New Member Here! What's Up?

Welcome to the forums!

Sorry to hear about your health problems, but I can understand them - my mother is a diabetic who's taken several shots a day for much of her life, now is using an insulin pump (and loves it - she can eat MUCH more freely now).
Thank god for the medical technology we have now - when my mother was diagnosed with Diabetes around age 15 (she's now in her upper 50's), she was told she wouldn't live to see 20. Medical science has rocketed, thankfully - today, a diabetic can live a full healthy life.
My grandfather isn't nearly as severe - really merely a diet-controlled hypoglycemic - but he's in his mid-eighties now, and not looking to quit anytime in the near future. B)
Take care of yourself, man! Takes a lot of discipline... but the payoff is large - life.

At any rate, back to the car audio...
I've got a 1995 Pathfinder myself - I hunted down a 2wd model since I have no need for a 4x4 (even though I live in Buffalo ), and I wanted to lower it, customize it, make it look a little more "streetable".
I had a 1990 Hardbody that was bulletproof.
The Pathfinder I have now also seems good, had a couple bugs I had to work out, but it's a nice truck overall.
Honestly though, the 4x4 suspension I thought to handle really poorly - frightening driving over 70mph... which straightened right out as soon as I lowered it with some new springs in the rear, uncranked torsion rods up front, and installed Toxic shocks all around. With a 4x4, that wouldn't be an option though.

From a reliability standpoint though... I personally give nod to the Pathfinder.
Those old Rodeos I always thought looked cool too, I know nothing about their reliability however.
The Explorer I would guess would be absolutely awful compared to the others, from a reliability standpoint - but I again haven't looked specifically at one in Consumer Reports... I don't think the Jeep is too bad though, but there are so many trim levels... and then cherokee vs. grand that are fundamentally different trucks... (I always liked the old-school cherokee, or cherokee sport)

Peter Euro also has a 4x4 Pathfinder on this forum, you could PM him for his impressions.

Personally, I'd drive them all... highway speeds, see what's more comfortable.
Look them up in Consumer reports, compare trouble spots. Annual August Auto Issue. Pick up the back copy, or check it out at the local library, if you don't own one already. Used car buyer's bible. B)

Welcome, again!

 

Personally, I'd much prefer the JL's or the Type R's over the RF's, but that's just me. I haven't seen anything in recent years from RF that warranted much more than a yawn, IMO.

More likely, however - if you aren't familiar with the online audio community as a whole - most likely we can make suggestions to you that double the performance, and halve the price to you, compared to the best of the subs that you've recommended there.
We're typically a pretty performance-oriented, objective bunch of guys.

Post a separate thread on that though... gather some opinions. I'll put my two cents in, FWIW. (I can predict some recommendations already... but I won't!)

Bear in mind, ANY sub can "bump". That's not a measure of quality or performance.

As far as head units... under $360.. I don't think I've ever spent that much... so from my perspective, "the world is your oyster"! :lol:

I intentionally seek out units that have the features that I want (I like MP3's in addition to my CD's, and a high-end CD section though), have the looks that I want (I'm abhorred by star-trek silver paint jobs... what's that going to match on my car interior?), have the ergonomics that I want (do you prefer knobs or buttons? Is it laid out in a logical way, so that you aren't staring at it trying to remember what does what?), and is devoid of cheesy bells and whistles that are "bling bling" not "sonic bliss" (I've got enough animated GIF's on my computer dated back to the eighties to realize that animated GIFs on my head unit display are hardly a technological innovation).

At any rate, heck, if I can find my "dream HU" for under $300 - I'm sure you can too - but it really depends on what features you are insisting on. There's a few that might bite you in the wallet.
I'm partial to Alpine and Pioneer, they are the two brands that I look at first... but there are others out there that seem good as well. Fusion's head units looked really nice to me at CES this winter, for example. RF has some nice ergonomics, and you might still be able to find the HU they co-ventured with Denon to produce, a nice high end unit, that can be found surprisingly cheap - well under your budget.
...again, post a thread on it, in the General forum. You might be surprised at the suggestions you get. (I can predict some already... but I won't)