"I would tend towards the conservative view of transportation being a ~basic~ need and approach it in a ~basic~ manner that does not consume or cost excessively."
I agree, which is why I have a 3/4 ton diesel pickup. Our Honda Civic was worn out at 120k miles, so econoboxes don't make sense for us as they're 'throw away' vehicles, and at over 15k a pop these days a stupid choice for for so little life.
We were driving two Taurus sedans places, getting a combined 14 mpg on the highway and 10 mpg in town, se we looked at bigger vehicles. I tried to avoid a full sized truck but needed the space, as minivans and SUVs when using three row seating don't have much cargo space left. For me a big vehicle meant I needed a diesel, if I got a diesel I wanted a Cummins, so the choices quickly narrowed to a Dodge 3/4 ton quad cab 4x4 pickup, (a wise man once said that 2wd diesel pickups are the 2nd worst snow vehicle know nto man, the 1st being a Harley :^). I got for about what some friends paid for their Subarus and fancy minivans, and they don't get much better mileage than I do. Mine will last longer too.