Good points, John!
I have been running the exact same list of pros and cons through my mind for the last week in anticipation of next year. My current vehicle will be paid off in March, so I will be going for a new one just in time for the '06 chase season.
What I am currently driving gets 35 mpg on the highway, so I REALLY hate to see it go! But I have found out in the last four years that I am just not a sedan guy. I gotta have my SUV!
As well as considering the pros and cons, you also have to make a list of the characteristics that you absolutely cannot live without in order to quickly eliminate entire classes of vehicles. After doing that, I have determined that I will be going for an '06 Tahoe 4wd for several reasons:
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Room for a full size center console. I am more radio-active than most people, so I need room for a console that will hold six scanners, two dual-banders, a CB, a television, and assorted switches and controls. All the mid-sized SUV's have floor shifters and narrow consoles. If it weren't for that, I would go back to the trusty old Grand Cherokee, which I have had three of.
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Room to sleep. I ain't leaving all of the above equipment overnight unprotected in an Oklahoma Motel 6 parking lot. I'm sleeping in back with a shotgun. Of course, a Suburban would offer even more comfortable sleeping room, but the extended wheelbase presents problems off-road, as well as a decline in mileage.
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Four Wheel Drive. If it weren't for this requirement, the mini-van would probably be a more viable option. After all, they get better mileage and have more room. But there have simply been too many times that I unexpectedly needed 4wd for me to feel comfortable chasing without it. And of course, there is the whole mini-van stigma for a guy that I don't want to deal with.
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The look. The Tahoe is both attractive, yet Plain Jane looking at the same time. So long as you don't dork it out with a lot of stickers and lights, you are less conspicuous, and therefore less likely to attract the unwanted attention of Sheriff Buford. And since it is commonly driven by official agencies, you're also more likely to get waved through pointlesss roadblocks in a plain white Tahoe with a couple antennae on the roof than you would in a purple Subaru with a sat dish and a 3-cup on the roof. It pays to not look like a yahoo.
And of course an Expedition or an Excursion would obviously be out of the question because they're Fords! :wink:
Now if Chevy would get off their butts and reintroduce the diesel engines like they said they would!
If it were not for my specific need for the room, I would go back to the Cherokee. And if I wasn't so paranoid about getting stuck, I would forget the 4wd and just go with a full-sized sedan like the Impala.
