SCCX has had 5 members go from modded X's to Rubicons. And it's not that we hated our X's. I loved my Xterra- it opened up an entirely new lifestyle for me. The 3 obsessions that I currently have geocaching, offroading, and camping I owe to my Xterra. Now that I have my Rubi my offroading and caching have continued to advance- the camping however sucks in the Jeep.

My highlight in my Xterra was the GOX Colorado Crossing- an event I don't think I could've done in the Jeep because of lack of storage space.

But wheeling in the X really took its toll physically on the vehicle. I beat the shit out of it early in my offroading hobby. It took a while to learn not to use too much gas pedal. Since I can't do my own repairs I spent a lot of money in the shop instead of on mods. That has changed with my Rubicon. The same trails that used to be difficult with the X are a breeze in the Rubicon. I've yet to have to make a single repair to it. (Knock on wood)

I just wish that I could've afforded to have both. The X for long trips (although having to put Premium Unleaded in my Supercharged sucked even when the prices weren't skyrocketing) and the Rubi for the local trails.

As for the lack of respect the Xterra gets from the Jeeping community- it ain't anything personal. There's a lot of jeepers who don't think any IFS, nonlocked rig belongs on the trail. It isn't just the Xterra they dislike. In fact I think they have more respect for the X than the Liberty.

The best thing to do is go wheeling with other jeep clubs and show them how capable the X really is. One of the well built rigs in SCCX, OOX (Jason), wheels with a club called JustRuns in San Diego. They've got nothing but admiration for his rig and his skills.

My $.02,
Dave