How are current gen Colorados and Canyons holding up?

Anything to be on the look out for, or suggested improvements to be made in the name of long term reliability?

How's the 8 spd Auto?

Not planning any frequent towing or hauling. It would mostly be a commuter/Lowes hauler.

They had issues with torque converter shudder early on, seems to be fixed. We don't seem them in for much other than maintenance, which is a good thing, because they are a nightmare to work on. I fortunately never got one with the torque converter shudder, but I watched guys trying to pull the transmission, and there were some really poor engineering choices. The engine mount essentially wraps around the starter, so you have to remove the engine mount to pull the starter, which seemed to be about a three hour process. Oil cooler lines are also another pain in the ass to do. Have seen some of them rot out on the earlier years in the model run.

Good info. Thanks for chiming in! I was hoping I'd hear from you. This would be for my wife's daily, which I've made a policy of not wrenching on for anything but the most minor issues. So, while servicability is something of a concern, it probably won't be a deal breaker.

In reply to STM317 :

Yeah, they've been pretty decent trucks. We see the occasional issue of the key not wanting to come out of the ignition, which I think GM has issued an updated shifter assembly to fix. And some minor intermittent infotainment system glitches that I think every manufacturer is fighting these days (screen goes blank, radio locks up, phone won't pair, etc.). They are terrific driving trucks though. They feel solid, like the entire truck was hewn from a single block of granite. That's the only way I can describe it. Much less jittery and flexy and rattly than the big trucks. And the 3.6L trucks have some serious snot.

I've got a 2019 Canyon crew cab, long box. It has 10,400 miles with no issues and my only complaint is that the seats are pretty hard. I've driven it to Gainesville and back and my back wasn't killing me, so the firmness of the seats isn't uncomfortable, it just feels like you're sitting on a seat, rather than in a seat. Just over 300 horses is more than adequate for my needs and I can sneak out 22-24 mpg at highway speeds. Overall , I like it, but I may throw a Recaro in on the driver's side one of these days.

It irritates me that they're calling a 74" bed a "long box," when a long box is 8'.

Other than that, I'm considering looking for one of these myself.  They're pretty much the modern K1500 in terms of capability. 

Edit: Apparently some of the 1st Gen trucks came with the 5.3.

https://www.coloradofans.com/forums/ is the best forum for the GMT-700's on the web, IMO.

Issues, mods, builds, how-to's etc.

Required reading if looking to buy IMO. There are Facebook groups also but not my bag. What lift? what tire, what tune? 24/7 

'16 Canyon SLT CCSB 4X4 Duramax here, bought new. I'd recommend the Hellwig rear sway bar. 

My dad has a 16 with the V6. It has asked for nothing in 60k. The stock tires sucked and the seats are not comfortable for anybody except him. They do long roadtrips cross country each year in it and my mom has complained every time about how bad the seats are. It hurts me on an hour drive.  I've towed 5000+ lbs with it pretty easily and it gets 22+ highway mpg.

One of the VPs at work had a diesel, '16 or '17, Colorado, that spent more time at the dealer than on the road.  Dealer claimed it needed injectors before it was a year old.  Injectors weren't available, they kept him in a loaner for months, until finally giving up and taking the truck as trade-in on a new gas burner Sierra.