For many of us the 4x4 has become an emblem of the roaring of the Celtic Tiger: but, despite his misgivings, Barry McCall found that they are in fact a versatile and even enjoyable vehicle to drive - both on and off the road.
I thought my worst nightmare had come to pass the day my wife bought a horse, but worse was to come. I'm not a particular fan of equestrian pursuits and the intricacies of dressage leave me cold. In this situation listening to horse tales is about as entertaining as being stuck in a lift with a golf bore.
I realised that things could indeed get worse when my wife began entering the horse for dressage competitions in far-flung places such as Dragonhold and Fairyhouse. Much to my surprise I found that an animal whose forebears had transported humans across continents could not be expected to make its own way to these places and that transport had to be organised.
It started slowly: "It's difficult trying to find transport all the time. I could borrow a trailer if I only had something to pull it."
I turned a deaf ear to many of these suggestions and entreaties for as long as I could, until very recently when a rather significant birthday with a zero at the end loomed large in my better half's life. Further resistance was futile and I resigned myself to having a 4x4 sitting in the driveway.
It's not that I have anything in particular against 4x4s - it's their drivers who get to me. Why a bleached blonde with sunglasses perched upon her head needs a gas guzzler with enough power to pull a medium-sized oil tanker so she can travel the few kilometres to the sports club every day, I'll never know. Nor will I ever get used to the sight of Armani-suited, hair gelled financial advisers arriving at their appointments in machines more suited to a country vet.
Let's face it - the 4x4 is the dot.com yuppies favourite style accessory. A bit like the Porsches of the Thatcher boom years in Britain, the 4x4 has become emblematic of the Celtic Tiger years in Ireland. And having one sit outside the door had about as much appeal for me as a trip to the local sewage works.
But when you're cornered, you're cornered. So I set out on my research. To my surprise I found that there are no fewer than 35 4x4 models available on the Irish market at present. In hindsight this shouldn't have shocked me given the number of sports club carparks which are absolutely full of them.
These vehicles start at €17,000 and go all the way up to €124,000 with a bewildering array of features. Given this massive choice, the only sensible way to approach the task was to set some parameters such as budget, functionality required and so on.
In discussions with my partner-in-life we decided on a budget of between €30,000 and €40,000. We also decided that it must be capable of pulling a two-animal horsebox with relative ease; be comfortable to drive and to be a passenger in; and look relatively stylish.
We travel regularly to continental Europe so we also decided it should have a lot of space inside and be equipped with a decent stereo and air conditioning.
Setting the budget immediately eliminated a whole raft of vehicles. Out went the Audi Allroad, the BMW X5, all of the Chryslers with the exception of the basic Wrangler, the Ford Explorer, the Isuzu Trooper, the Land Rover Discovery, the M Class Mercedes, the Lexus RX300, the Nissan Patrol GR, the Toyota Landcruiser, and a few others besides.
This still left us with 19 models from which to choose. Lack of pulling power (of the horsebox variety) eliminated the Daihatsu Terios, the Honda HR-V and CR-V, the Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin, the Nissan X-Trail, the Suzuki Jimny and Grand Vitara, the Toyota RAV4, and a few other models where the larger engine took us over our budget. This left us with a much more manageable range of eight or nine models which could meet our needs.
The process of elimination continued with the comfort stakes. Out went the Chrysler Wrangler - the original Marlboro man car, the Daewoo Korando and Musso, the Daihatsu Fourtrak, the Land Rover Defender, the Nissan Terrano II, and the Opel Frontera.
This left us with the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Land Rover Freelander and the Mazda Tribute. The Tribute was the first faller - partly on price with the power required taking us close to our budget limit, but mainly on the poor use made of interior space.
We were now down to the Santa Fe and the Freelander. In the end the Santa Fe shaded it with its huge space inside, good specifications including air conditioning, and its price at a shade over €35,000 for the 2.5 petrol model with a few extras. The fact that we got excellent trade-in value on our previous car also helped.
For me the decision came down to the €4,000 or €5,000 extra we would have had to pay for similar specs in another vehicle, but the final choice came down to aesthetics: my wife just loves the look of the car, as does our 10-year-old son.
With the purchase made I only have three problems - paying for it, the fact that a horsebox purchase is also looming - and, worst of all, I find myself enjoying driving and travelling in it so much that when I change my own car I might just buy a 4x4.