The F-150 has been America's best-selling vehicle for four decades; the Silverado is the perennial runner-up with a fanbase that considers this fact a clerical error. As 2023-model-year used buys they're separated by $3,363 at the median — the biggest value spread of any face-off in this series. Whether that spread is a Chevy discount or a Ford tax depends on what you haul: here's the full card.
- Live market, July 2026: 2023 F-150s median $42,311; 2023 Silverado 1500s median $38,948 — a $3,363 gap on trucks that tow within 700 lb of each other.
- The F-150 justifies its tax with tech you can’t retrofit: Pro Power Onboard (a generator in the bed), the PowerBoost hybrid, and available hands-free BlueCruise.
- The Silverado counters with the 3.0L Duramax diesel — up to ~33 mpg highway, unheard-of in a full-size gas rival — and the simpler, cheaper-to-fix drivetrain lineup.
- Scorecard: a dead-heat 47–47 — which makes the $3,363 median gap the tiebreaker, unless Ford’s tech is worth the tax to you.
01Performance & Towing: Pick Your Engine, Not Your Badge
Both cabs hide five-engine menus. Ford: 3.3 V6, 2.7 EcoBoost, 5.0 V8, 3.5 EcoBoost (max tow ~14,000 lb), and the 430-hp PowerBoost hybrid that doubles as a job-site power plant. Chevy: 2.7 turbo four (punchier than it sounds), 5.3 and 6.2 V8s (max tow ~13,300 lb), and the 3.0 Duramax diesel that turns a full-size truck into a 33-mpg highway cruiser. Max-spec to max-spec, Ford tows ~700 lb more; engine-for-engine at real trims, they trade blows. The honest answer: choose the engine — PowerBoost or 3.5EB says Ford, Duramax or the proven 5.3 says Chevy.
02Design & Bed: Aluminum Cleverness vs. Steel Simplicity
Ford's aluminum body panels shrug off rust and shed weight, and the bed gadget list (tailgate work surface, optional onboard scales) reads like a contractor's wish list. Chevy answers with the Multi-Flex tailgate, the segment's largest bed volumes, and steel that body shops fix cheap. Inside, the 2022+ Silverado refresh finally caught up — its 13.4" screen dash genuinely outguns lower-trim F-150 cabins, while King Ranch/Platinum Fords still take the luxury crown.
03Technology: Ford's Category Until Further Notice
Pro Power Onboard remains the killer app — 2.0–7.2 kW of outlets in the bed that turn the truck into a generator during a job, a tailgate, or an outage. Add available BlueCruise hands-free highway driving and SYNC 4, and the F-150 is the tech truck. The Silverado's counterpunch (Google-built infotainment, available Super Cruise on high trims) is real but rarer in the used supply and pricier when found.
04Comfort: Crew Cabs, Couches, and a Coin Flip
Crew-cab rear seats in both are den-furniture huge. The Ford rides slightly better unloaded and its optional Max Recline seats flatten for job-site naps; the Chevy's cabin is quieter at highway cruise in like trims. Seat comfort verdicts flip trim by trim — sit in the actual truck, because "F-150 vs Silverado" matters less here than "XLT bench vs LT buckets."
05Safety: Modern Suites, Watch the Configs
Both 2023s ship Ford Co-Pilot360 / Chevy Safety Assist as standard — AEB, lane keeping, auto high beams — with adaptive cruise optional at volume trims. IIHS results are solid for both with the usual full-size caveats (headlight ratings vary wildly by trim). Used-truck reality: safety-kit presence varies by original order sheet, so decode the specific VIN before assuming anything the listing implies.
06Value: the $3,363 Verdict the Fans Won't Read
| 2023 Ford F-150 | 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Median asking price | $42,311 | $38,948 |
| Middle 50% of asks (P25–P75) | $38,114–$48,237 | $34,892–$44,016 |
| Median odometer | 39,508 mi | 42,816 mi |
| Priced listings in sample | 16,286 | 9,211 |
The Silverado is simply the cheaper way into a 2023 full-size truck — $3,363 at the median, and its band sits lower at both ends. Some of the Ford premium is feature-real (hybrids, Pro Power trucks holding value), some is pure badge inertia. Truck depreciation rewards the second owner either way; it just rewards the Chevy buyer harder right now.
With 16,286 priced F-150s and 9,211 Silverados in one national snapshot, supply is your leverage: no truck listing is scarce, whatever the salesman says. The walk-away number works because there are literally thousands of alternatives.
Source: CarmaDeal market data, July 2026| Category | F-150 | Silverado 1500 |
|---|---|---|
| Performance & towing | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Design & bed | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Technology | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Comfort | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Safety | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Value | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Final score | 47/60 | 47/60 |
07The Verdict, by Buyer
- Contractor / tailgater / storm-country: F-150 PowerBoost — Pro Power Onboard pays rent.
- High-mileage highway hauler: Silverado Duramax — the diesel's economy is the class cheat code.
- Max towing: F-150 3.5 EcoBoost, properly optioned — verify the tow package on the VIN.
- Budget-first, badge-agnostic: Silverado 5.3 LT — the median-price winner and the simplest to keep.
- Tech-first commuter truck: F-150 with BlueCruise — nothing in the Chevy used supply matches it at volume.