At the risk of getting flamed, I'll bring in a dissenting viewpoint here.
Personally I'd take a Scout, '68 Bronco, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi or Isuzu over any Jeep. In fact I did, take an Isuzu that is, and I get angry when people call it a Jeep.
I got turned off on Jeep back in high school, mid-90s Wranglers (the ones with square headlights) were very, very popular there, and everytime (that's not an exaggeration) I went off-roading with them 1 or 2 broke. I saw broken 4wd driveshafts, tie rods, transfer case linkage, diff covers, shock mounts. (YES the shock mount broke, BEFORE the shock) brake failures, stuck thermostat, and all kinds of electronic engine gremlins. Meanwhile the other vehicles, Toyotas (p/u's and a 4runner), a modified Montero, a Pathfinder, an old 70's Wagoneer (OK one Jeep worked) and a couple Scouts never had any issues on those same trails.
Now I understand that the late model Wranglers probably are built to a much higher quality. But I still wouldn't take one, Jeeps have become so popular with everyone from soccer mom's and mall cruisers to hard core rock crawlers, that I couldn't. I like to be a little different, stand out and not follow the crowd.
Also, saw a new Rubicon at a dealer the other day $34,000!!!!
are you kidding me.
For the record my off-road rig is a '99 Isuzu Rodeo, 3" lift, 32" tires, homemade rocksliders and bumper protection, LSD rear, and saving up for an ARB front locker. I will concede the Wrangler has the advantage of a solid axle front=more flex, I get front wheels hanging in the air quite often.
Used to have a '90 Bronco, 3" lift, 33" tires and Detroit lockers front and rear. Liked it (with the lockers, it could go more places then my Rodeo) but sold it, decided it was a little bigger then what I needed, plus getting 8-10 mpg was not cool.
The jeep next door has a cute emblem on it "H2 Recovery Team"
Yeah, the H2's really are awful.