I owned one, a 2006 limited 4x4 hemi from may 2010 till April last year, when I traded for a 22 wagoneer. I used it to tow its entire time with me. It was quirky, but I never had major issues with it. I liked it the entire time I had it.
I had a Hemi Limited. 06. The power was remarkable, but unfortunately it had some electronic gremlins and recurrent 4WD problems. That, and the transmission went out at 86k miles.
3.7 is a gutless, inefficient engine - I know it because I have one in an '08 GC - you know it as well. The thing about that engine is that it's sneaky good at hanging around for a loooooong time. At 250k, you obviously know it...ours has 235k on it currently, doesn't burn oil, and just keeps chugging along. All I've ever done with it is stay on schedule with oil changes, give it an air filter every now and then, and change the plugs (once). I'm sure you're like me....I don't care much about the fact that it doesn't pull as well as a hemi when it's still running strong after all these years. Honestly, I think in a few years, people are going to start to realize that the 3.7 is every bit as good and maybe better than the engine it replaced (the legendary 4.0 straight six). Yeah...I said it.
@@godlikeike nothing special. For the first 150k it was just regular dino juice. I switched to synthetic blend after that, but it's not anything "high mileage" specific. Just keep on schedule with oil changes. That's all i ever did. This engine never really asked for much beyond that.
I own a 06 jeep commander currently and the thing is a beast. Even with the typical jeep electrical issues. It still drives i take it up to the mountains all the time and here we have some very long hills driving up to the mountains, and thing barely needs gas to get up.
Shortly after production ended, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said of the Commander, "That vehicle was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don't know why people bought them."
My 6th grade teacher had got me a brochure of the Jeep Commander when it first came out and I thought the Jeep Commander was luxurious at first, but it had cheap interior materials that doesn't make it look like a luxury SUV.
My mom drove a Commander new from 2006 to 2022 when the engine went out at only ~150k miles. Was never sure what happened to it, but she got $1000 for it not running. It was the 5.7 Hemi Limited and never got more than 13 mpg for whatever reason, even on long highway drives. It also had radiator problems, but she really liked it. She had (and still has a 1996 XJ) new from the dealer, so she liked having another Jeep vehicle that was bigger to haul family around. Her Commander didn't have the color screen as shown in this video though, but it did have that neat brown leather interior which held up well. The rear little ceiling windows were also pretty neat. She was very sad when it died, because the exterior and interior looked immaculate because she took care of it. It had the design of a Land Rover. She wanted to get another Jeep like a Grand Cherokee or Wagoneer, but I told her I would avoid Jeeps these days so she went with a different brand instead. BTW, her 96 XJ has 199k miles on it and still runs like new! We took that XJ on several offroad trips in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona over the years. It just keeps going with it's 4.0 inline 6 engine. Somebody out there is driving a nice 2006 Commander for pretty cheap after they fixed the engine.
She was better off keeping the XJ with the I6. She will still be driving it when the new owner of the cheap Commander experiences more problems after they fix it. Good Jeep died when they canceled the 4.0L
I became friends with someone in my old apartment complex who had one of these. We went on a road trip in it and I don't think I've ever heard a vehicle with so many squeaks, creaks and rattles 😐 I asked him how many miles it had and there were only like 55k on it.
It wouldn't be a Chrysler/Mopar product if it didn't squeak, rattle, or having a noisy fan belt. They just don't make quality vehicles. Never have. Now its a weird confusing mess of who owns who, lol. Lee Iacocca should've let it sink.
The Grand Cherokee short wheel base should be called the Cherokee. The L should be called the Grand Cherokee. The current Cherokee should be called something else like the Liberty, which it was for many years in North America.
After reading a lot of these comments, apparently I got a decent one. Bought an '08 Hemi 1-owner with over 80k miles in 2017 and love it more every year. We've got 150k miles on it now. It has never left us stranded in snowy winters or blistering heat. Kept up with the basics (periodic fluid and filter changes). Repairs have been one differential bearing at 120k (was getting noisy), an 02 sensor and passenger side-view mirror at 133k (the heating feature was discoloring the mirror), a thermostat around 140k and a recently a water pump and different 02 sensor. Weak areas are the A/C (could be colder) and the design of the drains for the sunroof (I had to unclog them twice to alleviate drainage backup into the front footwells; found a tip/trick on RUclips a few years ago and no problem since then. We're keeping it until it's no longer possible to drive it.
