I'm going to be in the market for a new 4x4 vehicle soon.  I'm going to get something new (reliable) as I need to travel 100+ miles from my house to the farm in rural roads and my wife will be using it frequently.  I'll mostly likely keep it for long time and use it till the wheels fall off so depreciation cost is not an issue.  I need the 4x4 (or maybe AWD?) to get into my farm during wet season and to get into some of the wet and rough areas of my farm so it would have to have some decent ground clearance.  I don't need a large vehicle and would prefer something small. It can be a truck or a SUV but has to accommodate 4 people and some cargo.  What's out there currently with such features without costing a fortune?

       

My super duty, with a set of goodyear duratrac tires has treated me well for 2 yrs now. I have a driveway that requires 4 wheel drive anytime it rains.

This. I'm on my second Tacoma. My 2007 had its share of issues and actually even my 2015 had a problem right off the bat, but the dealership fixed it under warranty without hassle. I'm still happy with them and would do it again.

I know you said resale isn't an issue, but it will treat you well in that area too.

Some awd stuff is not for longterm off roading.  The transfercase overheats and parts wear out or fail.



I had a general motors 1996 awd thing and I was dang happy with it for what it was.  For snow and ice it was awesome because you did not have to shift back to 2 hi when the roads cleared up and back to 4 hi when the roads got icy/slushy.  Tires made a big difference as well.



I did sometimes miss having a 4 lo setup, but for commuting this thing would have been perfect.  I got it as a hand me down and abused it a fair bit and it lived a decent life.  The awd would make both axles work, but I always kept in mind that it was not a proper 4x4 transfer case.



All of that was typed to say for commuting an awd can be great but make sure you understand its limitations.



These days I have a wrangler and I can easily reach the transfer case lever and I shift back and forth between 2 hi and 4x4 hi while rolling down the road.  Just make sure all tires are going same speed.  And I think it has a speed limitation maybe, not to do it over 55 mph or something but I forget.



And of course in a good winter storm when the trucks are not clearing the roads yet, no shifting needed.  Just drive to work in 4x4.



I have no clue what to recomend on new stuff but depending on your thinking you might consider that someone in another thread said the dodge pickups still offer a lifetime engine or drivetrain warranty.  I would look into it, like I said I just read it.  I thought the lifetime stuff was long gone.



I would get something that has been out for a few years and been proven to be good, vs. something new and still having teething problems.

Off topic, but in regard to the post above, agreed on AWD.

I have a 4x4 Tacoma and an AWD Subaru Impreza. In a lot of cases for snowy roads, I actually prefer the Subaru. With the truck if I'm between snow covered and bare roads, I'm in and out of 4wd a lot. I don't want to leave it in 4wd on any dry or even wet pavement. With the Subaru, it's just always in AWD, nothing to change and no worry about stress to the drive train.

One thing I'm not sure about is the AWD vs. 4x4 in my case.
For 90% of the driving I don't need AWD or 4x4 as it will be to travel between house and farm and being in Florida snow is not an issue.  
Where I do need the AWD or 4x4 is when I get off the paved road and get on the dirt road to reach the farm.  During the wet season parts of this road is all muddy/slippery and occasionally will be 2-4" deep in water.  I also want to be able to take couple hundred pounds of corn out to feeders which are located in low land where it gets wet and soft.  I've never had an AWD vehicle so I don't know what their capability are but I did have a Toyota 4x4 truck back in the mid 80's so I know what they can do.  
Will AWD perform as 4x4 "lite" in muddy roads?  I'm not looking to go mudding or anything like that as I'll just be moving along slowly on wet/muddy roads.
Finally, I don't want to spend $35k on a Tacoma truck which will only get used about 6,000 or 7,000 miles a year.

Wife said she would like a Honda CRV with AWD if it would work for our purpose

Lets define a couple things:


AWD: All 4 wheels have power, all the time.


4WD (4X4): You have a shiftable transfer case that is 2wd most of the time, but you can engage 4wd when needed.






4WD is what you want. I had a jeep with AWD, it sucked. They are useful for soccer moms who have no idea how to use a 4x4 button.




Pick a Ford pickup truck in the configuration and hauling capacity you need/want and be happy. If you want a serious people mover, I am liking my Excursion. You may not like the fuel mileage of 11.9 . They also quit making the Excursion, so you are limited to the used market. They bring a premium around here because of that.




I would advise AGAINST the ecoboost. I know a couple of people with the F150 ecoboost, they don't get the mileage. They do make impressive pulling power, but if you want more reliable, KISS.


