F-150 vs Silverado: I Let the Data Break the Tie

Ask ten people which full-size pickup to buy and you get ten answers, none of them quiet. Ford versus Chevy is less a purchase decision than a family religion. I've ridden in enough of both to have a gut feeling, so instead of trusting it, I pulled our data on the F-150 and the Silverado and let the numbers break the tie.

Two caveats before the table. Review and complaint counts cover the entire history of each model, so they track sales volume as much as they track problems. The market figures are all 2018 model year, because that's where used listings get thick enough to compare fairly.

Head to head on the numbers

The first row is the one everybody misreads. The F-150 carries 440 owner reviews to the Silverado's 156, and 46 complaints to 28. That looks damning right up until you remember the F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in America for decades and has been on the road in enormous numbers for longer. More trucks means more owners typing. I wouldn't call that a reliability verdict, and neither should anyone selling you one.

What I'd rather point at is the size of the complaint numbers in absolute terms. Forty-six and twenty-eight, across the full life of two of the highest-volume vehicles ever built, is small. Neither of these is a lottery ticket. The real separation happens on the money side.

The Silverado holds value, the F-150 hands you leverage

Here's the line that made me sit up. A 2018 Silverado averages $22,390 with 130,076 miles showing. A 2018 F-150 averages $21,948 with 114,796 miles. The Chevy asks about $442 more while carrying roughly 15,000 extra miles. Per mile driven, that's a real resale gap — the Silverado is simply not shedding value as fast.

The F-150 answers with supply. We're tracking 700 listings for the 2018 F-150 against 430 Silverados, and our visitors ran 1,076 unique VIN checks on F-150s versus 465 on Silverados, making them the number one and number two models on the site. More inventory means more trucks within driving distance, more cab and bed configurations, and far more room to walk away from a seller who won't move on price. Selection is a discount you don't see on the sticker.

How they sit against the rest of the segment

Context helps. The Ram 1500 undercuts both at $18,248 with mileage sitting right between them, so if the sticker is what's stopping you, that's the cheap door into the segment. The Tundra runs $29,434 — you pay a premium for the reputation, and with only 110 listings you're taking whatever shows up rather than choosing. The F-150 and Silverado are where the volume lives, and volume is what makes a used market behave.

My read: take the Silverado if you want the truck that keeps more of your money when you sell it, take the F-150 if you want selection and negotiating room today. At these mileages the individual truck matters more than the badge on it, so run the VIN before you put money down, and check what it's worth now so you know whether the asking price is anywhere near reality. Shopping the segment more broadly? We track what used trucks actually sell for by model and year.