Daily Driver, Family, Expo all in one?

[Dake21]

Do you have a manual transmission? Because my wife had a 2006 GV with the 2.7 from 2008 to 2012 and we typically got 16mpg around town and maybe 18 on the highway. We never saw anything close to 20mpg. It was also very small and very noisy. The Xterra may get worse MPG by a small amount but it has much more interior space.

It may be "rated" to tow 3000lb but I wouldn't tow anything more than a 1,000lb or so teardrop or popup with one. I think that 2.7 put out 165 or so HP on a good day.

Yeah I know yours do poorly. Maybe the valves needs to be shimmed, I don't know...shouldn't be that bad. Mine is an auto 2.4L 4 speed.
There are threads on the suzuki forum of people pushing the towing capacity to the limit and unless you really want to drive over 60mph there's no issue. There's airbags available for $125 to keep the vehicle level with the load.
What I like the most is the full time AWD. The next thing that has it is a subaru but it doesnt have low range or the 4runner but its too expensive for me.

 

[chasespeed]

I'll chime in on the Xterrs as well. Great platform. I had the frontier crew. Loved it, wish I still had it. Was going to trade it on an Xterra(wife was driving it more, etc). Been wheeling with a bunch of them. Plenty capable. Get on the highway, and you should be able to get close to 20mpg. I broke 20 a couple times(hand calc'd avg) on some longer trips. Got about 16 towing my trailer from Mass to Texas. I wouldn't have had as much of a hit with a cap, or the Xterra. Good parts availability. Need to be careful about year, etc with an automatic. Get service history. The trans cooler in the earlier models, was prone to cracking, and would get coolant into the transmission.(strawberry milkshake referenced above). Th radiator can be bypassed easy and cheap, takes longer to get the skid plate down... Most have an external cooler.

Montero, another good choice.

Trooper, very capable, will take a lot of abuse, can be found with a manual transmission, and HUGE inside. Parts availability is getting scarce, which is also driving the price DOWN.

Tahoe, good full size platform, decent clearance in stock form, lots of room, reliable drivetrain, with all but unlimited parts availability.

Jeep, well, budget and needs will dictate. I'm running a WJ now, last of the solid axles. We have 3 kids, and this is the minimum amount of room I'd go with. This is riding on a Clayton, axle work, etc. gets between 12-15mpg, but, I live in the city, and about 1/3-1/2 of the driving I on the beach. Parts availability, it's a Jeep.

Sounds like what you need is a full size, crew cab, diesel. You can get an OBS Powerstroke in that range. 7.3 may not be the most powerful thing out there, but, it's reliable. More modern crew diesel, figure 2-3 times your budget(particularly for a Cummins). Cummins will net you the best mileage, but, will be the highest cost.

Land Cruiser. I love them. But, 5-10k for a LC with 100-300k on it, no thank you. Eye usually fetch a ridiculous premium. And not all of them are worth it.

There are tons of vehicles out there....

I've been looking for an old FSJ, to go back to simple, and easy......

Good luck. Have fun with the build.

Chase

 

[proper4wd]

You say you know Rovers. Look at an LR3. Tons of threads on this in the LR section.

BTW, I love my Xterra People dont seem to understand that its built on the D40 platform, which is globally renowned as a very tough 4wd chassis. I bought my 2014 new and plan on keeping it for a decade.

 

[proper4wd]

Also on the Xterra note, I dont know where you'd possibly find a "2012-2013" for $10k - to hit that budget you'll be looking at ~2008's. Which is fine, because they are mechanically identical through all years. The only difference being a small face lift (grille, bumper, headlights) about 2011.

If I were in your position, I'd buy this in a heartbeat:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/653227992/overview/

Where else are you going to find a 6 speed manual, locking rear diff, 4.0 V6, four door SUV that will get 18mpg for under 9 grand?

If you were to look at comparable 4runners you'd be almost twice that.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Where else are you going to find a 6 speed manual, locking rear diff, 4.0 V6, four door SUV that will get 18mpg for under 9 grand?

If you were to look at comparable 4runners you'd be almost twice that.

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You can't get a MT 4runner with a 4.0 for any price. Toyota dropped the MT option after 2000, sadly.
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I've seen MT 3rd gens go for ridiculous prices.