I need to start looking for a daily driver. Looking for advice.

Well my Sti has served well as a DD for a lot of years. Winter fun, mud, and daily duties. I feel it is time I put it away in the garage as it is slowly getting less and less friendly for the daily commute and save it for fun, track, autox. So I need to get another vehicle. Probably not for a while. I like to do a lot of research and thinking before I make any purchase. I really need a truck or SUV as a home owner I feel you need something to haul stuff from time to time. I am not looking to spend a fortune here so I have been looking at the following vehicles : Forester XT, Nissan Xterra, Ford escape/ mercury mariner. I get all my fun from my sti so fun factor is not a huge factor, just need a good DD that can haul some stuff. I would like decent gas milage, but this is not a huge factor. I am 30 miles from work, but may be looking for employement much closer to home. Any advise or suggestions would be appreciated. I by no means am stuck on these vehicles and have looked at some ford F150's. So whats good???

Yeah I would like one of those for fun, but I don't think I could haul a trailer with it.