Picture this; your trusty old Chevy truck is starting to show signs of impending death. Perhaps that creak you hear every time you load up the bed is getting worse, or maybe the strained engine is starting to run a little rougher than you remember it did a year ago. As a result, you settle on the conclusion that you need a new one. A brand-new Silverado 1500 will set you back just shy of $37,000, even if you want a base version, so perhaps the cheaper and smaller 2026 Colorado's $32k price tag would be more palatable.But wait, there's another option. You could instead scour the used market for a preloved Silverado, where you could secure one with General Motors' optional 5.3-liter V8 under the hood for less than the cost of Chevy's mid-size truck. And it won't be a base model, either. You Can Have A Tidy Used 2021 Silverado For Less Than A Brand-New Colorado Chevrolet The used market has a tendency to throw up some very tempting deals, and the 2021 Silverado is the latest example of this. The base price of an entry-level 2026 Colorado WT is currently $32,400, around $5k less than what a base 2026 Silverado demands from you. The trouble is, the WT is a utilitarian option that comes with little in the way of extra equipment, as well as basic steel wheels and black plastic bumpers and exterior decor.For the same price, and in many cases considerably less, you could net yourself a mid-range Silverado with a 5.3-liter V8 under the hood. For around $31k, arguably the tidiest option is to purchase an LT spec, of which many lower-mileage examples are on the market. At the same time, there are plenty of Trail Boss and RST versions around, though getting these under 100,000 miles is a bit more of a challenge.Do your homework and find a well-maintained specimen, though, and buying one with six digits on the odometer shouldn't act as a deterrent. As a rough guideline, the average value of a 2021 Silverado LT currently stands at $32,980, according to CarBuzz's Marketplace. Choosing The Right Trim Can Be Tricky Chevrolet While all these trims come with the same available V8 engine for the price, they all differ in terms of what they can offer you. The LT is more commonly found at this price point, and it provides you with a range of enhancements over lower trims. A heated leather steering wheel and heated front seats highlight the extra equipment, while dual-zone climate control and an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system are also delivered.The Trail Boss and RST receive all these features, but are geared more towards specific capacities than the more middle-of-the-road LT. The Trail Boss includes a range of off-road-focused upgrades, like large 18-inch wheels and accompanying off-road tires alongside the Z71 suspension package, which affords a two-inch lift. The RST tackles the other end of the coin, and is designed to provide a sportier driving experience. It gets slightly stiffer suspension versus the LT, as well as sportier styling that includes body colored panels as opposed to the chrome components found on the LT. A Silverado Will Prove A More Powerful Workhorse Chevrolet Aside from offering more standard equipment, a used Silverado will also be a better option if you want to get it working hard. As Chevy's full-size truck option, the Silverado comes with a beefier chassis to ensure it can deal with more punishment, be it from maxing out its payload or towing a load of weight behind it. Both all-wheel and rear-wheel drive versions can deal with up to 2,180 pounds of payload, while the RWD variants can tow a little more at 11,500 pounds, versus the 4WD's 11,100-pound capability.This makes it considerably more versatile than the Colorado, which can only lug around 1,710 pounds of cargo in its bed in WT RWD form. It also fails to match the Silverado when it comes to towing capacity, courtesy of its maximum 7,700-pound figure. Chevy's Full-Size Option Is Also More Practical Chevrolet While the Colorado's smaller size makes it more agile in tighter driving situations, the Silverado is considerably more practical. Its larger cabin makes ferrying your family and their luggage more comfortable and easier, while the bigger bed means you can carry more stuff. It's not exactly close either, with the Silverado's standard bed measuring just under 18 inches longer and over five inches wider at the wheel housings. The Colorado's loading area also offers about an inch-and-a-half less depth.If putting your truck to work carrying a ton of stuff is important to you, the Silverado wipes the floor with its smaller sibling, so opting for a clean, used version of the former makes a lot of sense. The Silverado's Engine Is More Powerful, But Less Efficient Chevrolet Interestingly, the gap between the two narrows considerably when you factor in their respective powertrains. While the Silverado's 5.3-liter V8 provides plenty of power with its 355 horsepower rating, which is 45 hp up on the Colorado's turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four unit, it lacks when it comes to outright pulling power. While the V8 kicks out a respectable 383 lb-ft of torque, the Colorado's more compact powerplant boasts 420 lb-ft. When combined with its comparative lightness, the mid-size truck will feel nippier under acceleration.Another advantage the Colorado has over its older and bigger sibling is fuel efficiency. The two engines are very well-matched when it comes to highway driving, with both managing 23 MPG in their RWD hosts, though the I4's 19 MPG city figure gets the better of the V8's 17 MPG offering. It's worth bearing in mind that the Silverado's tougher underpinnings ensure it can still deal with more payload and towing mass, though. The V8 Still Lives On In The Silverado Chevrolet Even though the general trend of the motor industry is to move away from thirstier, naturally aspirated V8 engines for the most part, Chevy is still pushing on by offering the 5.3-liter unit under the hood of the Silverado to this day. It does at least feature Dynamic Fuel Management technology, which can shut off cylinders between one and seven to help save fuel without sacrificing power. The primary reason for this is that the fourth-generation model has been in production since 2019, though change is on the horizon.A fifth-gen Silverado is expected to land sometime in 2027, and the good news is that it looks set to retain a range of V8 powerplant options. The expectation is that the current 5.3-liter unit will be replaced by a more efficient 5.7-liter engine, while hybrid options could well be on the menu given the growing popularity of the propulsion method. It's hard to believe the offerings would be ill-received, given a hybrid would afford the Silverado plenty of grunt, but also vastly improved fuel efficiency versus a normal V8.These would be pretty expensive however, so perhaps opting for a used 2021 specimen would be the more sensible option in the short-term. It provides all the heavy-duty work capabilities of its newer siblings, but for less than the outlay of a Colorado. Sounds like a good deal to us.Sources: Chevrolet.