The Cost of Pickups

I recently drove a half-ton pickup that was around $60,000. For a 1⁄2-ton with no out-of-the-ordinary stuff (no diesel, no winch, no wide-body, no fourcorner air, or desert-flight suspension), I could get an altogether-decent used V8 Ferrari, M5, or 911.

Granted, that Silverado High Country was quite nice, capable of shaming an outgoing Escalade in some respects. Coincidentally, however, I could build and price a ’15 LTZtrim Silverado 2500HD with a slightly longer bed in the same four-wheel-drive Crew Cab configuration that would carry 90 percent more real-world payload and tow 2,200 pounds more. Optioned up with most of the power accessories and ventilated/heated seats the High Country had, plus the towing mirrors and forged aluminum wheels it didn’t, it was missing little more than a power-adjust steering column, driver memory, and the material upgrades. And it was nearly $4,000 less.

LIKE MOST CARS,SEGMENT CREEP HAS, WELL, CREPT INTO PICKUPS

Am I the shorty 1⁄2-ton, though I don’t find that much difference in ride quality when loaded. Ford is not immune to this price dilemma, with $55,000 1⁄2-tons overlapping sub-$40,000 Super Duty trucks. Nissan and Toyota are exempt for most purposes because their loaded midsizes are priced right where their lowest trim full-sizes with like cab and drive begin.

And it’s only going to get worse with the influx of vans and midsize pickups. When Chevrolet said a Colorado could tow 7,000 pounds, that was already higher than some Silverado V6s. Use a $4,000 premium for a 2.8L diesel and you could easily end up with a Colorado or Frontier that out-tows its fullsize cousin for little to no more money. And where will a Cummins-powered Titan or Tundra fit in here?

A base Colorado extended cab runs $21,000 with a manual gearbox and rear camera, almost $9,000 below a Silverado double-cab WT with automatic but no rear camera. It’s $4,500 less if you envision no usable rear seat in an extended Colorado and compare to regular-cab Silverado. However, a Z71 4x4 Crew Cab Colorado short-bed is $35,000—that could get you in a Silverado 1500 or even a regular-cab four-wheel-drive 3⁄4-ton.