I'm biased for Ford so the Escape would be my first choice. You might be limited in terms of cargo for the plywood/drywall aspect though. The V6 will tow up to 3500 pounds. Explorers are nice vehicles. We see a ton of high mileage Explorers with no issues. However, do your best to avoid the 02 model year because of rear diff issues.
As stated before, if you go Jeep, go with the I6. The biggest thing to check with high mileage mopar IMO would be strut tower bracing. They have a tendency to rust pretty good.
A Durango will eat you alive on gas. Gas under 3 bucks is not gonna be around very much longer. Everyone I've seen come in to trade one NEVER has a good thing to say about them. Cheap build quality etc.
A previous post mentioned Honda Pilots. Pilots are nice but you wont find one for 6k with less than 150k miles. At that point, the transmissions start to have issues. Honda 3.5L motors are great, but I've seen tranny issues start to pop on higher mileage units
Good luck in your search. Most of your choices have lots of upside and obviously your decision should be based on the specific vehicle you look at and not generalities. Just an fyi, heated seats can be added to any vehicle with cloth OR leather interior.