One of our best friends has an FJ Cruiser, great car but not very practical for taxiing kids around with how the back doors open.
This was our first diesel car but we have lots of friends who live locally with diesel cars & they have not had the same problems. Not sure what is wrong with the injectors but there is a tapping noise when the car starts up & it goes away once the engine is warm. Definitely wanting the fuel efficiency of a diesel.
I would have agreed with the doors thing however I had a Ford Ranger xtracab with the funny rear doors and actually found it fine. I always get out before the kids and it kind of traps them.
On the efficiency front - don't forget to factor in the overall costs of diesel. Sure you may win at the pump, but you lose in many other places with these new generation diesels (which I think you have already experienced).
The Prado is a perfect example. Overall running costs end up pretty line ball and even the FJ cruiser is returning better than 11l per hundred k's.
The only reason I consider owning a diesel is I am a diesel mechanic by trade so can service/repair myself. If not I would go petrol - modern diesels are no longer the reliable long term proposition they were simply because we expect them to perform like petrols with diesel economy - stretched to braking point.
If you do decide to grab the challenger at the very least find out what a new set of injectors will cost you at the recommended replacement time. I just replaced the injectors in my Prado at trade and that was $400 as mine was the older style diesel. The new ones are probably 3 to 4 times that much. That buys a heap of petrol.
Have fun.
