[airspirit]

???

Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

Jeez ... while I am undoubtedly one of the more sarcastic and cynical people you'll run across and I have no problem sharing that aspect of myself, I actually was being serious there.

For a long time, Chevrolet has been selling their trucks on the "comfort" aspect, rather than the "performance" aspect. More development, especially in their compact pickups, has gone into the interior and extenal styling than into the mechanical soundness of the vehicle. Coming from someone with a stack of experience in the automotive field (I have done way too many things in way too little time ... part of my work involves consulting with a dealership, and I once SOLD both Fords and Chevrolets), I have seen more problems come from the S-10 than any other pickup on the road. This isn't just one or two model years, but across the spectrum. What people find is that they can buy an S-10 for as much as $3K less than a Ranger (or a Dakota, which still has some questionable issues, especially in the transmission, though is generally of much higher craftsmanship than an S-10), and get a nice looking/driving vehicle, until it starts breaking down. What they also find is that once they start breaking down, they never stop. This is something I see on a daily basis, and it disgusts me that Chevy/GM isn't doing anything about it.

That said, I have also seen the successes that people have had with Rangers, by comparison. While the interior is much blander (except on some of the newest models, and even then it is just a minor improvement), the interior features last longer (nothing is worse than worn internals in a Chevy ... the plastics they use are too malleable and wear like crap). There are also comfort disadvantages to the Chevy in terms of how they sit (Chevy goes for plush, Ford goes for firm, and Dodge is schizo on the issue). However, when you compare reliability and functionality between the two, the S-10 comes out on the bottom of the stack in every category.

While I was being slightly sarcastic above, I was also being half serious. It may not be a bad idea to consider trading the thing away while you have a chance. S-10s lose their value faster than any other pickup on the road. I have personally only sold one of them, and after watching what that and other customers were going through, I just wouldn't sell them anymore.

Does that put my comment in better perspective for you? Of course, you can always repair the thing, but I'm telling you straight up: S-10s are a money pit in terms of repair costs. Once your warranty from the factory runs out, you are screwed. Maybe you'll get lucky, but statistically, you're going to start having some serious issues within the next 1-2 years.