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Reliability report · 2016 Chevrolet Colorado · Updated July 2026 · ~$2,950/yr fuel · what it costs to keep →

The steering year — 695 complaints, three-quarters of them a power steering failure that got the 2015 recalled and left the 2016 out.

The 2016 Colorado is the loudest single model-year in this nameplate by a wide margin, and the reason is not the transmission everyone associates with these trucks — the eight-speed did not arrive until 2017. It is the steering. Owners describe the electric power steering assist cutting out mid-drive with no warning, usually announced by a StabiliTrak or traction-control message, sometimes cleared by shutting the truck off and restarting, and eventually not cleared by anything. Several report it happening four or more times. One writes that he cannot let family members drive the truck because they are not strong enough to turn the wheel when it fails.

What makes this a walk-away rather than a caution is the coverage picture. GM recalled the 2015 Colorado for exactly this — a poor electrical connection in the steering gear causing loss of power steering assist — under campaign 16V054, then NHTSA opened a formal Recall Query into whether that campaign was broad enough, and GM issued a second campaign, 21V213, covering 60,681 trucks. Both are model year 2015 only. The 2016 owner pays for the steering gear. Unless the truck in front of you has a documented steering gear replacement and a test drive long enough to provoke the fault, there is a better Colorado two model years down the road.

Evidence: 695 NHTSA complaints · 4 recall campaigns · 2 mechanic & forum sources

Canary status

Fainted

What that means: 695 federal complaints — more than three times any other Colorado year we cover, and 45% of the nameplate's entire 2016–2023 file. The overwhelming majority describe the electric power steering shutting off without warning while driving. The identical failure, with the identical diagnostic code, was recalled twice on the 2015 truck. Neither campaign covers the 2016, and the repair is on the owner.

CalmChirpingSquawkingFainted

695

Federal complaints

4

Recalls

Known issues

Ranked by the cost of ignoring them. Every claim carries its source.

Electric power steering cuts out while driving — recalled on the 2015, not on this year

major

This is the year's defining problem and it dominates the complaint file. The assist disappears without warning at any speed, and the steering goes from normal to needing both arms in an instant. The usual signature is a "Service Power Steering" or StabiliTrak message arriving with or just before the loss, a restart that clears it for a while, and a fault that eventually stops clearing. Owners who got a scan report code C0545 — the torque sensor inside the sealed steering gear. That is the same part, the same code and the same failure GM recalled on the 2015 truck twice: first under 16V054, then, after NHTSA opened a formal Recall Query into whether the first campaign reached far enough, again under 21V213, covering 60,681 trucks. Both campaigns list model year 2015 and nothing else. One owner reports the failure four separate times; another writes that the owner's manual tells him to restart the truck and says it is safe to keep driving. Provoke it: drive the truck at least twenty minutes, including from cold, do slow full-lock manoeuvres in a car park, and watch the driver information centre for any steering or StabiliTrak message. Ask directly whether the steering gear has ever been replaced, and get the invoice.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2016 Chevrolet Colorado (true count 695) · NHTSA recall database, incl. campaignNumber resolutions for 21V213 (RQ19001), 16V054 and 18V358

High-pressure fuel pump can detach — recall 18V358, fire riskmajor

The high-pressure fuel pump can come away from its mounting flange and damage the high-pressure fuel line, which NHTSA describes as creating a fuel leak and increasing the risk of a fire. The remedy is free — dealers replace both the pump and the high-pressure pipe. The campaign is small (895 vehicles across nine GM nameplates) but this year is squarely inside it, so it is a straightforward VIN check with a real consequence if it was skipped.

