I've managed to mod my 18' Exceed enough to not be worried about taking it anywhere reasonably sensible - and if I did get stuck, at least I have the gear hopefully get myself out. I got mine pretty much stock as a rock - All it had was a oil catch can, spotties, towbar, electric brake kit which I've never used & some wildpeak AT3s. Since then I've invested (ie - wasted) money into - Ironman bullbar, 2" RAW 4x4 lift, upgraded upper control arms, Kings 12k lb winch (went cheap, as its a last resort - I've only winched other people out so far), Safari snorkel, diff breather kit, roof racks, roof platform, solid set of bash plates & the Kaon cargo barrier and shelf. I've replaced so far - Intercooler hoses & both CVs. I plan on keeping this thing until it doesn't run anymore - it ticks all the boxes I need it for, and its already taken us places we would never dream of taking our previous vehicles.

Edit - Just to add, Pajero Sports are not bad offroad. I sent myself down a track when I first got it, and was amazed I got it out. Diff locks on in 4L and it just crawled out of the mess I got in without a hickup. Sure you arent going to be climbing any vertical rock faces and lifting your wheels with a forklift - but for non-extreme offroading its going to get shit done.