SUV makes sense for some people in some situations, just check the Youtube prepper channels. A lot of people rig a locking box in the back behind the seats for storing anything important. The big advantage also is that you can sleep in the back and make it to the driver seat without getting out of the vehicle. Same goes for a van, but vans are rarely available in 4WD.
I recently met a guy who has driven around the world a couple of times, basically running north and south on every major continent. He is currently on a north-south America run, started by having his rig shipped to Alaska, went to Prudhoe Bay and is heading down to Argentina.
The rig is a late 1980s or early 1990s Diesel Mitsubishi minivan that I don't think was sold in the US for very long but had been sold in other parts of the world. It is a slightly modified 4X4 and of course, he can get fuel almost anywhere in the world. It is non-Turbo and kind of slow with a cast iron snorkel exhaust and intake setup that was fabricated and installed in Africa. Most of the rest of the work done in South America.
I really like the Idea of the Diesel Liberty but understand they were not in production for very long and are now hard to get.
Pseudo-tactical SUVs are dirt cheap right now anyway, easy to aquire and hold their value since that value has bottomed out anyway.
Jeep Cherokees from the late 1980s to 2002ish (prior to the Jeep Liberty which replaced it.
Get the 4.0 inline six with the auto transmission. Do not touch the 4cyl or the 2.8V6. Expect to pay no more than $3500 for one that is pretty nice, $2000 and some careful shopping should get one that is entirely usable. $2500 for a well maintained rig with decent tires and a somewhat recent tuneup. Customization is easy, with lots of parts around the junkyards and custom shop parts prices are dropping since buyers for these things are thinning out.
Reliablity is decent, but nothing to majorly brag about. Mechanics are easy to find parts absurdly easy to find, color choices vary and experts can tell the year of a vehicle by some nuances in trim, but pretty much they can be made generic, especially when done in solid colors, but a good old spray can camo job looks pretty good on a Cherokee too.
Storage space is OK, the whole rig sits kind of low for a 4X4 so it is easy to get to stuff on the roof rack with no major strain. Bad news is taller people won't fit well in the Cherokee. Big boys prefer the two door model and can modify the seat rails a bit but the two door model was discontinued before the 4 door was, so those rigs tend to be older.
1980s-1990s Toyota 4runner and Nissan Pathfinder.
Although they look different, they have a lot of mechanical similarities. 4runners tend to cost more than Pathfinders although parts and maintenance cost about the same (parts are not compatible between the two). They fit taller people just fine, and the Pathfinder styling is classic modern up to the new body style they did in 1997. Check over one that has a price that looks too good to be true since both also came in 2WD which is sort of useless. People argue back and forth over which one does better off road, but the Toyotas are notoriously vulnerable to getting wet, with the sensitive electronics mounted dangerously low so a dunk in water ruins everything. The give back is that the Toyota can take more off road high speed punishment than the Pathfinder.
Mitsubishi Montero/Dodge Raider 1980s, early 1990s. A real sleeper, priced absurdly cheap in a lot of areas with parts either costing an arm and a leg, or practically nothing. Find the right mail order and online places and the parts are practically free plus shipping cost for small stuff that is just sitting in warehouses. These rigs can easily go 300K miles with regular maintenance and it is not entirely unheard of for them to top a half million miles in some places. The Mitsubishis are particularly easy to work on and popular in third world countries. That should tell you something right there. They tend to be small and light enough that they are easy to tow behind another vehicle. Most are 4cyl but don't get particularly great fuel economy.
Isuzu trooper 1980s-1990s. The "classic" Trooper II of the late 1980s to early 1990s vintage is particular popular in my area, but most have that shitty 2.8 GM motor. The mechanics on them are an odd combination of GM, Nissan, Mitsubishi and oddly enough, Ford stuff. They also had a diesel version which was not imported into the US for very long but is now considered a high value collectors item for what it is (typically going for $3,000 for a "rebuildable" basket case, $6500 for a good running rig which is as much money as the equivalent used Benz SUV goes for). These are particularly well suited to taller people, and light weight enough to be towed behind a motorhome. The transmission/transfer case arrangement is flat tow friendly, and came in 4WD only, but is shift on the fly to 2WD with automatic hubs (they never made a dedicated 2WD). Parts availability is spotty, but when it rains it pours, find the right parts source and the parts cost next to nothing. These rigs typically trade for $600 to $1500 and that is less than what most people expect to pay for a decent used Quad. The cat's meow for gas motors is supposedly the 1988-1991 fuel injected 4cyl.
The body style changed in late 1993 and was shared with some vehicles in the Honda/Acura product lines, as were a few other Isuzu SUV designs. They have a bit of a following in some circles but trade so cheap that you can leave one loaded with gear as your bugout vehicle as long as storage is relatively secure.
Suzuki Samurai / Geo Tracker.
Samurais have their own following and are well liked, just not suited for smaller people. Thing is they are as close to a street legal ATV as you can get. Towable even behind a smaller V6 motorhome or van, and pretty decent off road. The problem is they have such a following they trade for more than they are worth. Expect to pay $4,000 for a good running clean rig. The tracker model sold from 1990 onward has a poor reputation, but they trade relatively cheap and can be good if they were well maintained. I am told that people are better off avoiding the automatic transmission on these.
