Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon Among Least Reliable Vehicles, Says Consumer Reports
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The Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon are among the least reliable vehicles available today, according to data compiled by Consumer Reports.
The publication recently put out its annual 10 Least Reliable Vehicles list, which uses data from previous model years to predict the future reliability of certain vehicles. CR studies cars across 17 different potential problem areas and gives them each a reliability score out of 100 after taking a variety of reported problems into consideration, from broken trim pieces and buggy technology to engine and transmission problems and more.
With a Reliability Score of just 26 out of 100, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups are the sixth least reliable vehicles studied by CR for this year’s list. The Volvo XC60 crossover and Tesla Model S electric sedan also received a Reliability Score of 26, tying them with the Colorado and Canyon. The 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 and 2021 GMC Sierra 1500 are also found on this year’s list.
CR reported seeing recurring “minor” and “major” problems with the six-speed automatic transmission in the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 model years, though it saw a reliability improvement in this department for the 2020 model year. Minor issues in the paint/trim, body integrity, body hardware and in-car electronics categories also contributed to the pickups’ poor performance in this reliability-based index.
CR uses some data from its road tests of vehicles when giving a vehicle a Reliability Score, as well, which didn’t play into the trucks’ favor. Judges previously criticized the Chevy and GMC midsize trucks for their “choppy” and “stiff” ride, uncomfortable standard cloth seats, awkward driving position and weak-feeling GM 3.6L LGX V6 engine, further contributing to the poor score.
The Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon also struggled in last year’s CR Reliability Survey achieving a reliability score of just 4 out of 100, placing the pair among the least reliable vehicles on sale for 2020.
GM introduced some light updates for the 2021 Chevy Colorado and 2021 GMC Canyon, including restyled front and rear fasciae and different trim levels and equipment. It will be interesting to see if the lightly updated versions of the trucks can improve their reliability in next year’s vehicle reliability rankings.
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I purchased a 2018 Canyon in January 2019. One week later after having told the dealership they sold me a truck with a faulty transmission, they put me in a 2019 Canyon. Right out of the gate I heard a whining noise as the gas remain applied. Salesperson said it was the high performance fuel system. Needless to say, it was not that. My truck stayed in the dealership for 94 consecutive days. I had to file a BBB claim and after not getting results from the dealership I purchased the truck from, I was sent to another one. The following morning a service representative told me out of the 15 documented issues I listed, they immediately discovered the cause of number 15 – “whining noise as the gas pedal is applied.” It was a faulty pinion gear. The truck stayed in their shop so long because there was not a replacement pinion gear to be found on the planet that would fit, and GM put up resistance for having a complete rear-end assembly replacement sent to the dealership from the factory The dealership parked the truck and waited to see if my BBB claim would win a buy-back of the truck. GM coughed up a replacement rear-end assembly, which was the only solution. BTW, if you file a vehicle BBB claim, you must say this, “I am requesting that you make a final attempt to repair this nonconforming vehicle of make/model with the VIN listed as….”
The journey went on with no more whining from the rear end. However, I thought I was going to have to take out extra insurance because the shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st promoted a harsh gear exchange, which made it feel like I was being hit from behind each time, continued to occur. Also, the truck would stutter when cruising at random speeds above 45 mph. The transmission provided the jerking effect as best simulated by sitting in the seat of a wooden rollercoaster as the lift pulls you to the initial peak. After three transmission flushes at less than 5000 miles, the harsh shifting and gear jerking remained. The dealership who serviced the truck ran out of solutions and started saying, “cannot recreate issue.” My BBB claim had granted me three payments for the 3 months it was in the shop and a 5-year extended warranty. So, I had a warranty on a vehicle that GM could not fix. Also, I went without a functional AC system for two straight summers. The AC would freeze up within 2 minutes of use. It also provided two options that I did not request – being that of ice delivery from the AC vents for my tea and moisturizer for my face also being sprayed from the vents. After 5 attempts of reprogramming the AC computer per different regional settings, none of them provided a lasting solution.
