Toyota’s lucky Chevy was too dumb to give us a proper Blazer

So when I bought my 4Runner, I was on the fence about a Bronco.

Both are solid vehicles, and I’m happy with my 4Runner, but I would have been happy with a Bronco as well in all likelihood.

Looking over at the pickup world, the Ranger and Tacoma seem like a coin flip proposition - especially when you start talking Trailhunter or TRD Pro vs Ranger Raptor.

Again, they seem pretty well matched.

But then Chevy goes and drops the Colorado ZR2 with the Bison package.

Factor 35s, and while the winch option is expensive, it’s designed for it - it’s not a hack your plastics type of job. All for a price that is going to run you equal or less than the Toyota product.

Frankly, it’s the only Chevy in a long time that has caught my attention.

If Chevy made a Blazer ZR2 Bison Package, and didn’t overprice it like the Bronco Raptor, they’d clean up.

 

I agree. The ZR2 is a nice truck. An SUV version of it would be pretty nice.

 

that 2.7L turbo has been working well in half ton 1500s.

If they ran a test of the ZR2 with price equivalent Rangers and Tacomas it should be interesting.

GM would be stupid to build a proper blazer though, if people are willing to pay the kind of money for Trail Hunters and TRD Pro Tacomas there is no need to build proper SUVs that are much more expensive to build and has negative consequences on their CAFE stats.

 

Nah.

 

I'm still praying that Chevy brings back the K-2 Blazer. You know, the ACTUAL Blazer. Not that wimpy mini-suv pos they're selling to suckers.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...lverado-v8-lease-of-two-door-life-182133.html

 

the Tahoe just needs a ZR2 package to call it a day. these days the number of 2 door buyers is not enough to warrant all the extra cost of a 2 door SUV unless there is a dedicated fanbase. Everyone knows Wrangler and Broncos but I am not sure how many people still remember what the Blazer used to be.

 

Doesn’t even need to be a 2 door…a four door proper ZR-2 Bison Blazer would be awesome.

Although as a backup, an Aussie style tray/canopy setup would be a good consolation prize for anyone that doesn’t need to keep instruments climate controlled.

 

Whoa whoa whoa, break a tie rod and have a cracking top before passing judgment on the Bronco.

I like the Bronco because it gave Toyota a kick in the ass to produce more off-road oriented features, but the Bronco has been very much unreliable.

 

2-doors are great for single people. I like the FJ Cruiser, even though they hadn't been sold for 5 years when I bought the 4runner and they were still super expensive used, but was warned that I didn't want to be putting a baby in the back seat by my brother who owned one. Even with the small doors that open to the back seat, it would have been a PITA.

Short term growing pains? Maybe. But 4-door in a mid-sized SUV just makes sense

 

I owned a 1 ton suburban in the '90s. You cannot pay me to ever own another GM product.

Absolute POS.

Even setting that fact aside, the blazer is simply way too small to compete directly w/ 4runner.

Did I mention that GM products are dumpster fires?

 

I’ve heard about those issues. Always tricky to take internet complaints, which represent real issues for real people, and figure out whether they are statistically significant in terms of quality issues or whether there is something else at play.

At minimum, these tales do point to opportunities for the aftermarket to come to the rescue for those who aren’t mall crawling.

 

I had a Chevy Silverado extended cab with suicide doors for the back when my son was born.

If anyone ever parked next to me, it made it more or less impossible to get my son in the car.

It got so bad that I carried ratchet straps to tie the baby carrier down in the bed.





And I’m totally kidding about the putting him in the bed thing.

 

GM of the 90s is different than today.

The 90s were not a good time for American made vehicles at all.

 

No you aren't! But don't worry, we won't snitch on you. We knoooooooooow what snitches get!

 

The funny thing is that my son has never ridden in the bed of a pickup driving down the road - you probably couldn’t convince him to do it.

Meanwhile, I’ve had my fair share of trips in the back of a pickup, including once having three of us in the back of an El Camino driven by a stranger who had just walked out of a bar.

 

I'd be inclined to check out a Blazer or Trailblazer if it was more like the version in other markets and not a Jeep/Bronco/FJ Cruiser retro-styled off-roader but I'm sure there's a laundry-list of things that make it "not suitable" for North America without extensive work - probably would need to be widened and made more aggressive-looking to fit American tastes. But overall packaging would be important to me as well.

There's also GM being bad at software (worst part of the Blazer EV, especially at launch and that Colorado update glitch leading to battery drain) and ditching the light switch in the mid-size twins.

Small things probably would end up bothering me though. I sat in a last-gen Colorado when car shopping three-ish years ago and I couldn't get over the light control dial graphics (in the ones I sat in) being misaligned. (I guess GM gets credit for "fixing" that though...)

I'm certainly willing to deal with a clutched 4Hi if it gives me 4-Auto functionality and the (technically) limited lifespan that has versus a locking center LSD but I'm probably not going to get into situations where it becomes a concern especially since such systems have been around for probably as long as I've been alive.

 

I probably could have gotten beyond that if they had stood behind their product and made good. But they treated a special order vehicle like we were an annoyance, what with expecting everything to work on it (like all 4 brakes at the same time... yes, that was a problem they never got fixed)

 

The current “Blazer” looks like a bloated Nissan Murano…

 

This country isn't exactly known for its high birth rates so it's not likely that all the people avoiding 2 doors are all people with small kids.

 

True, I remember riding in a lot of 2 doors when I was young. There weren't, however, a lot of 4 door options like you have now. Almost all trucks now have a 4 door option and even jeep changed the Wrangler years back to offer one.

If you don't have kids though, does a 4 door make sense? I guess if you need the extra cargo area. I'd like a small 2 door car (like a mini or golf) just to run around town when I don't need the extra space. Looks like fun

 

Dogs. Don't underestimate people's pampering of dogs.

 

I think 2-doors falling off is related to the rise of the crossover. Can only afford one vehicle? It gotta do everything alright and that includes space for family, friends, cargo (if the vehicle is physically shorter in length) and you don’t have the mess with the front seat to put stuff in the side even if you don’t yourself have kids.

I don’t think they cost significantly less either but I’m half-guessing there.

On related news, I saw a clean 2-door XJ Cherokee and it was looking nice.