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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> We have generally taken a long time to select bargain vehicles, six months 
> for the Nissan, which looks like it just came out of the box., and is 
> eminently suitable for commuting as well as providing freight transport 
> the Subaru Wagon could not.

I used to think a pickup truck was the ideal homestead vehicle. No more. 
For my real estate business here I leased a new 2002 Toyota Highlander. 
Wonderful vehicle. I will buy out the lease when I go home to Heartwood. 
Then I will have a trailer hitch installed and will buy a tilt trailer that 
will haul more than a pickup. That gives me a good vehicle for travel and 
light hauling without the limitations of a pickup truck for everyday use. 
One of my considerations is a dirt driveway with steep sections. An 
unloaded two-wheel-drive pickup tears hell out of the road and eats tires. 
A four-wheel-drive pickup gets worse mileage, costs more initially and for 
maintenance and is unneeded 99 percent of the time. A front-wheel drive SUV 
gets the ascent job done without tire slippage and will take a light 
trailer up and a loaded trailer down the hill. Many of my friends have two 
vehicles, a good-mileage small sedan plus a small pickup truck. The 
one-good-SUV-plus-a-trailer plan saves money on initial purchases, 
maintenance, insurance and licensing and is more comfortable and will carry 
more on trips.