Folks should look up GM 8 speed TSB issues and their eyes will be opened to ongoing 8-speed GM transmission issues starting from 2015. A friend of mine purchased a Cadillac the same day I purchased the Canyon, from the same dealership. His vehicle has the same transmission issues, and it is an 8-speed as well.
I dumped the truck and left a note hidden inside for the next buyer that listed every issue I had with it, along with my phone number. With dealerships not thoroughly cleaning vehicles to sell as used, I knew my note would be found and the new owner contacted me. Of course I shared my poor GM experiences and advised that person to return the vehicle.
I now drive a 2020 Ford F-150 that have owned for 6 months now. To this day as I advance from a stop sign and/or red light, I tense up thinking I am going to feel that “hit from behind effect” I was conditioned to experience it from that poorly made GMC Canyon. Words to the wise, steer clear from anything GM makes that has an 8-speed transmission. If GM actually cared for their customers, they would not be 1) fighting the 8-speed lawsuit, and 2) would stop embedding the same faulty equipment in their vehicles as the years progress – in this case, their faulty 8-speed transmissions.
“choppy” and “stiff” ride, uncomfortable standard cloth seats, awkward driving position and weak-feeling V6 engine…
Almost sounds like a Tacoma.
My 2016 4×4 Crew Cab SLT Diesel has been stellar. While I have leather seats, the driving position is awesome.
I have a 2018 colorado extended cab 4wd and I love it! No problems at all. I had a 2005 canyon and liked that too but didn’t like the 5 cylinder it had though. I bought the 18 brand new and only have 12 thousand miles on it now. I drive a company vehicle so that keeps the milage down on my vehicles. As for the 8 speed trans it does start to stutter when I’m gently driving on back roads with hills and curves. Its like it wants to shift up to 8 as soon as it can to get the best fuel milage so I simply drop it into low and down shift one speed to get the rpm’s up then shift it manually with the button on the shifter till I get on the straights again and go back to drive. No problem for me. I’m very impressed with the engine as well. It gets up and goes like a rocket if I want it to.
I purchased a 2018 model with a 2.8-liter diesel. Zero issues after 78,000-miles. Would not be surprised to see this exceed 400k miles with ease. I take care of it but don’t baby it. CR is full of crap for the most part. I traded a Toyota Taco in for the Colorado. No issues with the Taco, but certainly not as nice a truck as Colorado.
2019 Colorado crew cab 3.6 4wd. Had a shudder in trans back to dealer in first 5000 had wrong trans fluid. 33,000 on it now and no issues. And “lack of power?” Has plenty.
I would be sure that CR would of nominated my neighbors 2019 Tundra pickup. I’ve seen that on the back of a wrecker more than I’ve seen it driven. But CR is notoriously anti domestic.
Who wrote this article?
They really haven’t done their research. I own a 2019 Colorado ZR2 and this trucks a beast. Its a V6 puts out tons of power. If you read this article dont be discouraged these are great trucks.
Wow so they are predicting poor reliability on newly introduced 2021 models? And how in the world can the 6 speed automatic be troublesome on the rarely ordered 4 cylinder or diesel engines when it’s the 8 speed unit from the 3.6 that garners most of the complaints? The 6 speed is reliable in any other applications. And I’m saying BS to the “weak” feeling 3.6 LGX as not only did that engine gain more bottom end torque it’s also tied to a 3.42 rear axle and the 8 speed does also liven up it’s response compared to the old 3.6 LFX setup. As to uncomfortable seats they surly are confusing the Tacoma and the Colorado. Note too that the 2021 GM twins now use a 6 way power seat instead of the old 4-way setup for greater adjustability.
i leased an 2018 colorado for 2 yrs and totally loved it , no problems . i avoid and ignore most all car magazine opinions because they have been biased against american cars for a long, long time .
I have a 2016 DURAMAX Colorado with 94000 miles on it. I have not had any issues. Never Really pay much attention to CR anyway. Seems to be a lot of misleading reports everywhere in our world today.
