[spacedout]

I live in the city so all I ever do is stop/go traffic (my average MPH since I brought home my Cruze is around 21MPH :eek7 and the thought of a 5.3L Silverado's 18MPG city is not appealing.

You will not get 18mpg city with a 5.3L, more like 13-15mpg at best with a 100% city route. On that same note modern diesels emission system HATE your type of driving route and would probably have sensor and other emission issues. If you want a modern diesel without issues you need to drive more hwy. Motor trend real world got 3MPG better with the 4.3L v6 ecotec3 in the silverado vs the 5.3L v8, much better than the EPA numbers indicate. With that said a Colorado 3.6L is more efficient than a 4.3L in the silverado, so I would expect a colorado 3.6L to get 4+MPG or better most days than a silverado with the 5.3L.

The only other weird thing to me is that the Colorados, especially when you start getting into the more optioned ones, are almost the same price of the Silverado, which is crazy to me...but I get it..trucks are a hot item at the moment so Chevy (and all of them) can charge a premium for them.

There is overlap in all car models, can say the same for Spark/Sonic, Sonic/Cruze, Cruze/malibu, ect. I hear people say this all the time, however your are not comparing equal trim packaged trucks if your prices are the same. The Colorado comes in much cheaper than a silverado if you compare equal trims. Maxed out Colorado with a diesel is $10,000 less than a maxed out silverado. On the same note a work truck Colorado starts $7000 less than a Silverado 1500.

If I was in the market for a truck, I would not buy either of the Colorado or Silverado 1500, I would step up to a real truck, a 2500 or 3500 model. Heavy truck hold their value better than light duty trucks, after 10 years its not uncommon to be able to sell one used with 100,000+ miles for enough money it's equal about $2000 a year in cost of ownership. This is besides the RIDICULOUSLY low payload capacity on the Colorado and Siverado 1500, Colorado is just under 1500lbs, Silverado(4.3L and 5.3L) is just under 2000lbs. Might seems like allot, but that weight INCLUDES passengers!!! A 2500 model has a payload over 3000lbs, a 3500 model(single rear wheel) over 4000lbs. Step up to a dually regular cab truck(2WD) with a 6.0L gas, payload is over 6500lbs!!!!