And it's one of the coolest looking Jeeps out there. I bought a 2007 one and I absolutely love the thing, and next to my Cherokee XJ, the Commander looks like a bigger and more modern XJ, probably one of the reasons I like the Commander so much, plus it's absolutely awesome to drive, and mine is only the 3.7L
Those mid-2000s DaimlerChrysler interiors really were terrible. You can tell where they didn't put enough development dollars. Also, that 3.7L V6 had no right being put into a vehicle this big and heavy.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 Fair enough. But sadly, those 3.7s were barely enough in the Liberty, mind you something almost twice the size. I'd have rather seen the 4.7L V8 (or even the 4.0L V6 from the Grand Caravan) in there instead.
@@rjcolombe agreed. I don’t recall Chrysler putting the 4.0 SOHC V6 in many vehicles. Only the Town and Country and Grand Caravan and the Dodge Nitro. It’d have been a decent base engine in the Commander. My only assumption is the fact that the 3.7 was significantly cheaper to build than the 4.0 and Chrysler wanted that profit.
We still have one of these in our fleet with the 3.7 V6 and 105k miles, so far it's needed 2 water pumps, pcv valves, front suspension components, used clock spring assembly, abs wheel speed sensor and hub assembly, oil pan gasket, every so often it throws an evap code bc the tank failed the smoke test needs to be replaced, the 3.7 seems to love oil, doesn't leak any and doesn't burn any but it's not acceptable in my opinion, the gearshift assembly had to be removed and the copper ribbon assembly cleaned with alcohol and q tips to remove that code. Still runs and drives fine, adequate power, ok fuel mileage.
We owned a 2007 with the 4.7 from 2008-2023. Aside from some electrical gremlins thanks in part to one too many rainstorms with the sunroof open, it was a great car and always got us where we were going. Was amazing in the snow with the Quadra-Trac II drivetrain and with the tow package it was very capable with a trailer or boat. My main issues with it were the handling and odd shift pattern. Had significant body roll on tight turns, and whenever you lay on the throttle under load the kick down would make the engine scream at 4500 rpm. We lost it to an accident last summer, but it went out pushing 260,000 miles with no significant engine trouble and minimal rust, an impressive feat for 16 years of punishing Michigan winters. I miss that thing.
I liked these. The 3.7 and 4.7 were junk but the hemi and this body style was like an XJ with hemi power. My 99 XJ has half a million miles on her which the hemi would never see unfortunately
I always liked these too. I think if they would've used a 6 speed to improve mpg and 0-60 speeds and added like 3 inches to the wheelbase and used that space for the third row it would've been alot more successful. The Grand Cherokee wasn't any better and it sold well.
Backwards. The Hemi of this era was junk. The 3.7 was damn near bulletproof. The 4.7 was just a 3.7 with 2 extra cylinders. It was more common and more abused. Timely oil changes were required for long term reliability. The timing chains were unforgiving to improper oil changes.
Looked at getting one of these used, roughly 5 yrs old at the time. Upon looking underneath the front diff was leaking already…..after some research I found that was common. We passed. At 5 yr the diff was already leaking, that screamed big repairs before ever close to paying it off
Believe it or not, I still see quite a few of them in Greece. They were especially popular as CRDs, with the Turbodiesel V6 (like the Grand Cherokee of its day), but I have also come across a couple of them with both the 4.7 and the 5.7 V8s. I love the look of the Commander, looks clean and macho, like a big SUV should. But it came as a surprise to me that it's only a couple of inches longer than the Grand Cherokee of its day. I guess all these straight lines, along with its overall boxy shape, make it look larger. Very interesting.
"Those cars were unfit for human consumption. People bought them, I dont know why". CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, talking about the Jeep Commander.
It's absolutely insane how they went from the high quality, good looking interior of the 1999 300M to the pure crap they churned out after the Daimler "merger of equals."
It’s interesting now that they’re back with a French company, they’re making cool things with nice interiors again (like Renault/AMC creating the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee)
Personally i like the commander its real different from other cars snd well such a shame it had a bad reputation bcs if was more reliable it have a ton of potential
Loved this car!!!!! They need to bring the commander nameplate back!!! Bring back the liberty nameplate as well!!!! The patriot nameplate!!!!! Jeep needs to go back to some old names and footing. It’s become a very expensive brand these days.
