Need Your Advice: Thinking of Getting A New Sand Sled/Fishwagon

[fishweewee]

Thinking of getting a new sand sled.

My Rover, at just under 90K miles, is requiring a lot of attention as of late and I think it's time to get rid of it or relegate it to short trips to the supermarket.

Need your input...with the following contraints in mind:

1) No Japanese makes. I just won't buy Japanese cars.

2) The Mrs. does not want me to get a pickup truck, as much as I'd like one.

3) It's got to be competent on the beach (4WD).

4) Not really looking at the luxury brands. They (for the most part) suck on the beach. I've also had it with paying a premium for parts and service (and the attitude that a lot of these import dealers have).

I'm leaning towards leasing a new Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD. They're comfy, are multi-purpose (good enough for fishing) and mechanically reliable, and reasonably-priced, and, being switchable 2WD/4WD, don't hog nearly as much gas as as my Disco I which is perma 4WD.

I heard these are the most frequently stolen vehicles.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I'm not a car expert by any measure.

-WW