Scotty,
I am looking to purchase a small pickup. Preferably 2020-2023 model years with less than 20K miles, ideally less than 10K. My girlfriend wants a small, newer truck she can drive, not a large 3/4 ton that she has to climb up into 🙂 🤣
I'm looking at three options - the GMC Canyon 4x4, the Chevy Colorado 4x4/AWD, the Ford Maverick AWD, and the Honda Ridgeline 4x4. (OK so technically that's 4 but the Canyon is just a Colorado with more bells and whistles.) No hybrid or FWD.
My concerns are:
- the ford 2.0 head had cooling issues (supposedly fixed but when)?
- the Chevy / GMC 8/10 speed trannys have a bad rep but in Silverados. Is that the case with the small trucks?
- I know nothing about the Ridgeline.
What are your thoughts, concerns, and what would you look for specifically? (FWIW -old muscle car guy here so I can do quite a bit of work but we're not talking a Chevy 454 with a TH-400 or 289 with a 4spd toploader 🙄 )
Thanks
-Jeremy
Interesting cross-shop.
1) Regarding the Canyon/Colorado: The V6 gas motor is a decent engine. Average to above average reliability. But the 8-speed transmission it comes with is a potential problem, including in the Colorado (with an ongoing class action suit). The baby Duramax comes with the 6-speed (which is fine) and is an all around better choice... if you can find one (they didn't make many).
2) The Maverick is a hot mess. The least expensive option on your list, but unless you have reason to get something that small I would stay away.
3) The Ridgeline is the best quality on your list. Very quiet and comfortable. Very reliable. Fantastic daily driver or road trip vehicle. The main knock on it is that it is not a "real truck", but really an SUV (Honda Pilot) with a bed. (By the way, so is the Maverick). There is some truth to that; it is not great for heavy hauling and is fair-to-poor off road. But for the way that 90% of people use it 90% of the time, it's fantastic.
You didn't mention Tacoma; that is everyone's favorite on this forum. It's a great mid-size truck but supplies are tight and pricing is distorted; which has made a lot of people very frustrated. You also didn't mention Frontier, which I probably wouldn't bother with, although some people like it (see the search bar above for some of the discussion on it).
Good luck!
Ridgeline
The Ridgeline would be the only one on the list I would ever consider, as others have mentioned.
If she really needs a truck with a normal sized bed, the Ridgeline is out.
I would look to an older tacoma in good condition, with good maintenance records, over much anything in the last few years. Very hard to find a newish Tacoma for any decent price.