The big 3 doesn’t really attract the type of buyers who maintain their vehicles long term. After production ends, statistically the average car will last 7 years.
They should have offered the Mercedes based 0m642 3.0L diesel that was available in the Grand Cherokee from 07-08. That would have been an ideal SUV. The gas engines are just way too thirsty for such a big box.
I leased a Commander in 2010 during a huge discount lease program. $159 a month. I was the worst car I’ve ever owned. It was at the dealership more than I had it in my garage. So many electrical issues and transmission problems. I was happy when that lease was over.
The automatic climate control panel at 2:34 is the same unit in my uncle's 2007 Chrysler 300 Limited and it was used in some Mercedes-Benz vehicles of the early 2000s.
First off, nothing that has over 200 horsepower is "underpowered". Perhaps your expectations and standards have gotten too damn high, just like your insurance rates, and you need a reality check. Second, I sold these brand new when I was working as a new car salesman at a Jeep dealer. When these first hit the lot, they sold before we could even get a chance to "dress them". Sold em wrapped in plastic with window stickers intact. The most popular models we sold were actually the V6 base models with only one or two options. This was back when SUVs were real SUVs and people didn't drive them like they were driving 4 wheel drive Corvettes. Commander answered a question only the Grand Cherokee owners asked for a long time..."Can we get a 3rd row seat?". Jeep answered. Obviously, if you didn't ask that question then the Commander was not meant for you.
This is one of those cars that doesnt look that good but is actualy a very capable and good car. Having knowns earlier how good this car was i would have loved it!
We got them here in the UK, including the Hemi. Very poor sales, although i always thought and stil donthe they're a cracking looking Jeep. Not keen in the colour of the test car here though...
I always thought these looked really cool. Several people I know owned one including my next door neighbors. Saw these everywhere back in the day here in SoCal, but not so much anymore. I also thought these had attractive looking interiors as well especially with the wood trim since Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge were known for having some of if not the worst interiors during this era IMO. The 5.7L HEMI V8 was the only way to go the first couple model years since the other engines were underpowered. The 4.7L V8 got a huge power boost for the 2008 model year.
Buyers: We miss the boxy 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee you took away from us. Chrysler: Try this, so you'll never ask us for boxy SUVs again for another 20 years.
Had one of these as a rental in San Francisco. I recall nothing of interest on this appliance aside from the fact you had to power brake it on every minute hill to avoid rolling back.
Not really it’s exterior design aged well, because with today’s SUV like the Broncos, LandCruiser, GX, and upcoming 4Runner being boxy with narrow tall taillights and headlights, this a good alternative if you don’t want to spend new car money 😊
I work at a shop that services a Commander. Owner is an absolute tool and is always complaining about something with it and he will lose his mind if any little thing is amiss with his "precious unobtainium" baby...
I don't think I've seen one of these with all its body panels and/or a working drivetrain since at least 2010. They did NOT age well, and I'm not talking about the styling. I can only imagine how slow the V6 models must be. 10+ seconds to 60?
My 2011 Ford F150 with a 5.0L Coyote V8 gets the same MPG as this Commander with the 5.7L Hemi V8 while having more power than this Jeep and being wayyyyyyy more reliable as well due to having much better build quality and no cylinder deactivation crap either.
The problem is that this was a mini-malaise era for the big 3 automakers. None of their products were particularly well made or designed for long term.
@@douglasb.1203 indeed. I owned a 2006 Toyota Sequoia back then and it was horrendously cheap inside. I literally had physical buttons on the dash that came out of a parts bin from the 1980s. No exaggerating. Hard plastics, horrific panel gaps.
I liked the look, but the rear seats were 👎 We had a 1st Generation Liberty whose look I liked but the 2nd Generation Liberty looked like a downsized Commander….which didn’t work on the smaller SUV
2009 Commander loved it until a computer glitch shut it down permanently Oh it could be fixed but for nearly triple what I paid for it. No more Jeeps I’m done.
@@workingcountry1776 Plenty of room, not hard to service at all, the 4.7 and 5.7 are very good engines! I’ve yet to have ever replace a 4.7. And I work at a dealer.
