Just got off the phone with Chevrolet Customer Service after barely squeaking my 3 year old, $38K truck through my state's emissions inspection and figured I'd share this story for anyone else thinking of buying one of these things. I had nothing but great experiences with this truck while it was under warranty and love the motor dearly, but the below issue is likely going to be the end of this truck and could end up putting me in the tough position. I was betting on getting somewhere near my money's worth out of the car, and it's looking like it was a mistake for me to bet on this truck.
If you are considering purchasing one of these vehicles, I recommend reading below. If your situation matches mine, really think about why you wouldn't go buy a Tacoma and forget these trucks exist.
So, flash back to 6/2016, my '98 Chevy Blazer finally becomes too much, needing brakes, front end work, having ignition issues. I'm from a GM family, my family always bought cars new, drove + maintained them for 10-20 years, then sold them at scrap value. After getting a good couple of years out of the Blazer, I am looking for a car/truck/go-kart that will do 30MPG, actually carry 4 adults, and carry a bike rack for 4 bikes. I'm making OK money, but looking to buy a house in a couple of years, so I'm OK spending a little on a vehicle, but need something that isn't going to randomly crap out on me and that I can expect to be able to drive for some time.
I end up settling on the Colorado Diesel, because I'm thinking it will be a reliable vehicle that will deliver over 30MPG empty, but also allow me to transport 4 adults and haul mountain bikes, bonus points for having cargo space to work on the house and having torque numbers that will make it enjoyable to drive on the highway. The expectation is reasonable reliability in the long run, with some typical GM awfulness that I can fix in my driveway.
So, all in all, car delivers on promise. At ~20K miles I get a code (P24B0 or P24B1, I can't remember exactly) and start seeing others with issues, a recall, and some technical service bulletins about faulty diesel particulate matter sensors. I take the truck into the dealer, they put on a new sensor, light goes away. I am cool with this, don't think much of it. 1 bad sensor is no big deal, so if 1 trip to the dealer is all I need, great!?
Fast forward to 35.9K miles (warranty expires at 36K) and the same code from 20K is back, and I am close to the expiration of my warranty. I take it into the dealer after reading about some software fixes...and they totally botch the diagnosis of it. Tell me something might be wrong with the Evap system, reset codes, tell me to bring it back if the issue comes up again. Well, I'm a handful of miles from warranty expiring when I leave the dealer and sure enough, the issue comes back the next day driving to work. Now I am out of warranty. Bring it back to the dealer and they make it out like they are doing me a favor for not charging me to look at the issue...but they say they reprogrammed the ECM and send me on my way.
At this point I am nervous, but still not thinking much. There is excessive material out there suggesting that GM knows this is an issue. I have heard there's multiple versions of these sensors and there's multiple software fixes. My thought is that this is a known fault in workmanship of the vehicle, the dealer has already attempted to fix this issue, so I am in the clear if the issue continues.
Fast forward to 42K miles and the light comes back on. Truck is a month over 3 years old, warranty is expired, and I am in the escrow stage of buying my first home (IE: Committed to the deal, have very little $$), using the vehicle to commute, and due for my state emissions test. In my state, the vehicle is basically useless if it fails emissions. I do my usual ritual of scanning codes before taking it to the dealer, and it's a P24B1. I breathe a small sigh of relief, but also am rolling my eyes. I have a good feeling that Chevy will assist, but also know that I will have to go play along with the service writer's "we're doing you a favor by fixing the sh*t we didn't fix the first time around". I take it into the dealer, tell them it's the same code and that I expect them to look into it for me as follow up on the warranty work. Dealer makes a big stink about it, says that they will "try" and that there might be a diagnosis fee. I am livid, but not making a scene. I make it clear that I know the code, and expect the work to be covered.
I wait around for an hour or two, the mechanic comes out and I overhear him tell the service writer that they reprogrammed the ECM, but the issue wasn't present at the time of the issue. Needless to say, I am a little concerned, because the literature suggests that the sensor in question is used during conditions that occur intermittently. The system needs to be at a certain temp and a whole bunch of other things. So, of course, it is an intermittent issue, and it is starting to sound a lot like the 35.9K visit and I am genuinely concerned.
I go out to start the vehicle in the dealer's lot, on a 90 degree F day, and it says "ice possible, drive with care" - having never seen this before, I ask the dealer to take a look. Takes them an hour to find someone that knows enough to tell me that it's because of the ECM flash, and I just need to get it up to speed so the temperature sensor can get some fresh air. Having never seen that before, I am wondering if the prior ECM flash was actually performed?
