ToddAndMargo wrote:
> Lon wrote:
>
>> What do you want this thing for?
>
> Mainly to drive around to customer sites. Three or
> four a day. I wanted something comfortable to drive
> (not truck like) so that I would not be exhausted
> when I arrived. Reasonable gas mileage would be
> nice too.
>
> The reason for the 4wd is 1) to cope with the
> winter snow (typically 2 to 8") and 2) the occasional
> fishing hole at the end of an unimproved dirt
> road (they get the fish hatchery trucks down
> these roads, so they can't be all that bad).
>
> Thank you for the tips!
>
> -T

The no trucklike would tend to eliminate the Mitsu Montero Sport or
Nissan Xterra or even the older Ford Explorer. However, before you
eliminate them, try one or two, as trucklike means different things to
different people and I'd hate to see you pass up something like the
Xterra site unseen--they're fun and quite capable.

Give the Suzuki a shot if you can find any for sale... much like
Subaru's, owners tend to hang onto them until the wheels all fall off.
The Subie may be right up your alley if you can find one big enough.
The Ford Escape older units arent really up there with the Highlander
in terms of amenities.

An older Rover or Grand Cherokee would be something to look at with your
eyes open in that they can be horrendously expensive if any of them
fancy gewgaws decide to take the day off--but the drive trains on both
tend to be tractor like in reliability. The british era Rovers were
much like any other British vehicle--character building if capable and
not really able to go anywhere a Grand Cherokee or Cherokee could not.
The BMW based units got rather expensive and very expensive to
maintain, and the new Ford/Jaguar units are far from cheap.

The old International Scout was pretty good, essentially over-engineered
in every way and bullet proof...but trucklike.