I had two neighbors and later a client who had these. All three loved theirs, and I thought they were appealing. I know the interiors had cheap touches, but compared to competitors at the time they weren’t bad really. I think the press killed these, and they were an easy and visible target for derision in late 2007 and early 2008 when the economy started crashing.
I owned one, a 2006 limited 4x4 hemi from may 2010 till April last year, when I traded for a 22 wagoneer. I used it to tow its entire time with me. It was quirky, but I never had major issues with it. I liked it the entire time I had it.
Looks likes you’re one of the uncommon lucky ones 😅
I had a Hemi Limited. 06. The power was remarkable, but unfortunately it had some electronic gremlins and recurrent 4WD problems. That, and the transmission went out at 86k miles.
Still own my 2006 3.7 cylinder and she's got over 250,000. Maintenance is key. I love it.
I have a 2006 v8 what do u do mines at 220
3.7 is a gutless, inefficient engine - I know it because I have one in an '08 GC - you know it as well. The thing about that engine is that it's sneaky good at hanging around for a loooooong time. At 250k, you obviously know it...ours has 235k on it currently, doesn't burn oil, and just keeps chugging along. All I've ever done with it is stay on schedule with oil changes, give it an air filter every now and then, and change the plugs (once). I'm sure you're like me....I don't care much about the fact that it doesn't pull as well as a hemi when it's still running strong after all these years. Honestly, I think in a few years, people are going to start to realize that the 3.7 is every bit as good and maybe better than the engine it replaced (the legendary 4.0 straight six). Yeah...I said it.
What oil you use? High milage? I'm at 110k on my 06 v6 now, hoping to get at least 200k.
@@godlikeike nothing special. For the first 150k it was just regular dino juice. I switched to synthetic blend after that, but it's not anything "high mileage" specific. Just keep on schedule with oil changes. That's all i ever did. This engine never really asked for much beyond that.
@@mikehook4830 good to know, appreciate it
rip hank Schrader
I own a 06 jeep commander currently and the thing is a beast. Even with the typical jeep electrical issues. It still drives i take it up to the mountains all the time and here we have some very long hills driving up to the mountains, and thing barely needs gas to get up.
Shortly after production ended, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said of the Commander, "That vehicle was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don't know why people bought them."
Which is crazy because considering all of the crap Chrysler made back then, this was actually a nicer pile of crap.
My sister had a Jeep 2006 Commander had over 500,000 mi on it never broke down! Had it for over 14 years!
Me neither,and the seats OMG so uncomfortable 😣😣
Looks like a glorified oversized 90ish cherokee a tad.
It was a great idea just poor execution by Chrysler engineers as far as comfort.
My 6th grade teacher had got me a brochure of the Jeep Commander when it first came out and I thought the Jeep Commander was luxurious at first, but it had cheap interior materials that doesn't make it look like a luxury SUV.
My mom drove a Commander new from 2006 to 2022 when the engine went out at only ~150k miles. Was never sure what happened to it, but she got $1000 for it not running. It was the 5.7 Hemi Limited and never got more than 13 mpg for whatever reason, even on long highway drives. It also had radiator problems, but she really liked it. She had (and still has a 1996 XJ) new from the dealer, so she liked having another Jeep vehicle that was bigger to haul family around. Her Commander didn't have the color screen as shown in this video though, but it did have that neat brown leather interior which held up well. The rear little ceiling windows were also pretty neat. She was very sad when it died, because the exterior and interior looked immaculate because she took care of it. It had the design of a Land Rover. She wanted to get another Jeep like a Grand Cherokee or Wagoneer, but I told her I would avoid Jeeps these days so she went with a different brand instead. BTW, her 96 XJ has 199k miles on it and still runs like new! We took that XJ on several offroad trips in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona over the years. It just keeps going with it's 4.0 inline 6 engine. Somebody out there is driving a nice 2006 Commander for pretty cheap after they fixed the engine.
She was better off keeping the XJ with the I6. She will still be driving it when the new owner of the cheap Commander experiences more problems after they fix it. Good Jeep died when they canceled the 4.0L
Owning car for 16 years is pretty impressive no matter the milage.
How many times did she have the oil changed?
I became friends with someone in my old apartment complex who had one of these. We went on a road trip in it and I don't think I've ever heard a vehicle with so many squeaks, creaks and rattles 😐 I asked him how many miles it had and there were only like 55k on it.
