Just thought I would give my two cents on the Jeep/Xterra thing. The company I work for has owned 4 Jeeps (3 Cherokees and now a Liberty). I will say undoubtly that the Cherokee, in the hands of an experienced driver, is one of the greatest offroad vehicles ever made. Also, the Liberty is very capable, as well. I work for a land surveying firm in Southern WV, and have extensive offroad experience in a variety of vehicles (the Jeeps, Toyota trucks, and both an Isuzu Rodeo and Trooper). We survey large tracts (anywhere from 2-4000 acres to 25,000 acres) as well as smaller ones. Routinely we are many miles from any "main" road, often on old skid roads or 4-wheeler paths. The 2-door is the one to have. Although they are small inside, you can put enough equipment for a three man crew and the crew in one and go just about anywhere. The one problem we had with the Cherokees was the lever popping out of 4wd drive on especially steep or inclined slopes where heavy use of the throttle was required. So, we developed a system where the passenger would hold the lever back, leaving the driver able to steer with one hand and use the emergency brake with the other if need be.
As I mentioned earlier, the Liberty is proving to be quite a capable vehicle, as well. Although, I don't think I would drive it through Huff Creek like we did the Cherokee. Water over the hood and a two foot vertical bank to climb up. Oh the stories I could tell!