[onewhippedpuppy]

There is no worse vehicle to own today than a V8 SUV. Do a quick search of Autotrader and look at how many are out there, and how little they are selling for. Even a V8 Toyota won't hold it's value nearly as well as many other vehicles. The point? Your $22k is going to be worth $10k in a short period of time, especially when gas goes back up.

Look at what you can get in a 3-series for $15k-$20k. An E46 with under 50k is easy to find in that price range, possibly in a CPO. There's also a few E90s. Do a little looking and you could probably find an E46 330i ZHP, as close to a 4-door E46 M3 as BMW made. With a ZHP as your DD, you wouldn't miss your 911. Then buy an old truck for $2k and you're set.

I'd avoid Mercedes in that range, from 2000 to 2006 or so they went through some real struggles with quality control and reliability. The last few years they seem to be returning to their old form.