It wouldn't be a Chrysler/Mopar product if it didn't squeak, rattle, or having a noisy fan belt. They just don't make quality vehicles. Never have. Now its a weird confusing mess of who owns who, lol. Lee Iacocca should've let it sink.
You don't even see these on the road anymore
Hardly ever saw these when new
You may have seen one in the Tomb Raider Legend during the chase sequence in Kazachstan 😂.
It was a bad idea, and given that it is a jeep, most of the ones that did exist have been recycled
my neighbor has one. rear hatch has been replaced because of the huge rust hole. the only reason it still stand is because its barely driven
I see em in Dallas occasionally
They should've named the 3 row Grand Cherokee the Commander, to be honest. It just fits the name better than Grand Cherokee L.
Grand Cherokee name sells better.
The Grand Cherokee short wheel base should be called the Cherokee. The L should be called the Grand Cherokee. The current Cherokee should be called something else like the Liberty, which it was for many years in North America.
After reading a lot of these comments, apparently I got a decent one. Bought an '08 Hemi 1-owner with over 80k miles in 2017 and love it more every year. We've got 150k miles on it now. It has never left us stranded in snowy winters or blistering heat. Kept up with the basics (periodic fluid and filter changes). Repairs have been one differential bearing at 120k (was getting noisy), an 02 sensor and passenger side-view mirror at 133k (the heating feature was discoloring the mirror), a thermostat around 140k and a recently a water pump and different 02 sensor. Weak areas are the A/C (could be colder) and the design of the drains for the sunroof (I had to unclog them twice to alleviate drainage backup into the front footwells; found a tip/trick on RUclips a few years ago and no problem since then. We're keeping it until it's no longer possible to drive it.
I liked these! The 5.7 hemi off-road version is s future classic. For you people knocking it, look at what else was out in 2006. This beast was sweet!
They really phoned this one in. Very slightly larger and they stuck in a third row, which works as long as you don't intend to put humans in it.
It wasn't even "slightly larger" it was only an inch bigger than a Grand Cherokee
And it's one of the coolest looking Jeeps out there. I bought a 2007 one and I absolutely love the thing, and next to my Cherokee XJ, the Commander looks like a bigger and more modern XJ, probably one of the reasons I like the Commander so much, plus it's absolutely awesome to drive, and mine is only the 3.7L
I remember this jeep was shown in a Missy Elliott music video the year before it was released to the public! The song was "Lose Control"
I loved these. They were a little too expensive when we bought our last car and a little too old when we bought our truck
i havent seen one on the road in probably 10 years.
I don't know where you living but I see them on the daily and I'm in New York
Because they all died 10 years ago
@@mankind8088 no they didn't
Multi-displacement more like multi detonation of camshaft
That’s GM’s favorite feature.
how hilarious is it that Cadillac pioneered AFM unreliability back in the 80s, and it's still bending pushrods to this day
Had an 06 HEMI Limited, the interior wasn’t that great, gas mileage was abysmal lol but it never left me stranded and could climb out of anything.
Those mid-2000s DaimlerChrysler interiors really were terrible. You can tell where they didn't put enough development dollars.
Also, that 3.7L V6 had no right being put into a vehicle this big and heavy.
Agree with the V6. But Chrysler had union contracts to uphold and those 3.7 had quotas to make. The engines had to be put in something.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 Fair enough. But sadly, those 3.7s were barely enough in the Liberty, mind you something almost twice the size. I'd have rather seen the 4.7L V8 (or even the 4.0L V6 from the Grand Caravan) in there instead.
@@rjcolombe agreed. I don’t recall Chrysler putting the 4.0 SOHC V6 in many vehicles. Only the Town and Country and Grand Caravan and the Dodge Nitro. It’d have been a decent base engine in the Commander. My only assumption is the fact that the 3.7 was significantly cheaper to build than the 4.0 and Chrysler wanted that profit.
ford of the same time were worse
I still see these on the road on occasion, which is amazing. I had a friend with one and just remember it being very thirsty.
