I recommend a full size, 4 door crew cab, med. bed, 4wd pickup.  You'll find a lot of uses for it that you don't realize till you own one.  I'm always carrying tools with me and still have room for a lot of cargo.  

We don't have kids so we usually use the back of the cab for luggage and such.  The seats are big enough to sleep in in a pinch.  The crew cabs, including up to a 1 ton, ride as nice or nicer than a lot of smaller cars.  Add a rollup bed cover if you need to keep items covered and dry very much.

Transmissions may be a lot better in SUV's than my experience but we went trough 2 transmission on our 01 blazer just pulling around a 3-4k lb boat.

It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I love the look of the vehicle but looking at it from the side, you can tell that there isn't a lot of storage space. But I suppose anything is an upgrade from my Civic in terms of storage.

I absolutely love my Maverick hybrid.

SUV all day. I’ve had exactly 0 people ask me to help them move/haul something since getting rid of my truck and driving a Land Cruiser

Gay pride orgasm man, is that you???

Here we go.

Hurrr durrrr, does your husband drive it?

It’s an Escape with a bed.

Get a real truck with a Salt Life sticker on it.

I thought I was going to see some carnage clicking this thread.

I don't get why some people are so judgemental of what kind of vehicle someone drives. It's literally a way to get from point A to point B or designed to perform a specific purpose. Anyone whose vehicle becomes part of their identity has major insecurity issues.

I don't get why the Maverick bros always try to post in the truck threads, either.

I'd recommend a modest suv.  

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Ford Transit or Mercedes/Dodge/RAM sprinter vans are super utility vehicles. I can haul 15 passengers or dynamically trade passenger space for cargo space by easily pulling out some seats. I can haul 4 wheelers, lawn tractors, stack of drywall/lumber, 12 foot long pipe/lumber/molding/gutters enclosed in my van, secure and out of the weather. Ultimate road trip vehicle. Can tow between 4500 and 6000 pounds depending on configuration. Awesome payload. When we go camping, I have my entire family in the van, all of our camping gear plus 5 bicycles inside my van, enclosed, secure and out of the weather.

you can get them in AWD from the factory and 4x4 in aftermarket conversions. Mine is rear wheel drive. I installed a Truetrac helical limited slip differential and Michelin crossclimate tires and it is awesome in the snow covered roads in Michigan. Sure footed and confident.

We had a full sized truck previously, and it was too small for our family and the gear we wanted to take with us.

FPNI. I owned 1/2 ton trucks from 2004 to 2022. SUV with trailer covers everything I need much better than a truck.

Just depends on your needs.

I went from a MINI to a Tacoma and can’t imagine being without a truck ever again. It’s just far too handy and versatile.

In the Crosstrek, which is very small, but quit heavy for size, you get the larger engine for power. 2.5 vs 2.0.

In the Outback and Wilderness, which is deceptively large, you get the slightly smaller engine with turbo for power. 2.5 vs 2.4 turbo. The turbo versions are nicely quick. Wilderness has lower gear gearing

Outback is very quite and comfortable.

We have two SUV’s, a 2020 Toyota Landcruiser and a 2022 4Runner.  I had a 2015 4Runner and traded it in on a 2019 Tundra and missed my 4Runner, went back to a 4Runner.

Interesting part, with the seats folded down in the 4Runner, I can carry 90% of what I could in the Tundra with a 5.5’ bed.  I am talking boxes and contained stuff.  For lumber and yard stuff, I back up to my 5’ x 10’ trailer and hitch it up.  Typically use the trailer two times a month and so easy to do.

My lifestyle with going out with my wife to take pictures and going to the range, you can’t beat a SUV and the 4Runner works perfect.  The Landcruiser is our traveling vehicle and it too is excellent at pulling a trailer if needed.

If you are hauling stuff everyday, a truck will be better…and I will add this, there is no better SUV than the 4Runner (other than the Landcruiser)

I went from a 4runner to a tacoma. 99% of the time I greatly miss the interior cargo space of the 4runner. 1% of the time I actually need to use the bed for truck stuff that wouldn't work in the 4runner. A very small fraction of a percent of the time the tacoma is more useful than the 4runner with a trailer would have been.

That said, I still love the tacoma and plan to keep it forever and ever. I think I really just need to ALSO have another 4runner.

I tried to get away from full sized trucks for my last vehicle purchase, because I don’t have a great reason drive one. Looked at all kinds of stuff, but nothing felt quite right.  I guess I’m just a truck guy.  

I still hate trying to park the thing.  Parking garages are my great nemesis. That’s the biggest down side for me.

Maybe go to CarMax so you can look at a variety of vehicles.  Figure out what you’d like to drive on a daily basis.

Another consideration.  Pickups have body on frame construction.  Except for, I think, the new Maverick (so it really isn't a truck).  Most SUV's are unibody.  Unibody is a much weaker system.  It's used by manufacturers mostly because it is cheaper.