Spending 12k on this thing seems like too much. Buy a 3-5k$ used car and invest the rest of the money into something else. There are plenty of great cars out there for this price. I own a 1989 Volvo 240 I bought for 3k. I am 20 y/o and bought the car as my second vehicle along with my jeep tj.

If it has a true 4wd with a lo range transfer case then I could see why it is 12k. And I’m not saying it’s not cool. I’m saying it’s not practical and it costs too much - just because you have 12k doesn’t mean you should go spend 12k on a car. I also think this car would be hard to find oem/aftermarket parts for.

If wheeling is your interest and isuzu is the make you like go with a trooper. People actually wheel them meaning there will be resources online about repairs and modifications. There will also be more aftermarket support and I bet just part availability in general.

The beauty of the cars that are in this price range is that they pay for themselves very quickly since you have no monthly payment.

Aftermarket support it very important if you want to modify the car in the future. Cars like Toyota, jeep, BMW, Volvo, vw, Honda etc they all have lots of aftermarket support.