So you have €35,000 to spend and you have a hankering for something rugged, tough and high up. Of course, if you live in a suburb, such aspirations may be struck down by a moral guilt for driving such a cumbersome vehicle in town traffic.
If you manage to overcome your guilt - and it seems a surprisingly easy thing to do judging by the ever-growing 4x4 populous in urban Ireland - then you'll clearly think that rugged, tough and high up means SUV. Right? Well maybe not.
Of course €35,000 might seem like quite a lot of money, but in the world of the Sports Utility Vehicle it doesn't really go that far. You could have Daihatsu's new Terios, a Hyundai Tucson or a Kia Sportage and still have change in your back pocket. You can even scrape a Toyota Rav4 petrol for under €35,000.
But what if you have somewhat loftier ambitions? Worthy as the SUVs mentioned are, they are all, dare I say it, a bit dinky. Previously reserved for tradesmen and emergency services, the pick-up truck has undergone something of a metamorphosis of late, with manufacturers keeping one interested eye on the popularity of the genre in the United States.
The pick-up truck plays a significant role in American culture, becoming the spiritual successor to the horse from the American "Old West". They are a symbol of male virility. In a famous campaign speech by Tennessee Senator Fred Dalton, he explained his opponent's shortcomings by saying: "He hasn't spent enough time in a pick-up truck."
For a number of years in the United States, the Ford F-Series pick-up truck has been the best-selling pick-up in the country for 30 years and the top-selling vehicle of any type for 25 years. Ford sells more than 900,000 per year.
Here in Ireland, the latest offerings are more refined, more handsome and, because of a different VRT rating of 13.3 per cent on such vehicles, they are better value than their slightly more anaemic SUV cousins. Leading the segment with 336 units so far this year is the Nissan Navara.
The Navara is available in eight variants, ranging in price from €34,995 for the 2.5-litre SE Double Cab, but you can pay up to €44,095 for a premium model, which comes with every conceivable extra, such as colour reversing camera, satellite navigation, leather upholstery and electric sunroof.
This is followed by the Isuzu D-Max range with 268 units so far this year. The D-Max is powered by a 3.0-litre with 130bhp and has been coveted by buyers aiming to "pimp" their pick-up truck.
The latest two offerings to the market, however, come from Mitsubishi and Toyota. Mitsubishi's new L200 has just been launched on to the Irish market with major improvements in terms of styling, roominess and refinement. It comes with a new 136bhp 2.5-litre DI-D engine with a power upgrade to 160bhp available as an option. The L200 now has a better turning circle than before, making it easier to manoeuvre.
There are four grades available and at the top level, known as Intense, air conditioning, 17" alloy wheels, traction control and a leather steering wheel and gear stick come as standard. The L200 is also available with automatic transmission and a 'Diamond' version will follow that comes with full leather upholstery.
The L200 starts from €22,995, with the top spec Auto version coming in at just €35,230. That is still less expensive than most small SUVs with less equipment, less powerful engines and more than likely poorer residual values in years to come. Mitsubishi is confident of selling 400 L200s this year and the new model has become a more appealing prospect and may indeed cannibalise sales from its passenger model range.
Toyota has a new 102bhp 2.5-litre D-4D Hilux onto the market, too. Toyota's durable pick-up truck is still, according to Toyota Ireland's Ian Corbett mainly coveted by the building and farming industry, but they do expect some of their 200 sales to come from "regular" customers. Prices start at €24,875.
We recently spent a week in the SR5 model, costing €33,555, which comes with such refinements as air conditioning and despite its slightly agricultural feel and bouncy ride when unladen, its road presence, ruggedness and innate coolness make it very difficult to resist. You only have to cast your mind back to last year, when BBC's Top Gear tried in vain to destroy an old Hilux to understand why this is money well spent.
The boys from the BBC tried drowning, burning and crashing the Hi-Lux into a wall, before finally putting it on top of a tower block that was then blown up. All to no avail; the Hi-Lux continued to start up with only a few minor mechanical tweaks with a screwdriver.
There are drawbacks of course. While you have a double cab available in all of these new range of pick-up trucks, the problem is that there is that long load bay at the back, which is not exactly shopping friendly.
As we found out on a visit to the supermarket in the Hilux, unless you want your eggs already scrambled before you arrive home, then your groceries will need to remain on the back seat and if you are of a nervous disposition then you will find most car parks something of an ordeal. There are, of course, a range of covers and load separators available for all of these vehicles that will keep your load dry, intact and not stolen. Expect to pay about €1,800 for a decent one.
All of these pick-ups will be incredibly strong, capable of putting up with enormous abuse and have that wipe-clean quality that makes keeping one for 10 years seem altogether reasonable.