Tacoma hands down is a superior truck. I am a Toyota freak, so obviously I would support my Toyota.
Which model are you looking at?
Double cab?
Ext Cab?

That will determine which engines are available and transmissions.

The double cabs only come in V6, and only in auto. If you can find one, itll blow me away. Prerunners (2wds that are the height of 4x4) only come in auto. The v6 has plenty of power and with a manual tranny behind it, it becomes a blast to drive and comes somewhat of a "sports truck" sorta. I had fun driving a stick in that truck and it was not slow for a truck at all.

I had a 99 TRD V6 Manual lifted 3 inches with a big ass front bumper. I did have a flowmaster exhaust and T handle hurst shifter too.
The only two reasons I sold that truck is because I got too tall for it and I needed to tow bigger stuff. Granted lots of tall people own them, I just sit very straight up driving a manual.

Toyotas engines are known to last a very long time. As long as the timing belt gets done around 100-110k your in fine shape. My truck got about 19 mpg average mostly city driving and I drove moderate. For a any questions or reaseach you wanna do, check out TTORA.com Its a huge huge toyota website. Lots of FAQ sections and stuff to read on.

The colorado however... is a 5 cylinder motor and even the dealership admits its the worst selling truck they have had. Its extremely underpowered and does not tow worth anything. I have personaly drove one while I had my Tacoma and was not impressed and would never own one. I put the colorado up there with the Honda Ridgeline which is also a piece of junk.

Any specific questions, PM me or ill check back in this thread soon.