Surfing the 'net while laying in a hospital bed, I took a look at DirtRoadTrip's site and saw the article on the new Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon and the baby DuraMax Diesel engine that will be introduced next model year.
A little backstory, I work at a GMC dealership and have been eyeballing one of these trucks for my wife. Initially I was going to hold out for the diesel version, some recent customer experiences with full size truck DuraMax engines in Mexico have me rethinking that engine choice.
I've had two customers that have taken their 2011 or newer Dmax's to Baja. Both have come home in limp mode due to emissions issues.
This could be completely coincidental or it could be fuel related. In '07 when US diesels had to start running ultra low sulphur fuel, and the trucks had particulate traps added to the emissions systems, there was a lot of concern in the desert racing community that we were going to have issues in Baja as many of our chase trucks were equipped with Diesel engines. This proved to not be that big of a deal with minimal/no issues with Mexican fuel, at least with my customer base.
I've not done the research to verify this, but I've heard that diesels are not available to the general public in Baja/Mexico, so parts/service are not readily available for them south of the border regardless of brand (GM, Ford, Dodge).
This has changed my thinking to sticking with a gasoline engine if I do pull the trigger on a new truck for Machelle.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone here has has issues with a DEF equipped diesel running Mexican fuel.
A little backstory, I work at a GMC dealership and have been eyeballing one of these trucks for my wife. Initially I was going to hold out for the diesel version, some recent customer experiences with full size truck DuraMax engines in Mexico have me rethinking that engine choice.
I've had two customers that have taken their 2011 or newer Dmax's to Baja. Both have come home in limp mode due to emissions issues.
This could be completely coincidental or it could be fuel related. In '07 when US diesels had to start running ultra low sulphur fuel, and the trucks had particulate traps added to the emissions systems, there was a lot of concern in the desert racing community that we were going to have issues in Baja as many of our chase trucks were equipped with Diesel engines. This proved to not be that big of a deal with minimal/no issues with Mexican fuel, at least with my customer base.
I've not done the research to verify this, but I've heard that diesels are not available to the general public in Baja/Mexico, so parts/service are not readily available for them south of the border regardless of brand (GM, Ford, Dodge).
This has changed my thinking to sticking with a gasoline engine if I do pull the trigger on a new truck for Machelle.
I'd be interested to hear if anyone here has has issues with a DEF equipped diesel running Mexican fuel.
