Ask Jack: Does New Beat Big?

The word “disruptive” is thrown around quite a bit in the auto industry, usually to mean “some wacky idea that won’t succeed without a multi-billion-dollar investment, an outrageous set of coincidences, and an overnight change of heart affecting two-thirds of humanity.”

Allow me to offer an example of something that has truly disrupted the auto business without so much as a single fawning piece in Fast Company or WIRED: the massive and significant extension of reliable service life among cars and trucks built after, say, 2001 or thereabouts. In 1957, there was no reason to have a sixth digit on an odometer; in 1987, owning a car with 100,000 miles on it meant that you were either dirt poor or a seriously skilled shadetree mechanic.

In 2017, 100,000 miles is the new 30,000 miles. People are paying real money for cars with six-figure odometer readings. Hell, people are taking out five-year used-car loans on vehicles with six-figure odometer readings. More importantly, the social stigma associated with owning a used car has more or less disappeared in many circles.

As a consequence, today’s buyers operate in a sliding-scale market where mileage affects price but doesn’t always have much effect on utility. It can be a good idea to get “more car” or “more truck” even if it means accepting an older vehicle with a longer history. Which is where today’s episode of Ask Jack begins.

I know you have a Silverado and was wondering if you like it enough to advise for the purchase of a used truck from that same bodystyle. I have a budget of between $25,000 and $30,000 and I could get a 2014 Silverado crew cab with 60,000 miles or so for that money. Or I could get an almost-new Colorado crew cab for that same money. There are dealers with 5,000 miles on a Colorado from 2017 and they will sell for $25,000. Do I get the bigger truck with more capability or do I get the new truck that will last longer? I don’t tow anything; I use my truck for my family and for hauling toys.

The first thing I did was to check out the market. Sure enough, 2014 Silverado CCSB (crew cab short bed) trucks with between 50,000 and 75,000 miles on them are selling for between $25,000 and $30,000. That won’t get you an LTZ or High Country but it will get you a 2LT. The interesting thing is that you can get that same truck brand-new for about $41k during one of the big-discount GM sales. If you can buy a new truck for $41k then sell it for $25k with 70,000 miles on it then I think you’ve gotten some really good value there. Go put 70,000 miles on a new BMW 750Li and see what it’s worth afterwards.

Hector’s numbers on the Colorado added up as well. There’s a surfeit of lightly-used Colorado LT crew cabs in the $25k range. Most of them have under 10,000 miles. If you’re willing to take a work truck with the V6 option, this one looks like a heck of a deal.

Obviously a Silverado has more capability than a Colorado, even if the biggest “toy” Hector hauls is an ATV or a pair of dirt bikes. The question is whether it’s worth taking an older truck that’s out of warranty in order to get that capability. In this case, I’d be inclined to advise against it. There’s nothing to say that a 2014 Silverado with the 5.3-liter won’t run a quarter-million miles without much trouble. Nor can you reasonably expect to see a significant fuel economy advantage with a Colorado.

What you do get with the smaller truck, however, is a factory warranty plus the pleasure of driving the most trouble-free miles any vehicle will have — by which I mean the first 50,000 miles. So unless Hector really needs the extra space, power, and utility of the Silverado, I think he should pick the Colorado. Today’s vehicles might have a remarkably long life, but it’s still worth starting closer to the beginning of that life.

[Image: General Motors]