Chevy Colorado Diesel?!?

[Jeff V.]

Maybe you're not familiar with big city life

Kansas City is plenty big, trust me. I spent several days in Dec driving an F250 as part of our office move. I do not look forward to that. With that said, the Colorado is a whopping 12-16 inches shorter than a comparable Silverado. We're not talking giant vs small here. We're talking giant vs less giant. The Colorado is still huge compared to the old early 90s compact pickups.

You keep overlooking the gas mileage argument plus the added luxuries that come with a new vehicle. Like a warranty...

Again, $24,000 buys a LOT of fuel. If this was going to be your daily driver or if you ran a business where it would be driven a lot, these arguments might make sense. But this is to occasionally tow a car that you built yourself knowing full well that it was utterly impractical to drive anywhere besides a track or on a very nice day.

You're basically trying to make the argument that you built a $30,000 toy, and now you need a $40,000 rig to tow it in $10,000 enclosed trailer....because gas mileage.

Does this sound ridiculous to anyone else, or is it just me?

Buy some land and a used gas powered truck instead of trying to figure out how to park $70-80k worth of diesel truck/trailer/toy combo at an apartment. The car would be just fine on an open trailer with a tarp. People do it with motor cycles, ATVs and snow mobiles all the time.

I would rather we get the Toyota with the 30 year old proven 4 cyl diesel they have been selling world wide for years.

The diesel engines in use in the current Hilux were introduced in the early 2000s. You're not going to get the Top Gear Hilux unless you gray market import an old one. Doing so would render your mileage and warranty arguments moot.

[Monochrome]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Again, $24,000 buys a LOT of fuel. If this was going to be your daily driver or if you ran a business where it would be driven a lot, these arguments might make sense. But this is to occasionally tow a car that you built yourself knowing full well that it was utterly impractical to drive anywhere besides a track or on a very nice day.[/quote]

No I also need a DD that'll get me to and from work at least 6 months out of the year. 110ish round trip miles a day.

Although this winter isn't a great example for needing it...

[Jeff V.]

Then get a used, gas 6 cylinder truck. Like an older Ranger or 4Runner. See about an aftermarket powertrain warranty or something.

Believe me, I get the warranty thing. I just had another $1600 worth of work done to my Audi. My out of pocket was $250. We're trying to talk Vira's mom into a CarMax car for the same reason. My two commandments are "Japanese" and "warranty". I ruled out some American cars because her husband has a massive hate boner for American cars. With that said, I don't think I've ever seen him do any work on his F250 besides basic maintenance.

[Monochrome]

I get the whole "buy/build a cheap truck" idea too. The swapped Raider idea would be perfect for a project nut like myself. ...but the Exocet and trailer alone are just over 5000lbs. The 6 cyl ranger Max payload is 5500. Combine that with only 17mpg highway at best.... Just seems a bit too much to ask of the thing.

The new Tacoma is the only mid-size gas truck capable of handling that kind of load. ...but for $44k.... It's steep for what you get. Used they're still going for low 30s!!!

The only appeal to that is resale but honestly, I want something to keep for 10+ years. Which is also the appeal of a new truck. Especially up here in the rust belt.

Still don't think I can bring myself around the idea to purchase a GM vehicle though....

Maybe I'm just over thinking all of this.

[Jeff V.]

Maybe I'm just over thinking all of this.

Yes. This. You're talking about a 10 year truck. What car have you had for 10 years? By this time next year you'll be talking about needing a 5th wheel hauler for some other crazy project.

If it were me, I'd be more worried about buying a house or at least a piece of property where you can build a house and a pole barn to store/wrench on all of this stuff. Buy a basic Fiesta or something to cover DD duties for a while.

[Monochrome]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Yes. This. You're talking about a 10 year truck. What car have you had for 10 years? By this time next year you'll be talking about needing a 5th wheel hauler for some other crazy project. [/quote]

That's the argument another friend just told me. "Greg, you're gonna get the truck then all of a sudden it won't be powerful enough to tow all your cars at once."

Can't argue with that.

[ChargerX3]

Build a Mighty Max to haul your crap. All the cool kids are doing it...

[Monochrome]

[quote=""ChargerX3""]Build a Mighty Max to haul your crap. All the cool kids are doing it...[/quote]

No one can find one.

[Jeff V.]

I know the gas mileage might not be quite what you want, but I believe this will fit your needs.

https://www.rbauction.com/2003-RENAULT- ... SP-2016263

[Monochrome]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]I know the gas mileage might not be quite what you want, but I believe this will fit your needs.

https://www.rbauction.com/2003-RENAULT- ... SP-2016263[/quote]

Yeah I seriously considered an old Uhaul or Penske box truck. Something enclosed and diesel powered. The challenge would be constructing a ramp setup to get the cars in/out.

[ChargerX3]

[quote=""Monochrome""]No one can find one. [/quote]

I found two.

[Jeff V.]

And none east of the Rockies.

It doesn't make sense to spend $1000 to get a $2000 truck home.

[DCIV]

I will find one. Just gonna take time.


Coop

[ChargerX3]

Actually found 3. Coop keeps finding some good ones out east. Just need to talk the owners down.

[Jeff V.]

Raiders or pickups?

I can think of exactly 2 V6 4x4 pickups. The two white ones out west.

There was also a beat up V6 RWD Sport out in North Carolina.

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/5316329822.html

[stealthee]

[quote=""DCIV""]Why the flip will no one make a diesel hybrid around here (aka in America).

Coop[/quote]

Cost to operate. In Europe diesel is anywhere from 5-20% cheaper than gasoline depending on which country you are in. On the flip side diesel costs around 10% more than gasoline in the US.

Another factor is demand is low for the small diesels in the US. It doesn't make financial sense for manufacturers to bring them here.

[DCIV]

So why is diesel cheaper over seas? Do they have the same emissions stuff we do here? Aka is VW in trouble overseas too?


Coop

[Jeff V.]

So why is diesel cheaper over seas? Do they have the same emissions stuff we do here? Aka is VW in trouble overseas too?

It's cheaper relative to their gasoline, but it's still a lot more than we pay here.

VW is in deep shit over there too.

According to this, at least in the UK diesel is a little more expensive.

http://www.petrolprices.com/

[stealthee]

Gasoline is also more expensive in the UK than it is in the rest of Europe, but yeah in general Europe pays about 1 1/2 times more per gallon than we do.

[Monochrome]

While diesel costs more per liter, the fuel mileage more than makes up for the cost difference. Hence why I want a small 4 cyl diesel.