having owned lots and lots of 4x4 over the last 40 years, i'm most impressed with the Toyota FJ Crusier. its even better than our 1973 FJ-40 Land Cruiser was, much better!

we bought a new FJ a couple years ago. where it can go is simply amazing. handles ice, snow and mud better than any other 4 wheel drive vehicle we've had. good ground clearance. getting over 20mpg average (worse was 18.5, best on hiway 24). uses real light-truck tires. they run around $30K new.

only negs are plastic bumpers (we replaced front with heavy duty ARB grill), not a lot of wheel-well room for heavy-duty snow chains, lousy visiblity in traffic, and not so great rear seat access for passengers.