2006 Jeep Commander. The official SUV should have been named it the Jeep Grand Wagoneer from the start.
John Davis is a legend 👍
We still have one of these in our fleet with the 3.7 V6 and 105k miles, so far it's needed 2 water pumps, pcv valves, front suspension components, used clock spring assembly, abs wheel speed sensor and hub assembly, oil pan gasket, every so often it throws an evap code bc the tank failed the smoke test needs to be replaced, the 3.7 seems to love oil, doesn't leak any and doesn't burn any but it's not acceptable in my opinion, the gearshift assembly had to be removed and the copper ribbon assembly cleaned with alcohol and q tips to remove that code. Still runs and drives fine, adequate power, ok fuel mileage.
They should have marketed the Grand Cherokee L as the Commander.
And made it less ugly
Nice throwback
I liked the command so much back when they came out. And i still like them now.
We owned a 2007 with the 4.7 from 2008-2023. Aside from some electrical gremlins thanks in part to one too many rainstorms with the sunroof open, it was a great car and always got us where we were going. Was amazing in the snow with the Quadra-Trac II drivetrain and with the tow package it was very capable with a trailer or boat.
My main issues with it were the handling and odd shift pattern. Had significant body roll on tight turns, and whenever you lay on the throttle under load the kick down would make the engine scream at 4500 rpm.
We lost it to an accident last summer, but it went out pushing 260,000 miles with no significant engine trouble and minimal rust, an impressive feat for 16 years of punishing Michigan winters. I miss that thing.
I will say it, Jeep has been trying to become the American version of Land Rover. This was their kind of imitation of the lr2/ discovery line.
I liked these. The 3.7 and 4.7 were junk but the hemi and this body style was like an XJ with hemi power. My 99 XJ has half a million miles on her which the hemi would never see unfortunately
I always liked these too. I think if they would've used a 6 speed to improve mpg and 0-60 speeds and added like 3 inches to the wheelbase and used that space for the third row it would've been alot more successful. The Grand Cherokee wasn't any better and it sold well.
The Hemi in these gave more problems then the 3.7 and 4.7 😂 those motors are just fine
Backwards. The Hemi of this era was junk. The 3.7 was damn near bulletproof. The 4.7 was just a 3.7 with 2 extra cylinders. It was more common and more abused. Timely oil changes were required for long term reliability. The timing chains were unforgiving to improper oil changes.
I have 116k on my 99 XJ. Here's hoping
My sister's 2006 was a 3.7 l and it had over 500,000 mi on it
Looked at getting one of these used, roughly 5 yrs old at the time. Upon looking underneath the front diff was leaking already…..after some research I found that was common. We passed. At 5 yr the diff was already leaking, that screamed big repairs before ever close to paying it off
I had one and I miss it! The red one!!! Want it back 😢
4:36 John: YOU PAY FOR ALL THAT POWER, HOWEVER! LOL
Believe it or not, I still see quite a few of them in Greece. They were especially popular as CRDs, with the Turbodiesel V6 (like the Grand Cherokee of its day), but I have also come across a couple of them with both the 4.7 and the 5.7 V8s.
I love the look of the Commander, looks clean and macho, like a big SUV should. But it came as a surprise to me that it's only a couple of inches longer than the Grand Cherokee of its day. I guess all these straight lines, along with its overall boxy shape, make it look larger. Very interesting.
I agree and I still see them in Croatia. 🙋♂️
@@V8AmericanMuscleCar Hello my friend! 🙋♂️
@@McBeamer94 hello! ❤️
"Those cars were unfit for human consumption. People bought them, I dont know why". CEO of Fiat Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, talking about the Jeep Commander.
I was looking for this comment
I actually like it. If it was more reliable and a little better on gas, I would even consider getting it. I still like it though.
Thanks for bringing a different viewpoint. In the auto world it's easy to pile on a car that some see as bad.
This wasn't even a one-hit wonder
That interior🤮
Prime 2000s Chrysler
It's absolutely insane how they went from the high quality, good looking interior of the 1999 300M to the pure crap they churned out after the Daimler "merger of equals."
horrendously bad. Chrysler corp, including Jeep, nosedived after the Mercedes "merger".
It’s interesting now that they’re back with a French company, they’re making cool things with nice interiors again (like Renault/AMC creating the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee)
Personally i like the commander its real different from other cars snd well such a shame it had a bad reputation bcs if was more reliable it have a ton of potential
I rented one of these for a couple of days. Yeow, what a boat.
I like these. Makes more sense than the SRT8.
