PREFACE: I know this is a DAKOTA board, but this caught my attention. BTW, this is not a bashing of the Colorado.

A coworker was given a Chevrolet Colorado as a rental car while his Sierra is in the shop. I haven't driven it, but did get a first hand look at the truck. My overall feelings are mixed. I like the exterior lines of the truck (it was a 4-door Z71, 30in tires...i think), but it seemed rather small compared to the Dakota. The interior was narrower, certainly less shouler/hip room and the back seat was a bit tighter. This truck has an inline 5-cylender engine. It makes 220hp. Although I did not get a chance to test it, it seems more than enough to move this vehicle (which weighs ~500lbs less than a quad cab Dakota).

Anyone have any experience with these American made trucks?

 

I like the look, but I'm not impressed with them in general. They are smaller than Daks, and have less power.

 

I like the look of the Colorado FAR FAR FAR better then the current Dakota. I owned 2 2nd Gen Dakotas and they were awesome trucks, and I liked them alot.

The Colorado would appeal more to me with a V8 or a serious 260hp V6 motor....

The SS Colorado's are sweet and they remind me of why I first wanted a truck in the first place. The Chevy Extreme Blazers and GMC Typhoons were why I originally wanted a truck.

 

The look is definately a good one for a truck...everything else though to me is crappy. I test drove one and it just didnt have the same umph or the handling that i felt the dakota had. now i didnt drive an SS or any more fancy model than just the base class, but it seemed to me of the trucks in its class it was the weakest (well apart from the ford ranger but i think their doing away with those?). I test drove a Colorado, F150, Titan, Frontier, Tacoma, Ram, and Dakota in my search for a truck, and of them all the Dodges seemed like the best of the bunch both handling and power wise frankly, the only reason i didnt go for the Ram was i didnt want a BIG truck
Apparently my neighbor agreed with me and traded in his 2005 colorado for a 2005 F150 recently :P

 

I test drove 2 Colorado's (both 4x4 crew cabs with the 5 cyl) before buying my Dak and they are grossly underpowered even when empty. I can't imagine how anemic they would be with any kind of payload. I'm ok with the looks, the interior has a decent layout but feels cramped, I just couldn't get past the inline 5. I actually use my truck as a truck and need a decent payload/towing capacity with the power to move it. The Colorado has neither.

 

We all know how you feel about the 05 & up Dak's, you never seem to miss an opportunity to rag on them. Just keep in mind that I'm not exactly blown away by the looks of your grocery getter either. I'll leave it at that...

 

I agree with a lot of the responses (except the one about the '05+ being ugly; it's funny, I used to like the last generation Dakota better too, but now I think they look very dated and very '90s). Anyways, one big advantage that was stated is the interior room of the quad cab.
I really feel like I am in a full size when I drive the Dakota. I didn't get that impression from the Colorado.

Just for fun, I did some price checking. Colorados are similarly priced to the Dakotas, but when you sit in one (Dakota) you feel like you have more of a vehicle.

 

Awwww, did I upset you with saying I liked the look of another truck over the Dakota? The Dakota is the best truck you can buy for the money.....hands down in my books. That DOESNT mean I have to like the looks of the thing.

I honestly could careless what you think of my car....and my "grocery getter" gets more looks then your truck does......and I'm referring to the opposite sex....not of other Dodge/Truck lovers.

Look, I dont like the whole boxy look that Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler keeps seeming to force on us as of late. The goofy front bumpers on the Dakota, Durango, Jeep Commander, and the new Nitro all look like the rubber bumper protectors off a truck dock. It just looks tacky. I've seen several great looking 3rd gen Dak's, but I'll continue to dislike this model until they do something about that front end.

 

I have to agree I don't care for the new dakotas or duh'rangos myself. I liked the earlier versions with the rounded more areodynamic shape.

 

DevilsReject's grocery getter is a damn sexy grocery getter... One of the best looking underpowered grocery getter sports cars ever!

and FourSevenDakota's Brickota looks great too... Probably the best looking small un-aerodynamic brick on the road!


enough joking...

I like the new Dakota way better than the previous generations. I think it has more style. I love the agressive look... However, I do agree that the new Durango does not look as good as the 1st generation.