Hi mate,
You might find this year-old thread below useful - guys you respect like Kitno were all over the debate which resulted from a very similar question.
It's utes v SUV and all the different makes - quite interesting. There are certainly two very strong camps.
I have an older model double cab Hilux SR5 which suits me fine as a beach tow wagon, wife's horse riding wagon, firewood wagon, all round family holiday wagon with all the bikes etc. But plenty of people say the Hiluxes are over-priced and over-rated, living off past glories and the old image. It's certainly not a dynamic road car, but that's not what it's designed for, and I find it fine on longer highway trips (I've never been into performance driving, though).
All comes down to personal preferences, same as boats...