At least it has character even for a box 📦, all the soft flowy mommy mobiles we have today on the market looks the same!
Loved this car!!!!! They need to bring the commander nameplate back!!! Bring back the liberty nameplate as well!!!! The patriot nameplate!!!!! Jeep needs to go back to some old names and footing. It’s become a very expensive brand these days.
These used to be EVERYWHERE on the road. Rarely see them now. I was way more of a fan of the new Liberty back then.
The big 3 doesn’t really attract the type of buyers who maintain their vehicles long term. After production ends, statistically the average car will last 7 years.
I had a HEMI one of these and loved it. Surprised by all the hate these get.
They should have offered the Mercedes based 0m642 3.0L diesel that was available in the Grand Cherokee from 07-08. That would have been an ideal SUV. The gas engines are just way too thirsty for such a big box.
I leased a Commander in 2010 during a huge discount lease program. $159 a month. I was the worst car I’ve ever owned. It was at the dealership more than I had it in my garage. So many electrical issues and transmission problems. I was happy when that lease was over.
You're the first one I've ever heard say that my sister had one for over 14 years and never had any problems with it!
The automatic climate control panel at 2:34 is the same unit in my uncle's 2007 Chrysler 300 Limited and it was used in some Mercedes-Benz vehicles of the early 2000s.
I want to say the transmissions for the commander also come from Mercedes.
Heavy, underpowered, thirsty for fuel, aerodynamics of a brick wall. Definitely not a recipe for success.
The underpowered thing kills it. The rest would make it a success in today’s car market😂
Worked for Hummers at the time
Basically every 2024 vehicular mammoth, except now they’re overpowered.
It's a jeep 😅
First off, nothing that has over 200 horsepower is "underpowered". Perhaps your expectations and standards have gotten too damn high, just like your insurance rates, and you need a reality check. Second, I sold these brand new when I was working as a new car salesman at a Jeep dealer. When these first hit the lot, they sold before we could even get a chance to "dress them". Sold em wrapped in plastic with window stickers intact. The most popular models we sold were actually the V6 base models with only one or two options. This was back when SUVs were real SUVs and people didn't drive them like they were driving 4 wheel drive Corvettes. Commander answered a question only the Grand Cherokee owners asked for a long time..."Can we get a 3rd row seat?". Jeep answered. Obviously, if you didn't ask that question then the Commander was not meant for you.
HANK!
Unka Hank
WUKTUH
This is one of those cars that doesnt look that good but is actualy a very capable and good car. Having knowns earlier how good this car was i would have loved it!
I see these still on the roads around where I live.
And the new Wagoneer is not even worth buying. The glory days are jeep are behind it.
Jeeps are the inside joke that keeps on giving.
The so-called successor of Cherokee XJ
Not really
That was just design comparison. Liberty was the successor to the XJ.
I woundnt mind a clean one...so i can immediately get rid of the multidisplacement crap and put a nice cam lol
7.5 cubic feet is basically 5 gallons...so basically no storage behind the third row.
We got them here in the UK, including the Hemi. Very poor sales, although i always thought and stil donthe they're a cracking looking Jeep. Not keen in the colour of the test car here though...
The jeep commander's closest competitor is the ford freestyle.
Few people would’ve cross shopped a FWD based low to the ground Freestyle/Taurus X to this.
@@MPMetermanDo you know what sarcasm is?
@@waterloo123100 - when properly shown, yes. You’d be surprised the number of people who would think this.
Hank Schrader 👍🏽
The interior of these were absolutely atrocious. Cheap flimsy plastic everywhere
I always thought these looked really cool. Several people I know owned one including my next door neighbors. Saw these everywhere back in the day here in SoCal, but not so much anymore. I also thought these had attractive looking interiors as well especially with the wood trim since Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge were known for having some of if not the worst interiors during this era IMO. The 5.7L HEMI V8 was the only way to go the first couple model years since the other engines were underpowered. The 4.7L V8 got a huge power boost for the 2008 model year.
Buyers: We miss the boxy 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee you took away from us.
Chrysler: Try this, so you'll never ask us for boxy SUVs again for another 20 years.
My vanity plate would say Riker.
Had one of these as a rental in San Francisco. I recall nothing of interest on this appliance aside from the fact you had to power brake it on every minute hill to avoid rolling back.
