These are the same people that complain about their car being unreliable...

Anyhow, if you are going to go with an explorer, some things to look for:

Auto transmission issues, if it has harsh/delayed shifts steer clear, it indicates much deeper damage, also look for shudder on light acceleration

On 4.0l OHC engines - timing chain tensioners, early ones can go through them like they are going out of fashion

General electrical gremlins - when you test drive the vehicle, make sure EVERYTHING works

Apart from that, they are good vehicles.
But unfortunately they aren't as good as the Jeep or the 'Yota off road, but if all you are doing is snow driving, that shouldn't be an issue.

The Jeep isn't bad, but they have a lot of build quality issues, I personally wouldn't touch one with a 40ft pole.

The Toyota with a 22RE are almost indestructable, but they are gutless, and they sit on almost 3000rpm at 60mph, and they are more prone to rust than the other 2.

If you can find a good Explorer, I would go with that, but take your time in looking for one that has been serviced regulary, and looked after by the owner, it can make a BIG difference.

 

I had a 96' Grand Cherokee Larado 4x4 with the 5.2L V8. I sold it about 2 years ago for about $7000. if you get the Grand Cherokee, don't go older than 96'. The 93-95s had some problems and they redesigned it in 96' and it was a big improvement in my opinion. The Jeep 4.0L I6 has a good reputation but I would get the V8 if going to the mountains for the simple fact that it has enough power that it's not always shifting gears and reving. The V8 is much more pleasant to drive on ski trips. They came with all-time 4WD too that worked better than the one in my wife's 03' Pathfinder.

The pathfinders are good, tough vehicles too but the mid-90 models are underpowered.

If given the choice of those vehicles, things like condition and price being equal, I would get:

1. grand cherokee (if it was V8 in good condition)
2. 4runner
4. grand cherokee with I6 or a regular cherokee with I6
5. explorer (I never did like them. My father's explorer's 4WD system wouldn't engage and stranded him on last month on the beach, luckily the tide wasn't comming in)