Scotty, I'm in the market for an SUV that will provide the security of a closed vehicle, the space of a mini-van, 4wd for safety in the area I live in (rural snowy mid-west), upper teens or better fuel mileage (highway commute) and long term reliability. My first choices are Toyota (LC or 4runner), but the prices on them are outrageous unless they have 200,000 miles or more. I'm looking at more affordable alternatives - early 2000's Montero, Grand Cherokee, Xterra, Trooper or ??? A pickup with a cap could also suffice, but the city I commute to puts parking restrictions on pickups. I'd love a full size truck (Suburban, Excursion, Sequoia), but the non-diesel fuel mileage and peculiarities (rusty Sequoia frames, plug-spitting v-10's Fords) make me think not. Any ideas? What would you recommend? Thanks.
Toyota Highlander? Honda Pilot ?
You should consider a Toyota Sienna AWD. That checks all the boxes you mentioned, except it’s not an SUV. You can easily find AWD Siennas for a good price and they give 22-23 mpg on the highway and around 17-18 mpg in the city. They are extremely reliable and should be good in the snow with AWD. You could even put some all-terrain tires on it if you really wanted to.
I am absolutely loving my new used 2010 Highlander limited bought it for $12,900 with 126,000 miles. I feel like its brand new since it runs so well and am in the rust belt like you though not in mountains out main reason for this vs other options was overall value (though MPg isnt as high as the Sienna per the other recommendation) durability and total safety incl awd. Scottys got some videos on this vehicle and lots of threads here to review others opinions. Hope this helps looking forward to hearing what you come up with.
4Runner has terrible mpg and space is small. Very small. Smaller than modern highlanders
