Urban Assault Vehicle

I hated SUVs until I owned one. Now I love them.

Back in 1996 my wife and I needed a new car and we decided agreed that we needed something capable of hauling lots of stuff around. I scuba dive and I was tired of trying to load all my gear into and out of the trunk of a Nissan Sentra. She wanted something capable of carrying garage-sale furniture finds she intended to refinish. So we checked Consumer Reports. We checked the web. We talked to friends. And we test drove -- almost every SUV on the market.

The wife wanted reliability and comfort. We got both with the Montero. It's a big heavy car but it's loaded with features. A 10 CD player, electrical outlets (what we used to call cigarette lighters), a sunroof, running boards, and more. We've taken it on several long road trips and even after a few hours, the comfort level is still very high. Try four or five hours in an old Nissan and see how comfortable you are.

Driving-wise, the Montero is powerful and has little trouble tackling big hills. We routinely drive it in San Francisco with no problems. And speaking of problems. routine maintenance is all that it's required. It has been a very reliable car. One downside is that our transmission, an automatic, sometimes feels a bit sluggish. Nonetheless, my wife loves it and says she feels very safe driving it.


If you're looking for a SUV to drive around the city or on dirt roads, I'd recommend the Montero. It doesn't strike me as one of those drive-it-into-the-outback-through-mud-and-over-logs kind of SUVs. That's why I call it the Urban Assault Vehicle. I don't think Montero drivers pretend that they're offroading. But we do easily haul two full sets of scuba gear and other assorted items.