That is a very good tip especially to those fresh to the blogosphere. Simple but very precise info… Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!|
No surprise….I leased a 17 Canyon for a short time….transmission issues from get go. I still believe the 3.6L should be used as in suv and cars , only. Too noisey and not enough torque for a body on frame truck. GM had the perfect mill for the Colorado and Canyon…tried and true 4.3L V-6. GM uses OHV engines for full size pickups, why not for the mid size trucks, too? Existing OHC engines lack the grunt that OHV motors inherently have.
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Despite people dising CR most mechanics say the same thing. GM trucks are crap in recent years. My last 2 work vehicles purchased by my employer were Chevy Silvarado 3/4 ton, 4x4s and not cheap. The 2012 went through 3 transmissions, 2 transfer cases, electrical problems, and 2 rear axles. The 2018 was having transmission problems at 25000 miles, the mechanic who works on all our vehicles said all Chevy/GM vehicles are very unreliable. It’s a shame because the Canyon/Colorado have a great variety of options like 3 different engine options, locking differentials even in two wheel drive models, and some great off road packages. The trucks perform great, until they break. I’d buy one if they were reliable. But Ford Rangers only have a stupid DGI 4 cylinder lots of power but I don’t trust them. So I guess it’s a Toyota, at least they have good engines and transmissions.
For what it’s worth, a few years ago, one of the students in an engineering class I teach was a mechanic. He had experience tearing down and rebuilding transmissions. His opinion was that Ford’s transmissions were better designed than GM’s or Chrysler’s. He mentioned that Ford used sintered bushings in some areas where the others had sleeve bushings in similar applications.
The last place I worked was across the street from Mustang Dynamometer’s HQ. They build the dynos for smog test lanes and do contract work testing of vehicles on their in-house equipment. I’d go walking around the industrial park for my lunch break daily which included walking by Mustang’s building. I got the impression Chrysler was looking for something going on with the rear diffs on some Ram pickups. They would have the truck on a dyno up in the air with a big fan blowing on the radiator and a huge Caterpillar industrial chiller blowing freezing air on the diff in the back. They had the truck up there on and off for a few years running. I never found out what Chrysler was up to. It might have been nothing more than QA testing.
I had a couple Rangers back in the day when they had a 3L V6 option. The first one, a 1994, had a 5 speed manual 2WD and I had it eight years. It was very reliable except two different times on a six plus hour trip the ECU over heated and the engine started misfiring. It took hours of hot soak to cause the issue and it never happened around town. The other Ranger I had was a 2002 V6 overdrive auto trans with a limited slip diff. It was pretty good in snow thanks to the LSD. I disliked the auto trans though, it felt like there was a rubber band between my foot and the gas pedal. The Ranger was flex fuel and could burn E85 even though Ford didn’t advertise it. All fuel system parts were stainless steel and the owner’s manual said E85 is OK.
My current small truck is a 2005 Toyota Tacoma with 2.7L 2TR-FE truck-specific 4-cyl engine. That’s a great engine. It is a 4WD with a five speed manual trans. I really wish it had an LSD. It is pretty unstoppable in 4WD, but I can really tell the difference with the open diff in 2WD. Toyota totally sucked on the Dana-made frame though. The frame was under coated with something that looked like black Vaseline which washed off in less than a year and the frame rusted to pieces. To Toyota’s credit, they did a customer satisfaction action and replaced the entire frame, brake lines, leaf springs and fuel lines when the Tacoma was 11 years old. The new frame appears to be powder coat or maybe something like POR-15. I have put five more years on the Tacoma and it still looks good. The 16 year old sheet metal still looks practically show room new. The six-bolt hub front brake calipers have problems with the pistons seizing. They have four pistons, two on each side. I’ve had to replace three calipers so far. The other thing to keep an eye on is the breather vent on the rear axle. If it jams shut, you’ll get gear lube past the oil seals into your brakes – personal experience. The Denso A/C compressor is another potential weak spot. I like the plastic bed on the Tacoma – you can throw anything in there and not worry about scratching or breaking the bed.