2020 Chevrolet Colorado: What to check before buying

A shudder or shake at cruising speed is the dominant complaint. Drivers compare it to rolling over rumble strips, usually under light throttle between 25 and 80 mph, with no warning lights or stored codes. Dealers often apply a transmission fluid flush under a service bulletin, but the shudder tends to come back within months. Some trucks then need a torque converter or a full transmission replacement, often just past the 60,000-mile powertrain warranty. Hard shifts from first to second gear and a grinding rear differential bearing also come up. Owners call the sudden shaking a highway safety risk.

Power steering assist can cut out suddenly, sometimes with a "Service Power Steering" message and sometimes with no warning at all. Owners describe steering that goes stiff at low speed, locks during right turns, or jerks hard to one side, and several report near crashes. One report involves an injury while towing a trailer. Dealers point to corroded electrical connectors in the power steering assembly, a repair quoted at $3000. The intermittent stiffness has shown up as early as 16,000 miles. A few complaints in this category also cover the key sticking in the ignition and repeated alignment problems.

A failed camshaft position actuator is the main engine fault. It brings on a check engine light and sometimes a sluggish truck at highway speed. GM issued a special coverage bulletin for this part, but some owners find their VIN is not included or that a salvage title rules out coverage. Other reports describe a thermostat failing before 50k miles, which leaves the cooling fan running long after shutdown, along with a temperature gauge climbing into the red. Oil cooler lines rust through and leak, and replacing them takes extensive teardown.

The infotainment screen goes black or turns into a pixelated green display. That also takes out the backup camera image. In one report the screen failure came before a dash fire in the parked, switched-off truck that set off the passenger airbag. Apple CarPlay drops connections mid-drive, which forces drivers to handle their phones. Other complaints describe a camshaft position check engine code and a key that stays stuck in the ignition long enough to drain the battery. Owners report paying up to $700 out of pocket for the ignition fix.

Only two reports fall here, and neither describes a typical belt defect. In one, a rented truck at 10,000 miles flashed a seat belt failure warning at highway speed. The brakes then would not stop the truck, smoke filled the cabin, and flames appeared underneath once it coasted to a stop. Two people were injured. The second report is crash-related but gives no details beyond an attached document.

At highway speed the brake pedal goes hard and the truck will not stop normally, so drivers have to use the emergency brake. One of the two reports also describes smoke pouring from the front and rear vents and an ABS warning light, with one injury. In the other, a dealer suggested a faulty vacuum pump as the cause. Both describe a sudden loss of braking while moving.

Two separate faults appear. Drivers say the low beams are too dim to light unlit back roads well. Separately, the third brake light seal leaks, water corrodes the electrical connections, and the light eventually stops working. That leaves following drivers without the center brake signal.