It's not just rural Americans. Japanese 4WD vans, SUVs, and trucks are super hot among Portland hipsters looking for city-friendly vehicles for cargo or road tripping. There are some importers here locally that this is all they do now, like https://www.javan-imports.com/ The other highly desirable vehicle among this crowd are the J60 series Land Cruisers from the 80s, for fashion reasons more than functional ones though.