Spending between 15k-20k looking at the 2005's to the 2008's.

Any years I want to stay away from, any years where the upgrades were negligible over years past?

 

You can find '05's for 7k and up, depending on mileage. I like a vehicle with a locker personally. There have, and continue to be parts upgrades and improvements over the years, but I can't say that there is much difference otherwise. Obviously newer is sometimes better, as rust hasn't had as much time to set in, if you are in rust belt.

Look for a model with the features you want, such as locker, heated seats, NAV, etc. and of course, you will want to see the maintenance records.

All in all, besides the usual issues with these vehicles I can't say one year in particular is better than another. While you are visiting have a look at posts, with the discussions about what problems pop up with them. This is not a huge deal if you are willing to be proactive on maintenance.

 

As Todd said, it's more about how well it was treated and maintained than the model year. That goes for most any vehicle probably too...

 

I had two model year 2006. I just sold one with 190,000+ miles that ran great and had obviously been well looked after.

I just today sent my latest one off on a trailer to have the engine swapped out. It only had 160,000 on it, but must have not been cared for. It had 0 compression on one cylinder.

 

Thanks all- noted and I'll update with what I buy when I do.