The first Xterra I bought was a 2000 XE 2WD. Didn't think I wanted to offroad in a $23,000 truck not to mention legal offroad spots are sparce here on Oahu. Soon after I bought it, I met up with some other X owners here in Hawaii. We formed Xterra Club Hawaii (XTCHI). Some of us had 4x2's and some of us had 4x4's. I started noticing how much more fun the guys with the 4x4's(mainly this clown of a guy who calls himself Xterrian.) Buyers remorse(sp?)set in rather quick. I loved my Xterra but hated the fact I purchased a 4x2. It took me 3 years to covince my wife we/I needed a 4x4. She finally got sick of my non-stop nagging and let me buy an 03 Solar Yellow 4x4 S/C SE Xterra. What a truck! My only regrets now is that I didn't buy a 2002 when they were available so I could have gotten a manual tranny. Buy what you want, its going to be yours and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. I just wanted to let you know what I went through. Good Luck in what ever you decide.