What are you looking to use the car for again? If you were looking at the LR2, I think you might also want to cross shop the Toyota 4runner, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Honda Pilot/Acura MDX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, or VW Toureg. Those are all in the same price range and catagory. I know the BMW is also in the same catagory, but I consider it more of a sports car with a large storage area than an SUV.

For more serious off-roading, I think the Toyota's and Jeeps are the better choice, although the VW did get pretty good reviews from the 4wd magazines. They are more capable for offroad, as opposed to the car based Honda/Acura. The car based SUV's will generally get better milage and have a smoother ride though.

If you aren't really plannoing on off-roading where 4wd is a necessity AND you're concerned with gas mileage, have you also considered getting an AWD wagon? Something along the lines of a Subaru Outback or maybe Volvo XC70, or maybe even a CRV? If snow/light duty offroading is your main concern these would be a great choice. Handles and feels more like a car than a SUV, but can probably handle 95% of what most people use an SUV for anyway. They don't have a true 4wd, but the limiting factor for most vehicles is ground clearance and approach/departure angles, not so much the type of drivetrain it uses.

Any opinions on a Chevy Suburban? I work at Ft Detrick and just the other day I got a quick look at a beefed up black Chevy Suburban with Army plates. It had, what appeared to be a custom made heavy-duty roof rack, a heavy-duty rack on the rear left side with 2 Jerry cans and some pretty-elaborate lighting on the front roof. Anybody have an idea what other additions or modifications may have been made to the vehicle? It definitely had the appearance of being a usable off-road vehicle.

Pete

the toyota CJ has good offroad capability but its interior look very spartan, and doesn't look upscale at all.

I like a SUV that look refine and perform with grace on the road and offroad too in inclement weather.

Like the other big SUVs, the suburban is a decent platform to start with, but it needs some upgrades to make it something more than a soccer mom mobile. I had a 76 Suburban 4WD that was a real tank. It weighed in at three tons and was still mostly all metal interior and exterior. It had a solid frame and a good power train based on a 406 ci block and a good differential all time 4WD system. I beefed it up by rebuilding the block, adding an Edelbrock Dominator intake system and raising the compression slightly, and a better aftermarket iginition system and a good set of headers and pipes. It was a real goat up in the hills, and the only regret was I coulda used a couple inches more of clearance under the pumpkin a couple times. Otherwise it was about an ideal SUV for me. It only got about 8 mpg, but I was never concerned about economy with that thing. I wanted something that would get the job done. It also had enough cargo room with the back seat folded down that I could sleep comfortably in the back despite being 6'6" long. I ended up getting rid of it when I went to Iraq, but for the few years I had it I thought it was wonderful. Now I just have my extended cab pickup which is seldom getting driven with me being out of the country so much, but it works. If things go as planned, my next SUV will be one of those Internationals for sure. That'll git 'er done!!!

After owning 3 different jeeps, I want to say that they are the best off road and BOV that I ever owned. You can get one as inexpensive as you want or as expensive as you want. If you want whistles and bells, then buy a car (then buy a cheap jeep), I can replace anything on it including the frame. I like mine personally. It is fun, tough, stylish, my wife loves it, my son thinks its sooooo coooool, and it has never failed me. It gets 20mpg on the hwy, and about 15 in town. I can load up the roof rack and all the other accessories that I have put on it has made it mine. That is the best thing about it, it is mine like I want it and for what I use it for. Get a Jeep and make it yours. You won't be sorry.

I thought you were shopping for more of an all weather vehicle. In this case, I think you have to rule out everything that doesn't have low range 4WD.

Thats what I've learned. Sure you can take an AWD/4WD without low range off road, but to do it without overheating your transmission or going too fast you really need low range. Real off road isn't like you see in the car ad on tv where an AWD stationwagon/minivan can just fly across the ground unless you have the several large bulldozers like what uwas used to prep for the ad.