being a user of it for a good year and a half, i would say that you go for it... i'll let you in on my story, so that you have a rough idea...
i got my sportage as a hand-me-down after some 64k on the ODO... we had bought it brand new and so, considering the fact that the vehicle did 64k, as against the complains that everyone has with the engine, it did a pretty commendable job, if i can put it that way...
when i got it, it had started giving heat-up issues and some other stuff, so i went for a complete rebuild... all genuine parts were used and i myself supervised the whole process... despite of that, the engine started wearing out at around 70k kms...
it was 50% dead, when i took it to an all Pakistan road trip, and the jeep, in that condition, took me all the way till saif-ul-mulook and back... i did a good 8k+ kms in around 2 weeks on that very engine...
came back, did not feel like going for a rebuild, so went for a 3ct swap... used the stock sportage gearbox after the required mods and that too, only cuz i wanted to keep the 4x4 intact...
all in all, i would suggest that you go for the jeep, cuz as far as i m concerned, it never gave me any reliability issues and i got the swap only cuz i wanted to...
it is a bit underpowered, so to speak, but only when the engine is near about dead... then again, you would only feel this once you go off-road... otherwise, it is the perfect 4x4 to have in the price range!!!
(disclaimer: my two cents, based on my experience only) :p