Good morning and welcome to Venture, Explore, Discover—this week I’m back on the hunt for the next off-road rig to replace the four-door Wrangler we sold last year. I ended up at a big used car dealership to get seat time in a couple options I don’t have much experience with, especially the Toyota Tacoma and the Jeep Gladiator. I’ll be the first to say it: there are plenty of true car review channels out there, and we’re not one of them. What I can give you is my broad, first-impression take from actually being behind the wheel. Both the Tacoma and Gladiator felt very refined compared to my baseline (a 2008 Wrangler), but the Tacoma clearly had the edge in comfort and refinement. For off-road driving position though, I liked the Gladiator better—mainly because of hood visibility. The Tacoma’s hood rises up from the base of the windshield and felt like it blocked more of what’s right in front, although one Tacoma did have a front-facing camera that would help on obstacles. Pricing is a big reality check too: the Tacomas I’ve seen are typically priced higher than similar-age, similar-mileage Gladiators, even though I fully understand Toyota’s reputation for long-term reliability. I also looked at a Suzuki Samurai that popped up for sale—nostalgia hit hard because my first 4x4 was a teal and white Samurai—but at $10,000 and in only fair condition, we passed. Next video, I’m laying out all the criteria that’s going into this decision and (hopefully) narrowing down what I actually want.