While many people buy trucks and think they’re going to be loading the bed to the gills and hauling mounds of miscellaneous debris, the fact is many don’t. But, for the buyer who will be using their truck like a workhorse, AutoGuide’s latest chapter in their ongoing long-term test of the 2015 GMC Canyon shows the truck is up to snuff.
The publication found it extremely easy to load and unload various hauls, highlighting the built in tie downs at each corner of the bed in the Canyon. One quirk they found, though, was the position of these tie-downs was too low for certain duties. This was easily remedied by the purchase of the aftermarket GMC tie-downs with 13 different adjustable positions.
The bed itself remained durable and barely scathed after moving a heaping pile of scrap wood with nails. AutoGuide reports only a few minor scratches. The coarseness of the bed material also came in handy, holding whatever the haul in its place with ease.
Overall, AutoGuide says, “the Canyon accomplishes everything you’d want from a solid work truck.”
The Canyon did show a few faults on the interior side of things, though. When attempting to use the rear seat room for extra space to haul, the Canyon’s seats can either be folded down flat, or the seat bucket can collapse upwards, leaving the floor for extra space.
When the seats are folded down flat, this means loading the rear an additional three feet higher, a tough task for some larger loads. But this is true of almost any truck. Option two, the buckets folded upward revealed a plastic storage area for small items, leaving the space unusable for larger things. The Canyon’s older brother, the Sierra, forgoes the plastic bin and instead leaves the whole space for use, something AutoGuide wishes the Canyon would adopt.
Overall, the publication walks away mighty impressed with the mid-sized trucks capability thus far, and we await the next installment of their long-term review.
Comments
I wanted to buy a Colorado or Canyon and did not. The weak spots for me are … too high off the ground and low headroom at the same time. AND the interior has tons of wasted space in the back… poor design. I bought a Silverado. Easier ingress and egress and well thought out interior. Maybe in a few generations they will get it right. For a truck that took so long they could have gotten it better.
Yea, they need to make it bigger so there is more room.
For the size of the Colorado the interior is pretty good. Also, it’s a truck so it needs to be somewhat high off the ground.
So you are telling me the 2015 Silverado I have sitting outside is lower than the Colorado I was in? I think not!
There is no wasted space just less unused space in the Colorado. That is the point of the smaller truck. Less unused space less weight extra MPG. That is why they sell both.
No kidding scott3. I agree with you. That is why I just bought a Canyon. You bought a Silverado for certain reasons (e.g., being larger, cargo capacity) and I bought the Canyon for certain reasons (e.g., smaller, MPG). To say it has low headroom is just not liking the truck at all. There was plenty of headroom. I think what Frances wanted was a Silverado for a Canyon price and that wasn’t going to happen. You have to pay more for bigger.
Toyota is coming out with a new Tacoma later this year and the top engine will be a 3.5 DI V6. For the few of us who still know how to drive this is good news: THE TOP ENGINE WILL CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE WITH A 6SPEED MANUAL!!!
Even the current Tacoma model, while not quite up to speed on fuel economy, costs about $10,000 less than a comparable Colorado / Canyon, and is built in a non union US factory. And you can expect to get 300k miles out one before anything breaks. I do believe the Colorado / Canyon cup holders are superior and will hold a Slurpee better.
Magirus,
Let’s not forget, though, the current Tacoma is also running a four-speed automatic and employing an archaic 4.0-liter V6. Sure, it’s $10,000 less, but it’s extremely past its prime. The new refresh fixes a lot of it for sure. We’ll have to await the inevitable comparison tests.
Cheers,
Sean
Sean it is beneath you as the reporter of this article or any of us for that matter to respond to our local know nothing magirus, but regrettably here I go as well. After pricing out the mid-size trucks online, combing the dealer lots and test driving all competing models in this class over the last several months, I have yet to find the price discrepancy magirus speaks of in similarly optioned vehicles. magirus, are you claiming you can find or buy a new base Tacoma for $11,000.00, or even a fully optioned 4×4 for around $27,000? Please list the dealer offering these deals and/or the source for you claim. Some of the folks reading this site who aren’t brand loyal may want to locate one of these smokin’ deals on a Taco of which you write.