Anyways, writing that off, I drive off the dealer's lot relieved to feel that this issue might be done with. I need to put some miles on before taking it through emissions, so I take it for a trip up to Maine from Boston, MA. Straight up 95, I let it run in steady state for a couple hundred miles to make sure everything is happy before taking it home and through inspection.
Heading home, light comes back on. It's 4 days before the end of July and I need to get inspected. I say to myself, "F this, I'm going to buy the sensor off Rock Auto, replace it, and be on my way". Get home, start looking for the sensor...can't find it anywhere. Now, I am nervous. I don't want to take it into the dealer and risk having to pay for a diagnosis, when they have a track record of failing to diagnose this issue already. Can't buy the part online. Can't afford a new car. Don't want to buy the sensor from a dealer, because don't want them to use me as an excuse in any future effort to get help.
I call Chevy customer support, hoping to get some help with my dealer. My thought, at this point, is that the issue is with my Dealer. I tell them the above history, tell them I'm cool with the fact that the car has an issue, but I need some support from them in getting me the service I need. They tell me they need to send it to a "senior" blah blah blah and I should hear back in 2 business days. Thankfully, 3 days later, the light goes off for a hundred or so miles and I swing it into the local inspection station and it passes. This was the 30th of July. Fast forward to today, 5 days after my original call, and I get some useless Chevy rep on the phone saying that my vehicle is out of warranty and they can't help. I made sure she understood that the issue started right off the lot. I made sure that she knew that all I wanted was some help dealing with my dealer.
So, I know the 369 ft-lbs of torque and awesome ride and this and that are peaking your fancy, but really think about whether you want to be in my shoes in 3 years. I'm sure a couple of folks will reply below saying "I haven't had any issues" or whatever, and you will tell yourself "the likelihood of this happening to me is so small", but stop, think about it. Do you really think this thing is going to have the same level of reliability as it's competitors? You could walk over to a Toyota dealer and drop asking on an mid-spec Tacoma and likely never have to see them again for out-of-warranty repairs. You could buy a f*cking Honda Ridgeline to move your lawn clippings on Sundays and burn 10K in dollar bills in your driveway.
Think about it.
-Max.
PS: Photos of my truck attached lest folks accuse me of being a Toyota/Honda shill.
If you are considering purchasing one of these vehicles, I recommend reading below. If your situation matches mine, really think about why you wouldn't go buy a Tacoma and forget these trucks exist.
So, flash back to 6/2016, my '98 Chevy Blazer finally becomes too much, needing brakes, front end work, having ignition issues. I'm from a GM family, my family always bought cars new, drove + maintained them for 10-20 years, then sold them at scrap value. After getting a good couple of years out of the Blazer, I am looking for a car/truck/go-kart that will do 30MPG, actually carry 4 adults, and carry a bike rack for 4 bikes. I'm making OK money, but looking to buy a house in a couple of years, so I'm OK spending a little on a vehicle, but need something that isn't going to randomly crap out on me and that I can expect to be able to drive for some time.
I end up settling on the Colorado Diesel, because I'm thinking it will be a reliable vehicle that will deliver over 30MPG empty, but also allow me to transport 4 adults and haul mountain bikes, bonus points for having cargo space to work on the house and having torque numbers that will make it enjoyable to drive on the highway. The expectation is reasonable reliability in the long run, with some typical GM awfulness that I can fix in my driveway.
So, all in all, car delivers on promise. At ~20K miles I get a code (P24B0 or P24B1, I can't remember exactly) and start seeing others with issues, a recall, and some technical service bulletins about faulty diesel particulate matter sensors. I take the truck into the dealer, they put on a new sensor, light goes away. I am cool with this, don't think much of it. 1 bad sensor is no big deal, so if 1 trip to the dealer is all I need, great!?
Fast forward to 35.9K miles (warranty expires at 36K) and the same code from 20K is back, and I am close to the expiration of my warranty. I take it into the dealer after reading about some software fixes...and they totally botch the diagnosis of it. Tell me something might be wrong with the Evap system, reset codes, tell me to bring it back if the issue comes up again. Well, I'm a handful of miles from warranty expiring when I leave the dealer and sure enough, the issue comes back the next day driving to work. Now I am out of warranty. Bring it back to the dealer and they make it out like they are doing me a favor for not charging me to look at the issue...but they say they reprogrammed the ECM and send me on my way.