Sources: NHTSA recall database, incl. campaignNumber resolutions for 21V213 (RQ19001), 16V054 and 18V358

Two driver airbag recalls, and they are not the same campaignmajor

The 2016 carries two separate frontal-airbag campaigns for the same defect on different build populations, and a truck can be in one, both, or neither. 16V125 covers trucks built 19 January to 2 February 2016; 17V621 covers a wider 2015–2016 population and did not begin until November 2017. In both, the driver's airbag may inflate improperly during second-stage deployment in a high-speed crash, which NHTSA says increases the risk of injury. Dealers replace the module free. Because the two campaigns ran nearly two years apart, an owner who had one done may reasonably believe the airbag is settled. Check both by VIN.

Sources: NHTSA recall database, incl. campaignNumber resolutions for 21V213 (RQ19001), 16V054 and 18V358

Centre console lid latch — recall 15V807, a safety-standard failuremoderate

Trucks built in a four-week window in late 2015 have a console compartment lid latch that may not hold the door shut in a crash, so whatever is stored in the console can come out and strike the people in the front seats. NHTSA records it as a failure to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 201 on occupant protection in interior impact. The latch assembly is replaced free. GM followed it with a goodwill gesture for affected owners, which is a useful hint that the fix was disruptive enough to warrant one.

Sources: NHTSA recall database, incl. campaignNumber resolutions for 21V213 (RQ19001), 16V054 and 18V358

Front differential housing — a free Customer Satisfaction Program almost nobody knows aboutmoderate

GM has a Customer Satisfaction Program — a free repair programme short of a recall, run quietly and gated by VIN — for trucks whose front differential housing was made with a 12 mm hole in the top surface. If the hole is there, the dealer rebuilds the front axle with the correct housing at no charge. The programme's stated scope runs from 2015 all the way through 2022, which makes it the widest in-band programme this nameplate has, and it costs a phone call to check. Do it before you buy, not after.

Sources: NHTSA manufacturer communications, Chevrolet Colorado (Customer Satisfaction Programs and Service Updates)

Rear axle c-clip, hood striker, HVAC shaft and a dash water leak — the 2016's small-print programmesminor

Four more free GM programmes land on this year, and each explains a symptom you might otherwise read as neglect. A missing rear axle shaft c-clip causes brake squeal from the rear, brake pulsation, and accelerated pad and rotor wear. A hood striker that corrodes can fracture, and GM's own wording is that the hood may then open while the vehicle is being driven and block the driver's vision. A crack in the heating and cooling module's temperature door control shaft can make the air come out up to 33 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than what you asked for. And an improperly sealed vertical seam near the driver's-side dash lets water onto the cabin floor, giving wet carpet and a mildew smell. Check the carpet under the driver's mat, run the heater to full hot, and listen at the rear on a slow brake application.

Sources: NHTSA manufacturer communications, Chevrolet Colorado (Customer Satisfaction Programs and Service Updates)

The one thing this year does not have: the eight-speed shudderminor

The transmission shudder that defines the 2017 through 2020 Colorado is genuinely not a 2016 problem, and it is worth saying plainly because it is the first thing most buyers have heard about these trucks. The eight-speed automatic arrived with the redesigned V6 for 2017; the 2016 runs a six-speed, and its complaint file contains almost no powertrain cluster at all. If you find a well-sorted 2016 whose steering has been dealt with, it does not carry the transmission risk of the years that follow. That is a genuine point in its favour — it is simply outweighed here.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2016 Chevrolet Colorado (true count 695) · Independent mechanic and owner channel transcripts (2nd-gen Colorado)

The power steering has failed 4 times. This is the same problem that the 2015 Colorado's had. There was a recall on the 2015 models. There has not been a recall on the 2016 models, but the problem still exists.
From an owner’s federal complaint. Unverified; one voice out of 695.

Open recalls

Free fixes at any Chevrolet dealer. Run the VIN — “completed” isn’t always completed.

