You can get good mileage and still have 4wd. The Jeep Compass, Subaru Forester and Honda Element all get great mileage for a truck or SUV. I drove my Compass from Edmonton to San Francisco last October with the wife. Fuel and a mid trip oil change cost less than flying by a surprising margin.

And if you get the Forester with a turbo it has the best 0-60 time of any SUV...wahoo!