to get the longest extended warranty they offer. Then sell it before it hits 100k miles. I've had two Rangers and the extended warranty more than paid for itself on both of them. I like everything about the Ranger except reliability. My business was the domestic automakers to lose and they lost it. ....

Reply to | Quote Post Reply to PostQuote Reply | Add PhotoAdd Photo


  Go Top Go Top

Share This
Share This







Member Login