The cheap day rental utility trailer is a better deal, my Subaru Legacy did many home project / renovations towing a $20 rental trailer. It did lots of dirt road camping and biking trips too. I switched it to a Outback 11yrs later and honestly the Legacy was better in every way should have kept it.
Thinking about this option again. This is the route I'd go. If you want one vehicle to haul stuff, go camping / hunting etc, I'd go this route. Get the lowest mileage crew cab half ton you can. 1st gen Supercrew with the 4.6 I bet will get near the same mileage as a mid size SUV.
I put about 300k on a 1997 4.6. It was as solid as any truck ever made. It wasn't as powerful as other trucks on the market, buuut I never really had to work on it, so it was a fair trade. I used it for about 10 years as a work truck and for camping, hunting, and pulling a boat. It never skipped a beat.
Who’s repairing an ecodiesel in a driveway?What about a 3.0L diesel Grand Cherokee? Plentiful, Cheap, decent mileage, repairable in the driveway, fairly capable with a 3" lift, can run 33" tires. Some even have lockers (QuadraDrive II).
Grand Cherokee Overland Diesel Review
Every morning at 4:00 am, I’m woken by an automotive alarm clock. It’s the sound of my neighbor beginning his daily commute, firing-up his 6.7-liter Turbo Diesel Dodge Ram. The oil burner nestling in the pickup’s snout embodies all the characteristics that American car buyers of a certain age...www.thetruthaboutcars.com