New Truck thoughts for 2011 Eagle

[Ace!]

Why would you consider diesel? What is it that diesel does for you that gas doesn't?

 

[buckland]

for one thing distance.650 miles vs 500 ... much more power at higher end torque. Longevity of engine, less maintenance,moving parts. I might think of more but only on first cup of coffee.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Your toyota will sell fast. Dealers wont offer anything close to a good value. Just park it locally with a sign in it. Sunday by the church has worked well for me;-). No craigs list weirdos either.

I think range and mileage is something you'll really enjoy. Its a big reason I always find my self trying to make the Subaru work vs taking the truck which does 15mpg vs the Subaru that can pending my packed gear do 18-32mpg

 

[buckland]

A friend just told me I can save $3000 at the dealership if I buy the new truck with the Costco auto buying plan....wow... definitely something to look into.

 

[snuffy]

you wont get that on a Colorado, there is only about $2100 markup before dealer holdback. The market is too strong right now on those trucks, they are selling very well. You can shop and maybe find a dealer who will sell for less than MSRP. Good luck.

 

[Tommydog]

Gentlemen
I stumbled across this web site and am intrigued by this discussion and your vehicles. I'm about 18-24 months away from retiring (and if I get annoyed enough maybe less) and intend to spend more time in the hinterlands. My plan was to get a pickup and camper, probably used to begin with because the Missus still takes some convincing - but an inside shower and toilet might help with that. And I do have buddies who'll go fishing with me even if she says we're sticking to resorts on trips with her.

I was thinking of a F-150, but a full sized pickup would probably just sit in between trips to the mountains, though I might use a smaller truck as a daily driver. So the idea of a camper on a smaller truck is appealing, but I'm concerned about putting a full sized camper on a smaller truck though it seems to be what you guys do. Do you find it works well for you? Are there downsides or compromises you feel you've made?

I do the see the Colorado/Canyons around me and could be interested in the extended cab version, but I found this comment about not putting a camper on them and curious as to whether you've come across this (if it's been previous discussed my apologies, but I didn't read all 11 pages of comments).

Thanks

http://coloradofans.com/forums/114-2nd-gen-chevrolet-colorado-forum-2015-gmc-canyon-forum/196594-truck-camper.html


Truck-Camper Loading
Information
The vehicle was neither
designed nor intended to carry a
slide-in type camper.
{ Caution
Adding a slide-in camper or
similar equipment to the vehicle
can damage it, and the repairs
would not be covered by the
vehicle warranty. Do not install a
slide-in camper or similar
equipment on the vehicle.

 

[buckland]

All welcome to happyville! or soon to be... Retired is a state of mind. About a slide in camper.... FWC pop up style it is not. It is a lightweight off road camper.... mine comes in at 800 lb dry... 1500 lb fully loaded wet...with people and dog. HUGE difference. A slide in camper is a road barn...one of those swaying monsters hanging out on all sides like .....well I won't say. Our pop up campers give us freedom to get into places off the beaten track...quiet...alone. But like life there are compromises... light weight small...a bit more roughing it....so small truck works.... you want shower stall and bathroom well a big truck is needed to haul that around. In the FWC on a small truck we are talking porta-potty. Like on a boat. A Colorado is more than enough truck for a FWC. If my little Taco can haul mine nuff said.

 

[iowahiker]

Truck and camper choice depends on your values, purpose, risk tolerance, and mechanical aptitude/bank balance (you can always purchase mechanical talent). The lightest trucks rated by the manufacturers to carry a camper are 1/2 ton regular cab long bed and 1/2 ton extended cab long beds so long as you stay below Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) which is on the door sticker. Many truck owners have values... compatible with putting campers on trucks not rated to carry a camper (Tacoma, Colorado, 1/2 ton extended cab, 1/2 ton crew cab...) and/or exceed GVWR. Almost all 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks are rated to carry a camper unless they have the snow plow package (someone plowed with a camper on and damaged the truck under warranty, so one or the other, camper or plow, but not both) as long as you stay below GVWR. Mechanical aptitude/bank balance is required to modify an unrated or overloaded truck to better handle the camper but you are out of warranty coverage. Long bed 1/2 ton trucks handle campers better because more weight is carried on the front axle since the camper has a more forward stance relative to the rear axle. Overloading and/or excessive rear axle loading can cause bearing failures, spring damage, poor braking, and/or poor handling especially in emergency maneuvering and even frame damage if the used vehicle is especially old/poorly designed. Vehicle repairs and modifications can mitigate these issues if they occur (i.e. mechanical aptitude/bank balance). My truck is totally stock and requires no modifications, repairs, or warranty conflicts and that fits my values...

