[Crazy Dazz]

The Terry was a great car, and realistically you need to look at a European to get something that fits the same criteria.

AWD is freakin awesome. You can plant your foot, in the wet, in a bend, and she will power out. Its not an offroad car, but at the same time is awesome on gravel, and won't get bogged in soft shoulders . Oh, and if you ever do wnat to pull a boat up a ramp, AWD is great.
Problem is that if you buy an SZ, you can only get AWD in the diesel.
Unless you are over 75, obsessed with fuel consumption to the point that you park on the street to save fuel, or plan to spend your entire life towing a caravan, forget the diesel. It's a turd. Well polished, but a turd nonetheless.

I would not look any older than an SYII, especially with your budget. Prioer models did suffere with a defective balljoint set-up, that was completely redesigned for the SYII.

One of the problems with the Terry, is that they insisted on trying to sell THREE different trim levels, on basically identical cars. So equipment that should have been in the base modle TX, isn't, becuase then they'd have nothing to differentiate the TS and Ghia/Titanium. If you want Leather seats, its either top of the wozza, or look out for one of the limited edition models. If not, its up to you whether you think the extra bits & bobs are worth it.

Thing to remember is that the Terry is a large RWD/AWD SUV. It not comparable to something like an Overlander, which many people may find suits their purposes better.

The other downside if you're looking to buy now, is that because there are no new ones available, and no ex-fleet models flooding the market, they are holding their value