  1. 18V358High-pressure fuel pump may detach from its mounting flange and damage the fuel line, risking a leak and fire; pump and pipe replaced free (2016–2018 Colorado; GM 18188).closed
  2. 17V621Driver's frontal airbag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in a high-speed crash; module replaced free (2015–2016 Colorado and Canyon; GM 17387).closed
  3. 16V125Driver frontal airbag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment; module replaced free (2016 trucks built 19 Jan–2 Feb 2016; GM 28030).closed
  4. 15V807Console compartment lid latch may not keep the door closed in a crash, FMVSS 201 noncompliance; latch assembly replaced free (2016 trucks built 25 Aug–24 Sep 2015; GM 16370).closed

What it costs to keep

The purchase price is what you negotiate. These are the numbers you live with afterward — each one sourced, none of them blended into a fake total.

The ownership picture — 2016 Colorado

Three sourced numbers. No fake total.

Fuel

21 MPG combined (18 city / 25 highway) for the RWD, 3.6L on the EPA federal fuel-economy test.

Source: FuelEconomy.gov (EPA) — EPA’s federal fuel-economy test, recomputed with current gas prices. EPA record 36591 (Colorado 2WD).
Other builds EPA lists: 4WD, 3.6L 20 MPG · 4WD, 2.5L 21 MPG · RWD, 2.5L 22 MPG · Diesel 4WD, 2.8L turbo 23 MPG.

$2,950/yr

at $4.15/gal · 15,000 mi/yr · 55/45 city/hwy · pulled Jul 12, 2026

Crash losses

Insurers lose about 18% less on this vehicle than on the average car. Lower collision losses tend to show up in what you pay for coverage.

Source: HLDI — the insurance industry’s loss-data institute — HLDI collision losses, 2015–16 models, published December 2016 (report R-16). 100 = the all-vehicle average. Series read: Chevrolet Colorado crew cab 4WD.
Other series: Chevrolet Colorado crew cab 81 · Chevrolet Colorado ext cab 76 · Chevrolet Colorado ext cab 4WD 76, where 100 = average.

82 vs 100

18% below average

Theft

Stolen about 67% less often than the average vehicle. One less thing to price into coverage.

Source: HLDI — HLDI whole vehicle theft losses, 2016–18 models, published May 2019 (report WT-18). 100 = the all-vehicle average. Series read: Chevrolet Colorado crew cab 4WD.
Other series: Chevrolet Colorado crew cab 44 · Chevrolet Colorado ext cab 96 · Chevrolet Colorado ext cab 4WD 39, where 100 = average.

33 vs 100

67% below average

Why there’s no single “cost to own” number: sites that promise one are guessing at your insurance quote, your annual miles, and your luck. These are the numbers we can actually source — and each one carries its receipt.

Shopping this year?

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Before you buy

Print this
  1. 01Drive it at least twenty minutes, including a cold start, and treat any "Service Power Steering" or StabiliTrak message as a deal-breaker — this is the failure that defines the year.
  2. 02In a car park, do slow full-lock turns in both directions, forward and reverse, feeling for effort that suddenly goes heavy.
  3. 03Ask outright whether the steering gear or torque sensor cover has ever been replaced, and ask for the invoice — a repaired truck is a genuinely different proposition.
  4. 04Have the truck scanned for stored codes and specifically ask about C0545; it points at the torque sensor inside the sealed steering gear.
  5. 05VIN-check all four recalls as completed — and check both airbag campaigns separately, because 16V125 and 17V621 ran almost two years apart on different build populations.
  6. 06Phone a dealer with the VIN and ask about the front differential housing Customer Satisfaction Program; if the truck qualifies, the front axle rebuild is free.
  7. 07Pull the driver's floor mat and press the carpet for damp — the dash-seam water leak has its own free GM programme for this year.
  8. 08Run the heater to full hot and the air conditioning to full cold and check the discharge temperature actually matches; the HVAC control shaft cracks on this build.
  9. 09Brake gently from low speed with the windows down and listen at the rear for squeal — a missing axle c-clip is a free fix that also chews pads and rotors.
  10. 10Price a steering gear replacement in your area before you make an offer, and assume you may need it.

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