Hi Robert, The other posters to your thread make some good points, but you should consider some technical aspects as well. While comfort is important, consider the following points. 1.) You must have a low range gear set. Loose desert sand is death to vehicles that cannot use the lower wheel speeds and higher torque that come with low range. 2.) Look for vehicles with diff locks. A lockable diff prevents whhel spin should one wheel lose traction, which can get you stuck in seconds. Better still, lok for a vehicle with lockable front and rear diffs. 3.) Avoid vehicles with viscous couplings in the drive-line. These couplings use a fluid to transfer power, and they simply cannot cope with the demands of off-road driving. 4.) Look for a vehicle on which you can disable the ABS when you need to. Because of the way ABS works, you could end up not having functional brakes on loose surfaces. The ABS will release the brake pressure on locking wheels, and because the wheels will continue to lock up, the ABS will continue to release the brakes. In practice, this means that stopping distances can double, or even triple on lose surfaces, by which time you may have driven over a cliff already. 5.) Look for a vehicle with a low centre of gravity to avoid roll overs if you are driving along the edge of a dune. In general, the higher the vehicle is, the more likely it is to roll over on a side slope. 6.) Avoid vehicles with automatic transmission, because you need the mechanical link between the engine and the drive axles that a manual gives you, especially when going down sand dunes with loose surfaces. The only way to negotiate this kind of obstacle is to use engine braking to keep the vehicle under control. You cannot use the brakes because you will almost certainly lose control. Automatic transmissions do not have engine braking capabilites. 7.) Look for a vehicle on which you can fit skid plates under the engine, transmission, and axles to prevent damage to these components when you cross rocks and other obstacles. On some vehicles it is imossible to fit skid plates, so bear this in mind. 8.) Look for a diesel, since diesels have most of their torque available at low engine speeds. Gasoline engines often have the same amount of torque, but the fact that you have to maintain high engine speeds to have the torque available uses a lot of fuel, and places huge stresses on the engine. Moreover, you get further with a gallon of diesel than you do with a gallon of gasoline. 9.) Avoid vehicles with traction control that is based on the ABS brake system. These systems only work for about 30 seconds or so before their stored energy runs out. Look for a vehicle with a traction control system that works with torque distribution, which is a system that locks the diffs temporarily when individual wheels lose traction and start spinning. 10) Avoid SUV's altogether. Their unibody design does not allow for the amount of flex required to keep all the wheels on the ground when you are crossing difficult terrain. The step-ladder chassis construction of trucks are able to flex to an amazing extent, which goes a long way toward keeping the wheels on the ground. I hope that helps, but offroad driving is inherently dangerous, so get the vehicle that is best suited to the task.