car shopping nightmare

so i go ages without posting and now i post two this week. this one is purely to get my thoughts on paper and maybe to get some advice.

car shopping here is soooooo different from back home.

first you have to understand that a car is everything. you can live in a shack, but it is shameful to have a shabby car. back home, you can live in a mansion and it's still cool to have a hybrid, or actually budget for your vehicle. it's not like that here.

back home, executives may chose to have a smaller more compact car for whatever reason.
here, no executive will compromise on appearances, no matter the reason.

back home hybrids and smaller cars are becoming more popular.
here (first off) gaz is SUPER cheap. about $.20/lt...but when i told a salesman about the popularity of smart cars in montreal because of the price of gaz his reply was:
"so people car more about how much they spend on gaz than how they look to others?"

it was the oddest thing, that people actually care about how they look SO MUCH. it's REAL people. you know, growing up, we're taught to not care about what people think, to do right by ourselves. for soooo long i've lived my life by my own rules, in a place where people play by those same rules. and now i'm in a place where i will actually be treated differently if i apply the rules the same way i did back home.

that being said...the drivers here are maniacs to say the least. you've got the driving habits of germans who are used to the autobahn, the indians haven't met a stop pedal they like and honk like mad, the filipinos who cut you off leaving a little less than half and inch between the cars, so the americans who signal and stop at lights are just a menace because they're the minority and catch everyone else off guard.

since i have gotten here, there hasn't been a day that i haven't seen a reaaallyyyy bad accident. more like collisions, cause one car is usually totalled. and by the way...they shouldn't be called accidents here. they should be called on purpose. the way people drive here it's no ACCIDENT they crash, it's a guaranty that they will crash.

so here are the rules to look at:
1- safety - it's drive at your own risk out here and the bigger your car, the safer your life.
2- reliabilty - because of the heat, engines die fast. a car with a proven history will be bought faster. the roads are really horrible too so SUVs are usually the better choice
3- resell value - (considering i wont be here forever) buyers are discriminating. the name behind a car will sell the car more than anything else.

i've been car shopping with that in mind. looking at the H3, Honda Pilot, Mitsubishi Pajero, Rav4, X3...i have no idea what to do. The pajero (called montero back home) is SUPER popular here, amazing re-sell value and very safe. but i test drove it and i haaaaatttttteeee how it looks and how EVERYONE and their dog has one. i also test drove the X3 and it feels light and flimsy. :( the H3 is empty inside. it looks really plasticky and the resell value is really low.

so that leaves the pilot and Rav4. hopefully one of those cars will fit the bill!!! anyone have experience with either in hot weather and bad terrain??