These were piles of junk and litteraly got junked 4 to 6 year after owner ship
14 MPG City and 19 MPG Hwy is what my 2011 Ford F150 with a 5.0L Coyote V8 gets.
That should have been the grand wagoneer in 2005!
Oldie 😮 nice but rarely see them
Aged like milk.
For real lol
People are paying good money for a really nice version!
Not really it’s exterior design aged well, because with today’s SUV like the Broncos, LandCruiser, GX, and upcoming 4Runner being boxy with narrow tall taillights and headlights, this a good alternative if you don’t want to spend new car money 😊
Why has it aged like milk? I’m asking because I don’t know. Was this vehicle a POS? I’m a Toyota truck guy so I never paid much attention to Jeep.
2 percent 😂😂
I work at a shop that services a Commander. Owner is an absolute tool and is always complaining about something with it and he will lose his mind if any little thing is amiss with his "precious unobtainium" baby...
One of my church members had one of these. I never asked about fuel, but he had it for years, so I assume reliability was pretty good.
Horrible SUV (as well as Dodge Nitro).
I don't think I've seen one of these with all its body panels and/or a working drivetrain since at least 2010. They did NOT age well, and I'm not talking about the styling.
I can only imagine how slow the V6 models must be. 10+ seconds to 60?
I rented one of these in 2007.
Too bad they don’t build them that good anymore
This would have looked better with round headlights.
Gas milage of a Tahoe with none of the reliability or room. Unreliable trash.
The GMT900 platform Tahoe had the same cylinder deactivation issues that'd kill the motors as well, so reliability is arguably about the same.
My 2011 Ford F150 with a 5.0L Coyote V8 gets the same MPG as this Commander with the 5.7L Hemi V8 while having more power than this Jeep and being wayyyyyyy more reliable as well due to having much better build quality and no cylinder deactivation crap either.
@@CJColvin ok and your point?
@shanet7511 While the Hemi V8 is reliable the rest of the vehicle is garbage.
@@CJColvin And compare your Ford to a 2010 tundra and it's garbage
Definitely how to lower the bar.
The problem is that this was a mini-malaise era for the big 3 automakers. None of their products were particularly well made or designed for long term.
@@haroldbeauchamp3770 specifically for trucks/suvs. Cheap plastic with sharp edges ruled the day.
@@douglasb.1203 indeed. I owned a 2006 Toyota Sequoia back then and it was horrendously cheap inside. I literally had physical buttons on the dash that came out of a parts bin from the 1980s. No exaggerating. Hard plastics, horrific panel gaps.
One of the worst years to purchase a vehicle from Chrysler.
Gosh, the American Big 3 really were putting out junk in the mid 2000s.
I liked the look, but the rear seats were 👎 We had a 1st Generation Liberty whose look I liked but the 2nd Generation Liberty looked like a downsized Commander….which didn’t work on the smaller SUV
these are also jeep liberty's
I have one now. I can't have my kids and groceries in the car at the same time 🙄 gas guzzler. Excellent in snow and mud though
In China, they have this Jeep called the Grand Commander. The Jeep Commander is the most forgotten Jeep here ever.
Depressing looking at it 🙄
2009 Commander loved it until a computer glitch shut it down permanently Oh it could be fixed but for nearly triple what I paid for it. No more Jeeps I’m done.
These things are still sought after, at least the ones that people took care of!
No room inside, awful mileage, hard to service, no reliable engines
@@workingcountry1776
Plenty of room, not hard to service at all, the 4.7 and 5.7 are very good engines! I’ve yet to have ever replace a 4.7. And I work at a dealer.
@@workingcountry1776the hemi wasn't the worst thing.
The Official Vehicle of the Credit Crisis.
I had two neighbors and later a client who had these. All three loved theirs, and I thought they were appealing. I know the interiors had cheap touches, but compared to competitors at the time they weren’t bad really. I think the press killed these, and they were an easy and visible target for derision in late 2007 and early 2008 when the economy started crashing.
You'd almost think this was a decent SUV based off this review
Commander in Chief
Good idea, I personally like the design because I have an XJ, just terrible execution
I'd rather have the Cherokee,any day.
JUNK!
Hank Schrader
Some people dont like anything
I want one of these i dont care how much of a pile it shit it is
I’ve always kinda wanted one TBH
Somehow the Cherokee XJ got better mileage