have you seen the thing in OZ for getting you out the thing attaches to your stuck wheel a rope goes onto It stake it into the sand or another vech and it pulls you out

No, but I got some bigger ones called Maxtrax. I think they are from Australia.
Used them once at Mako-vill, where the quad towing the alum. Boat got stuck. Dave used his truck to get the quad out.
Thus, the jury is out on that on too.

For the money, I ended up going with a Nissan *Specifically* so I could afford a 4x4.... I find them to be just about as reliable and capable.

My day to day ride is the car I keep nice, and I couldn't really fathom putting a saltwater kayak on top of a toyota and climbing in covered in fish guts.... I am a true believer in Toyota, but just couldn't justify the extra cost.

If it helps at all, I went back to an 04 model, as any AT frontier between 05 and 09 is *garbage*... apparently there's a huge known problem where they start dumping coolant into the oil and vice versa.

A solid 4x4 frontier is pretty rare (esp in MT as I prefer) but this one has been a dream and less than $6k with 100k miles....(watched craiglist for 3 mos and had to drive to bakersfield by the time I found it)

Took it up to big bear in crazy icy roads without chains or snow tires, and the all-terrains did fine in 4WH