At this point I am nervous, but still not thinking much. There is excessive material out there suggesting that GM knows this is an issue. I have heard there's multiple versions of these sensors and there's multiple software fixes. My thought is that this is a known fault in workmanship of the vehicle, the dealer has already attempted to fix this issue, so I am in the clear if the issue continues.
Fast forward to 42K miles and the light comes back on. Truck is a month over 3 years old, warranty is expired, and I am in the escrow stage of buying my first home (IE: Committed to the deal, have very little $$), using the vehicle to commute, and due for my state emissions test. In my state, the vehicle is basically useless if it fails emissions. I do my usual ritual of scanning codes before taking it to the dealer, and it's a P24B1. I breathe a small sigh of relief, but also am rolling my eyes. I have a good feeling that Chevy will assist, but also know that I will have to go play along with the service writer's "we're doing you a favor by fixing the sh*t we didn't fix the first time around". I take it into the dealer, tell them it's the same code and that I expect them to look into it for me as follow up on the warranty work. Dealer makes a big stink about it, says that they will "try" and that there might be a diagnosis fee. I am livid, but not making a scene. I make it clear that I know the code, and expect the work to be covered.
I wait around for an hour or two, the mechanic comes out and I overhear him tell the service writer that they reprogrammed the ECM, but the issue wasn't present at the time of the issue. Needless to say, I am a little concerned, because the literature suggests that the sensor in question is used during conditions that occur intermittently. The system needs to be at a certain temp and a whole bunch of other things. So, of course, it is an intermittent issue, and it is starting to sound a lot like the 35.9K visit and I am genuinely concerned.
I go out to start the vehicle in the dealer's lot, on a 90 degree F day, and it says "ice possible, drive with care" - having never seen this before, I ask the dealer to take a look. Takes them an hour to find someone that knows enough to tell me that it's because of the ECM flash, and I just need to get it up to speed so the temperature sensor can get some fresh air. Having never seen that before, I am wondering if the prior ECM flash was actually performed?
Anyways, writing that off, I drive off the dealer's lot relieved to feel that this issue might be done with. I need to put some miles on before taking it through emissions, so I take it for a trip up to Maine from Boston, MA. Straight up 95, I let it run in steady state for a couple hundred miles to make sure everything is happy before taking it home and through inspection.
Heading home, light comes back on. It's 4 days before the end of July and I need to get inspected. I say to myself, "F this, I'm going to buy the sensor off Rock Auto, replace it, and be on my way". Get home, start looking for the sensor...can't find it anywhere. Now, I am nervous. I don't want to take it into the dealer and risk having to pay for a diagnosis, when they have a track record of failing to diagnose this issue already. Can't buy the part online. Can't afford a new car. Don't want to buy the sensor from a dealer, because don't want them to use me as an excuse in any future effort to get help.
I call Chevy customer support, hoping to get some help with my dealer. My thought, at this point, is that the issue is with my Dealer. I tell them the above history, tell them I'm cool with the fact that the car has an issue, but I need some support from them in getting me the service I need. They tell me they need to send it to a "senior" blah blah blah and I should hear back in 2 business days. Thankfully, 3 days later, the light goes off for a hundred or so miles and I swing it into the local inspection station and it passes. This was the 30th of July. Fast forward to today, 5 days after my original call, and I get some useless Chevy rep on the phone saying that my vehicle is out of warranty and they can't help. I made sure she understood that the issue started right off the lot. I made sure that she knew that all I wanted was some help dealing with my dealer.
So, I know the 369 ft-lbs of torque and awesome ride and this and that are peaking your fancy, but really think about whether you want to be in my shoes in 3 years. I'm sure a couple of folks will reply below saying "I haven't had any issues" or whatever, and you will tell yourself "the likelihood of this happening to me is so small", but stop, think about it. Do you really think this thing is going to have the same level of reliability as it's competitors? You could walk over to a Toyota dealer and drop asking on an mid-spec Tacoma and likely never have to see them again for out-of-warranty repairs. You could buy a f*cking Honda Ridgeline to move your lawn clippings on Sundays and burn 10K in dollar bills in your driveway.
Think about it.
-Max.
PS: Photos of my truck attached lest folks accuse me of being a Toyota/Honda shill.
