Hello everyone. I am considering buying a Samurai and selling my Xterra. I really love my Xterra, but I need better gas mileage and just overall lower maintenance costs. I have a few concerns that you all might be able to get rid of...
   A) Reliability
   B) Ability to climb steepish hills without loosing a lot of speed (mainly because my job has a steep driveway and is on top of a
       mountain)
   C) I know its small, but my wife and I love camping, and doing so with our dog.. so i guess is there enough room to pack gear
       and our dog too.

General description of the Samurai I am looking at:
88 Suzuki Samurai
31 12/5 New Boggers
Spring Over
Weber Carb
Removable Hard Top

I think the only valid concern that I see is the ability to go up hills without loosing speed.  That is subjective. But with those size tires, you will have to regear and possibly do a engine upgrade depending on you need for power on hills. the stock motor only has sixty something HP.  For me since I live in a mountain area, I did the gears and motor swap and it climbs hills great. 

A Samurai isn't going to get that great of mileage driving down the road, you might be better off with a Tracker/Sidekick.  I would drive it around first and make sure that it is going to work for what you want to use it for.  But I find my Tracker a much better drive for dirt roads and pretty much everything other then rocks.  Normally I get 25-28 mpg, but I am pretty sure I have an exhaust leak at the moment that is throwing the 02 sensor off.  Used to get 27 on the dot most of the time.

In all fairness I don't know if the gearing has been changed or not. I am still shopping around but wanted to get professional opinion.

In my novice opinion Samurai's are toys that have a lot of drawbacks.  But they are a lot of fun, you just need to be willing to accept that they are rough riding, under-powered and don't have a lot of space inside.  If you can accept that then they are golden. 

Think of the Samurai as the British sports car of the utility vehicle world. Small cool and underpowered...
The one your looking at sounds like a fair bet though.
 SPOA'd rigs tend to feel a little less stable than a SPUA'd rigs . It' all in the way that the suspension works.
I doubt that the Sammy is going to get that much better millage.
 As far as cargo space. I removed the rear seat from mine (at 52 I haul no kids) I do haul my dogs camping gear and occasionally groceries in the back of mine with no problems. Especially with the 1 piece hard top, tons of room.
 As to maintenance cost . An 88 Samurai is 24 years old.
 If you manage to find one that is in relay great condition .
Yes they can be low maintenance.
Most have been modified in some way though --- With varying degrees of competency  ------ IT CAN BE EXPENSIVE TO GET ONE INTO THE CONDITION WHERE ONE CAN START TO SAY " this is now a low maintenance rig".....
I own and just finished the build on my 88 1/2 Samurai . It started as a low mile (55000) Rust free, fairly unmolested rig.
$5000 later its now low maintenance and a great all around Zuke.
 I get around 28mpg , so I guess it can be considered an economical ride........Boxcar...
 PS: I don't get the whole rugh riding comments I keep hearing from people though.
A properly SPOA'd Samurai Has a much more comfortable ride than most utilities and I might add sidekicks that I have driven.....
 So I'll have to disagree with that comment.....