 

[Squatch]

I looked at that website. My opinion is that most folks who checked in on the 1st 2 pages haven't a clue and just want to hear themselves talk.

I do agree with those who say it's a lawyer thing to keep people from putting a huge hardside camper in it though.

I looked at a Colorado recently. There were things I liked and things I didn't. I think it's light years ahead of the old one but still has a lot of typical GM stuff that turns me off. 1st and foremost. At 6' tall with the size of that truck I shouldn't have to duck to get my self inside a pickup truck. This isn't a Civic. It's as big as any 1/2 ton 10 or 15 years ago. If i can get in and out of my Smart car without ducking why should I duck my arthritic back to get in a truck?

My neighbor has a 3 year old Silverado that's lightly driven. Yep we are in the salt belt. but the chassis rust that's already on that truck is impressive! Seems typical for GM's these days. That tends to scare me away. Along with the price tag.

 

[Tommydog]

Thanks I realize I'm starting from a point of ignorance. I didn't even know that FWC was a brand of camper, but I see now. I'm in CA and in Sacramento often enough, so going to take a look at one in Woodland would be easy. I suspect a full size truck is probably more in the cards than a small one, but I'll research further.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Buckland I tried the costco purchase approach. In tge Bay Area participating dealers are near zero. The one dealer that called me had a non sales staffer call me and they would not talk numbers and I wasnt in the mood to spend an hour in the car going to a dumpy area only to get the classic dealer BS. In the end my local dealer after two weeks of negotiating. Went from a yr old 2015 at msrp to a new 2016 at invoice and the color we wanted. Took two weeks and two visits. One to go test drive, one to go pick up and sign the paperwork. But we had countless emails and phone calls.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

That dealer wasnt a participating Costco dealer. We got the car $100 below invoice. But there were over 150 cars within 70 minutes of my front door that potentially could have met my requirements and many were 2015's still sitting on the lot. The Colorado so far seems like Dealers are begging for more and cant keep them on the lot so negotiations are going to be tough. Both my Subarus oddly were the last car the dealer had sitting on the lot, and I easily got $400 below invoice. GM dealers deal with lots of math challenged buyers and are going to be really tough negotiators pulling all the dealer finance games.

My Toyota experience shopping around was 100X worse all our local dealers are owned by the same Auto Group and if I would love nothing more than to see our States Attorneys Office sue the crap out of them for regional price fixing and other seriously messed up regional manipulation. Like creating percieved limited availability by hiding inventory, buying up private sale vehicles that undercut their high inflated prices and all that BS

 

[buckland]

Okay then. A long strange trip it's been. I decided to jump and buy the 2016 diesel Colorado. Hell I'm gonna be dead a long time so I need a truck now that can get me 31 mpg and be able to go places. I being a Taco man, it was a hard decision. But that's the the whole story. The experience with dealers is just plain awful. ... I won't even start as it would be pages of ... bait and switch tactics... how do they sleep at night?
I went with Costco just to stop it all...
then I found a more local dealer who would do the same price.... phew.
Tomorrow I sign........... I have contacted FWC about the install of my Eagle on the Colorado ...have to raise it about 1.75" to be over the rail. I have seen both horizontal and vertical "2x4" additions to the base to raise it. Is there a benefit either way I am missing? any experienced advice about method (i.e. lag screws vs stainless wood screws ).... sometimes one has to just jump off the dock.

 

[Ace!]

Im excited to hear how you like the new truck!

 

[CALIcamperdad]

Looking forward to your trip reports. Costco is becomming the top selling service for exactly the reason you mention how horrible dealers have become. Glad you found a local dealer thats halfway reasonable. That was my experience with the Ford dealers also but there were no joke 130 cars within 70 minutes that met my requested options. Even with over stock the dealers were just stupid. I dont get it. I really dont. Soon people will push for direct sales because dealers have become so horrible.

 

[CALIcamperdad]

On a positive note geeze think of the range you'll have!!! Ha! ;-)