Hi All --

I just moved to southern California and am looking for a vehicle that can transport my young son, wife, and ocean loving dog to and from the beach with ease. We don't have far to travel, this would not be our primary vehicle, might be used for shopping from time to time, and perhaps for a few mile commute to work and back. No long trips, very little freeway travel, perhaps some day-trips to the "mountains" that aren't far from here. Ideally, I'm looking for a vehicle that is easy to clean! I'm considering a used Jeep Wrangler, but thought I should check out the Xterra, particularly because it has more room than the Wrangler...and because I seem to recall some cool commercials a while back that insinuated one can basically clean the interior of an Xterra with a hose after a muddy mountain bike ride, etc.

I tried some basic searching on-line but quickly realized this is a question for the experts -- so I'm turning to the forum. Any thoughts on trim levels (obviously, I'm not looking for anything fancy here, but don't want to overlook any essentials, either), best model years, recommended modifications, etc., would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Brady