Need your input guys. I'm a noob here, registered to ask for opinions regarding a purchase I've long been planning to make. This decision is really giving me a hard time so I'm hoping you guys can help me out.

My budget tops off at P1.5m and I'm planning to buy a new SUV. Sedans are out of the question considering the crummy road conditions that we suffer through especially during the rainy season. I go to Nueva Ecija about once a week to do business there and take a day off at our farm on my way back to Manila. I usually travel by myself but weekends are another story since I mostly spend them with my kids (two of them plus an ever-present hanger-on) going all over the metro, doing the usual mall run and whatnot.

Considering I'm on a budget, I've narrowed my choices down to two: the 4x2 Santa Fe and the 4x4 ASX. It's not exactly an apples to apples comparison and I guess you guys know why. Things worth consideration are:

Santa Fe:
-nice size, incredible engine, improved consumption (crdi/evgt), upscale interior... but it's only a 4x2 and the image you get when driving one puts you right smack in midlife-crisis category.

ASX:
-Tech galore (paddle-shift, CVT, HID, headlamp washer, etc)
-interior is decent compared to other more plasticky rivals
-AWESOME multi-select 4x4!
-love it or hate it looks --i happen to love it. takes away around 10 years from the driver's age. hehe
... but it is a bit smallish on the inside, the rear seatbacks don't recline, it's new and unproven (would it go the way of the Outie?)

So there, the source of my indecision. Symptomatic of the mid-age crisis I must be going through. Your help would surely prove to be therpeutic.

Thanks and season's greetings to all tsikoteers