 

ETA: Get a vehicle with limited slip axles, or have a limited slip/locker installed in the open diff. I won't go back to open axles after having limited slip.

I agree. For what the OP is describing, I'd rather have 4WD for sure.



My 2007 Tacoma has a mechanical limited slip differential (LSD) in the back and it was outstanding. I had friends that couldn't believe the places that truck could go in 2WD. That said I think Tacoma stopped making a mechanical LSD around 2009 or so. Now they use electronics to apply brakes to a spinning wheel. I think they still call it an LSD, but it's not the same thing. I have it on my 2015 Tacoma and so far I haven't really been impressed with it. When it kicks in it feels/sounds like something is broken.

My 2015 Tacoma has a factory rear locker (TRD Off-Road), but I haven't done the mod so that it can be used in high range, so I've never used it.

Okay, my lack of knowledge about AWD is because I've never had one before so I wasn't sure what they were capable of doing on muddy roads.  I guess they are not as capable as I thought.
For people mover and hauling I already have a Expedition and a van but they are not 4x4 vehicles.  During the dry season I can get into and out of the farm with these vehicles without problem.
What I'd really like to get is a diesel powered Toyota Hilux 4x4 that you see all over the world...except here.

We have 160 acres an hour away that we will be building on soon.  I have a SB regular cab 4 cyl 5 speed Tacoma (the poverty package), 2011.  It works great, I haul lots of firewood from the property back to our current house, haul lime and fertilizer to the property, tow small loads, etc.  The small size works well on the winding old logging roads, 4 WD Low is great for that as I can putz really slow.  A full size longer truck would mean lots of work on a couple miles of those trails, and the truck is not so big and heavy as to sink in sand or mud.  

Is it perfect?  No, the small engine is a dog, but I've had Toyota trucks for almost 20 years, not a big deal.  If I want things to happen when I step on the gas I've got the Landcruiser.

Do you know how a regular open / non posi / limited slip differential works?  When you loose traction that wheel spins and no power is put to the wheel that has traction. So you end up with 1 tire spinning and the other is stationary.  The same goes for the front axle on a 4x4. So with two regular open differentials you get at least power to the front and rear axle.

With AWD it's like having a 3rd differential in the transfer case. Now if a front or rear tire breaks loose you have no power going to the other axle. They do have different styles of transfer case differentials so it's not like a totally open differential but that is a basic example.

AWD = 3rd differential / viscous coupler.
4x4 = Locked transfer case

Most every car maker has their own version of awd.



You need to learn what that honda has if you are considering it.  And it might be that what the crv has could be similar to what the ridgeline has if it has awd.  And then you can do more reading on how things held up.



My 1996 general motors vehicle was an oldsmobile bravada, just a fancy blazer.  But that awd was also what was used in the astro vans.  Not sure if it went into more than that.  And like I said, it did fine for what you are talking about it needing to do, but I don't know how honda sets up their crv.



I know the post about the jeep says theirs sucked, and a lot of folks dislike the one in the grand cherokees of certain years because it does not last long from what I recall reading on the older grand cherokees, body style prior to 2005 or so.  



I had a 2007 jeep grand cherokee with quadra drive 2 and it had awd plus a 4 low plus electronically locking differentials.  You tube has tons of videos showing that it works.  100%.



One thing I would do with the honda crv awd is do some parts research.  I don't know how many awd hondas get sold and I don't know what would happen if you needed parts later.  I understand buying new and what not will have a warranty, I still would want to know what I should expect for parts.



For a lot of what you are talking about tires will help as much as the 4x4 or awd.



And I am not pushing awd, but some systems are amazing and some suck.  Each one needs to be researched and fully understood before just saying awd rocks or awd sucks.



For what you are talking about the old 1996 olds would have been fine doing it, and as mentioned by the person with a subbie the awd is nice in the snow and bad weather.

You can't simply say AWD. Subaru alone has 3 AWD systems. Some are much better than others.

I'm not a Tacoma guy (never owned one) but I will say that not having a rear LSD sucks. I just picked up a '91 dodge w250 3/4 ton, and it's got the standard open diff. It makes me appreciate the RamCharger's diff.

I rarely have to put it into 4x4, and the one time I did, it was snowing constantly for 14 hours, then I went out for cheetos. On the way back there was a bend in the road where the snow got packed down a little bit from a couple people driving on it, and the ass-end walked out HARD on me. I dropped it into 4hi, and everything was fine. On the way there I only had to put it into 4x4 once. A LSD in the rear is the way to go.

TL;DR AWD for dirt road and regular roads, 4x4 off road and trails (little to no maintenance dirt roads)