Obviously the Nissan can be had the cheapest, because it is cheap quality and very old. The Toyota as it sits currently is woefully behind the new GM trucks in interior quality, driving dynamics and comfort. The major faults I personally have found with the Colorado/Canyon is GM leaving out fully powered seating for the driver and a V6 suitable for a truck. The 3.6 is a great motor and performed admirably during my drive, but it just did not feel robust enough on the bottom end for a truck. Works great in the Camaro and Impala, but didn’t feel right to me in the Colorado. Just my opinion but I take nothing from the 3.6 being a good motor for all its other applications. The 4.3 in the Silverado feels so much better to me at launch through mid rpm. I just could not get a good seating position in the drivers seat using what little powered adjustment is available and the manual recline combination. GM needs to offer the 8 way powered seats in these trucks, especially on the higher end LT and Z71 models. Leather rather than “leatherette” AKA Vinyl in the Z71 would be nice too. Waiting for the 2016 models to see if they rectify the seats and to try out the diesel, as I know the 3.6 is here to stay and the 2.5 is just not what I’m looking for.
Yes Shawn no need to respond to this one seriously as he really is just the local troll. He may be in luck the new Toyota may have more capacity to carry his BS.
The thing I see here with the Canyon and Colorado is this is only the stepping off point for this truck. What many have not understood is this truck will continue to evolve much more past the special paint packages offered as GM has much invested here.
We should soon see off road packages and I suspect even a ZQ8 package and other things as the truck settles in. This will be a growing segment as it becomes more and more difficult for the half ton to meet future MPG with the V8. I see this segment taking the half ton segment for some and many moving to the 3/4 ton as it will be the V8 focused group with lower CAFE Regulation to meet in the future.
The way trucks are packages and sold will change much into the future and the Half Ton class will see the most changes. Even Ford with All aluminum and Turbo V6 can not come close to what is needed in the future so it will be interesting to see if the next Gen Ranger comes here to replace the F 150. As of now Fiat has shown no signs of what they may do. I think they are still sorting it out.
Seems like too much is going on right now in the segment for them to stop production of half tons. Ford just did the aluminum and 2.7 start stop turbo plus there working on a hybrid. Ram out sold GM in Canada (small but impressive). And Nissan/Toyota are going cummins. Rumours of GM going aluminum also. Pretty hot segment if you ask me. A lot of talk about the Cayon and Colorado on the net, but no one I know personally has mentioned anything. I think the majority of there buyers will end up being new truck owners or current small truck owners. Cain’t see any guys at work downsizing in trucks. We have two small truck owners there now, and there both under 21 no kids. One of them I can see going to Canyon, but the other has been searching for big diesels. I’d love to have one at our shop tho, just for doing quik runs from shop to shop with my tools and small machine parts.
Ken this is a plan that will take at least 10 years to transform as the new regulation for 54 MPG kick in in 2025. While the trucks will not get even 54 MPG we still need many other cars to also improve as a hole to meet these numbers. It is a lot easier to sell a slightly smaller cheaper truck than try to sell more Sparks
The other things too that will drive them is price. Lets face it the Ford got more expensive as they hid the cost increases in their options. GM now you are looking at $45K for an average crew half ton and you load it up it is over $50K. Ten years ago that truck was $25K -$35K loaded.
You have to look big picture here. Start stop is not going to fix the MPG issue. Aluminum will help but it alone is not going to fix the MPG issue.
There is little forgiveness in the half ton segment on CAFE coming up but you can get away with more in the 3/4 class and that is why I also pointed out that they would keep it as the main full size truck. I never said they would totally remove the full size. Also they will be the focus of the Diesels.
As for Ram they are proof that you discount something big enough people will buy. The key it to get them to return and right now the return buyers of Chrysler products is 25% the second worse in the industry. My In laws are now finding out why with their new 300 why it was cheap and why people do not come back. My father in law already went back to a Chevy truck because of the car.
There is a lot that is going to play out here.
I’d have to look into it further but I remember looking into this before and seeing Chrysler and Dodge ranking low on returning customers but I didn’t notice Ram. Not sure how it is state side but as far as I know Ram is it’s own devision now. We’ve been on the fence about trading in our Ford Flex for a truck GM or Ford. We can use it for the family and towing a boat/ RV plus carry my old Honda two stroker. The mileage would be similar to the Flex without the ride quality of the Volvo chassis. But a canyon or a 2500? No way at least not as a replacement.
You won’t get 300k out of a current Tacoma if you use it as a truck….mine pulled an 17 foot boat and began costing big bucks at 185k