Opinions on the Chevy 2.9l 4 cyclinder

[MaryB]

My Ford F150 just ate a head and it is not worth repairing(rust bucket...) so I am truck hunting. Found a 2011 Chevy Colorado that is in decent shape but high miles at 191k. It has the 2.9l Vortec 4 cylinder engine and a 5 speed manual. Since I drive all of 200 miles a month most of the time I don't need fancy... and it is almost all highway miles... The Colorado is a fleet truck form a pest company, drivers basically had the truck full time and parked at home in their territory. Whoever had this one took very good care of the interior so i am thinking he kept up on maintenance of the engine. Interior looks close to new! 2 small carpet stains and the center console needs to be fixed(latch is broken, not a biggie). Has a nice cap on the bed with lids that open from the sides. One other thing to repair is the tailgate, latch on that is broken or disconnected maybe to prevent theft.

Price is right at $3995 so I don't have to raise/borrow to much cash... basically a beater for me to get groceries/doc appointments.

[popper]

High miles, probably a 2K$ timing chain job needed.

[Finster101]

Mary, I'm a GM dealership tech and I wouldn't touch that truck with a 29 and a half foot pole. The front rotors are captive so it's either a pad slap, find someone with an on car lathe or pay a lot of labor to get them removed. Replacement parts are becoming scarce and in my opinion just a poor platform. Others might chime in with how great theirs are and that's great. I'm just giving you my opinion.

[Rick Hodges]

Front brakes are $1000 most anywhere....includes front bearings that get trashed when they pull the rotors at $310/each side. That is a lot of miles on that truck. I drove a 2007 Canyon for 90,000 miles (5cyl.) and lived through one of those brake jobs. My guess is usable life of that engine is 200-250,000miles and you are almost there.

[Petrol & Powder]

A 2011 Colorado is the end of the first generation Colorado's (2012 was the first year of the 2nd gen).
That 2.9 liter Atlas engine is an in-line 4 that uses sleeved cylinders and an aluminum block & head.
That engine shares a lot of parts with the similar in-line 5 and 6 cylinder engines of the same Atlas family. The engine is a sophisticated (read that as complex) engine that utilizes dual overhead cams, variable valve timing on the exhaust side (most manufactures use that feature on the intake side), four valves per cylinder, coil packs for each plug and a very complex front cover.
I had a friend that had the 5 cylinder version of that engine and while he did manage to squeeze over 200K miles out of it, that wasn't a painless adventure. He had a lot of engine related electrical problems (starter, throttle control unit, various sensors and basic gremlins)

The manual transmission in that Colorado is an Aisin 5 speed and that's a decent gearbox. At 191K you're likely looking at a clutch job and maybe seals on that gearbox while you have it out. If the original timing chain is in that engine- that's a big job. Others have already mentioned the brakes.

The Colorado was built and marketed by GM but that is mostly an Isuzu design. That same truck is made is other parts of the world and sold under other names.
At 9 years old and 191K, I'm not sure I would go $4K. If you just need a "disposable" truck and can get it for less money; you might be able to get a few more miles/years out of it. I would be very reluctant to purchase it for $4K and be looking at brakes, timing chain, clutch in the next 2 years. You would be looking at another minimum $3K right there.

Just my $0.02 worth.

[john.k]

Its always worth checking /asking if any of that has been done ....new discs /pads easy to see,company truck might have a maintenance record.....And get the price down .

[MaryB]

Trying to get the maintenance record... front brakes must have been done they look new... we had it up on a lift and checked. Zero oil leaks, the frame is good for a MN truck(Colorado's have a weak spot in the frame that rusted out)... if it had the timing chain done it might be an okay truck. Clutch I can do myself, not that complicated or hard...

Max I drive is around 300 miles a month, most months barely 120... my truck sits for 2 weeks at a time most months!