Hey I am hating on SUVs in general, not just Jeeps. I think (aside from reliability/durability) the Grand Cherokee is the best choice in the midsize SUV category, except for maybe the new Honda Pilot if you are not off roading. Its just for ME the choice is easy between any SUV and any car, but when the car is a Benz, it makes it even more clear. So many people have SUVs and just completely waste them, they never go off road and most of the time its some 9 passenger Suburban with a soccer mom on a cell phone, so maybe thats where I get some of my anti-SUV bias. If you actually go off road and want to keep doing get the Jeep, or better yet do what some people said earlier, get the coupe and get like a 89 Wrangler 4.2 cheap and do all the stuff to it, that way you'll have a slick car and a far more capable off road machine.

Now, this was a perfectly sensible response! You are right on the money!

I do serious off-roading, but I've questioned whether or not this is something I really, really want to do anymore (have I gotten tired of it?)... I don't go camping nor do I tow anything. As for SUV's, Jeep and Land Rover are the only real choices (I don't cound the monster G-wagon, it's too expensive!).

-- Robert

Plus if you went with the coupe and old Jeep, you could try crazier off road stuff and you wouldnt have to worry about doing $5000 worth of damage to a brand new Jeep.

Well, I know several people with Nivas (they are all serious off-roaders) and they all love theirs. No regular SUV can touch a Niva off road, except maybe a Land-Rover, military version. And then there's the incomparable Unimog by Mercedes-Benz, but it's a truck, not an SUV.

Admittedly, the pre-1996 carbureted Nivas were a bit flaky, but the GM injected ones and Peugeot-powered diesel ones were/are great, and cost under $8000 new. My Dad drove his 1997 Niva 90,000 km in 5 years and loved it in the harsh BC Interior winters. It was reliable. It was a dog and uncomfortable on the highway though, that's why he got a Benz in the end, after moving to the west coast. He sold the Niva for 55% of its original price after 5 years and 90,000 km of use - hard-core off-roaders bought it. These are superb off-road vehicles.