Beachboi - Thanks for the clarifications. I know car booking sites for Europe use those 4-letter classifications. Not a bad idea to use them here too!

This may have already been pointed out, but I don't think we've ever, in all our years renting, gotten the exact model of vehicle as is advertised on the rental agency website. It's always been another make of comparable size. You may not get a Nissan Xterra, it may be a comparable model.

Gretchen

Anyone coming from Europe would look at our gas prices and think they were in heaven. Besides if you are going to travel do it and not be cramped. We may agree to disagree, but all I was doing was suggesting a vehicle that would fit a person that size and in comfort. I am that size and no way would I or would I want to travel for any length of time in some of these smaller SUV's or cars. It is not uncommon for our road trips to exceed 10K and last for many weeks. Like everyone I was just making a suggestion, mine was for a vehicle that may or may not be known in that part of the world. It is up to "Bertorelli" the OP to make up his mind.

The OP is 78" tall and 280 (two hundred eighty) pounds?? In an Xterra? Uhhh, somebody is going to be cramped that's for sure.

We recently rented a Ford Escape for a week and were quite happy with it. Went through the desert, high mountains, dirt roads, cities. It's, I guess, what is called a small SUV - not a behemoth by any means. Petrol around 21-25 MPG. I was very comfortable (and I'm even taller than you.)

http://www.the-ford-escape.com/

I didn't say you were wrong to suggest it--why think I did. I even said, "my opinion".
And it is indeed up to him to decide. There are many factors.
Yes, the gas prices are high in Europe. So is the gas MILEAGE per gallon, something we could emulate.

Hello again,

About the 'dirt roads'.
We are not planning to go far from the main roads, just a few of the unpaved roads like the one into Monument Valley (Monument Valley Tribal Park Road).

Week 1 and 2 we will be travelling with 4 adults (My parents and my wife and myself)
After that my parents will fly home and just the 2 of us will go on for another 2 weeks. So we don't want to rent TOO big.

Our route for the first 2 weeks will be something like this;
Phoenix, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Cortez (CO), Ouray, Moab, Torrey (UT), Panguitch, Kanab, St. George, Las Vegas. (Mom&Dad fly back from Vegas)
That's about 1.500 miles so just over 100 miles a day. So theres enough time to stop wherever we like.
After that we head to New Mexico and back throu Southern Arizona to Phoenix.

We will try the cars in the category we booked and see if they fit.
An upgrade to a fullsize is always an option.

In Europe we are used to smaller cars, but most roads and parking spots are much smaller too.
It's also much more populated.
(Example; Netherlands 1023/sq mi, Utah 27.2/sq mi) :-)

Thanks

Bert
Zeewolde
The Netherlands

Sound great. There was a guide book The Southwest in 14 Days that was a little goldmine of information--at the time. I'll check and see if it is around because if it is, it would give you some nice jumping off points.
Have agreat time. There is literally nothing in the WORLD like the American West--that was a quote from my late father who had lived all over the world.

It's plenty big enough for 4 democrats. But if you don't believe that global warming is going on...go ahead and book something larger.

Bertorelli

Unless they have really done some work to improve the road at the Monument Valley Tribal Park its about a half dozen rocks from being a 4WD drive. We did it in a full size van and the going was rough, you will need a high clearance vehicle to negotiate that road. They also offer tours, they drive their own vehicles and all you need to do is ride. When I was there the last time vehicles that they were driving on the tour were all 4WD vehicles. While in CO if you get to the Cripple Creek/Victor area in the high country drive the Phantom Canyon Road, nice drive, it will take you to US-50 just to the east of Canon City. We have done that several times in vans and pickups. As far as the van to rent I was mostly think about your size and confort. Once you start driving in the American West you will find the place is much biger than you realize. Enjoy.

I think the book I recommended is long gone but I found this on AMazon. You might enjoy it.
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Known-S...F8&s=books

Thanks for the book link.
We already own a couple of books.
The Lonely Planet Southwest is one of them.
I will take a good at this one too.

Bertorelli - You've got an incredible journey planned which I imagine you will enjoy tremendously. I've done a similiar itinerary and it was a very memorable experience.

Since you will be traveling on some dirt roads I think an SUV like the xterra will work well for you. If you do get an Xterra it will be a little more on the rugged side of SUVs but you wouldn't want to take a luxury SUV like a Navigator across dirt roads in the desert. I will say that the seats are not going to be as comfortable as they could be in a different SUV but you have plenty of stops planned along the way and that will help break up the driving. Regarding the space in the xterra size SUV, I think you should be fine.