How reliable is the 2.8 l duramax in a Colorado or canyon?

The small trucks have a history of many problems, I had a s-10 new in 1990, biggest poc I ever bought
I think a mechanic told me they have to pull the axle to repair the brakes, if I remember correctly

we have a customer that had a canyon with that motor,he just got rid of it.we did general service on it but wouldnt touch the rest of it,it did give him problems,and then try to find someone to work on it besides the dealership,i dont really remember what his issues were,but i would look into it deeper if i was you

Had 2016 gmc canyon with that duramax. Loved it till it started throwing a code. That they claim couldn't be removed. Three times couldn't get home from dealer without dashboard lighting up. Code was LOW QUALITY DEF. Changed and cleaned def fluid along with an injector. Didn't help I wanted them to change the computer. They said no that wouldn't help. So I traded it in on a 2023 canyon gas. Wasn't happy but they had me over the barrel I need a vehicle. Also few years earlier the heater in the def tank went was under warranty. Very critical with what oil to use make sure you get the right dexos 1 or 2. Dexos is a GM trademarked oil the way I understand it. Dexos 2 is what You need for diesel. After the third time dealer told me there was nothing wrong with the truck but they couldn't fix it. That GM was flying a specialist in to look at it and they didn't know if it was under warranty. So I traded it. They also told they were no longer putting the duramax in the canyons anymore. From my understanding the emissions system causes a lot of problems.

Thank the government please.

Anything with a DEF system will give you issues. I don't want to talk about how much time I've spent thawing out DEF tanks that froze solid and sent a machine or truck into limp mode. So I'm a purveyor of deleting the emissions BS. I don't know how much programming there is available for the smaller engines, so that might be a rabbit hole but I love the tune I flashed my ECM with in my 6.7L (600rwhp and no more DEF problems. Also, magically gets 28mpg without the exhaust plugged up)