2006 Jeep Commander | Retro Review

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.

rip hank Schrader

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."

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.

You don't even see these on the road anymore

They should've named the 3 row Grand Cherokee the Commander, to be honest. It just fits the name better than Grand Cherokee L.

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.

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.

Still own my 2006 3.7 cylinder and she's got over 250,000. Maintenance is key. I love it.

That interior🤮
Prime 2000s Chrysler

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.

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.

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 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 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!

2006 Jeep Commander. The official SUV should have been named it the Jeep Grand Wagoneer from the start.

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.

Multi-displacement more like multi detonation of camshaft

i havent seen one on the road in probably 10 years.

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.

Nice throwback

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.

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.

4:36 John: YOU PAY FOR ALL THAT POWER, HOWEVER! LOL

They should have marketed the Grand Cherokee L as the Commander.

I liked the command so much back when they came out. And i still like them now.

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.

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

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.

This wasn't even a one-hit wonder

I like these. Makes more sense than the SRT8.

I rented one of these for a couple of days. Yeow, what a boat.

HANK!

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 see these still on the roads around where I live.

I had a HEMI one of these and loved it. Surprised by all the hate these get.

Jeeps are the inside joke that keeps on giving.

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!

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.

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.

The so-called successor of Cherokee XJ

Heavy, underpowered, thirsty for fuel, aerodynamics of a brick wall. Definitely not a recipe for success.

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 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.

Oldie 😮 nice but rarely see them

I woundnt mind a clean one...so i can immediately get rid of the multidisplacement crap and put a nice cam lol

Hank Schrader 👍🏽

Aged like milk.

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.

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.

"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 still see these on the road on occasion, which is amazing. I had a friend with one and just remember it being very thirsty.

I rented one of these in 2007.

My vanity plate would say Riker.

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.

And the new Wagoneer is not even worth buying. The glory days are jeep are behind it.

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.

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...

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!

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?

Definitely how to lower the bar.

Too bad they don’t build them that good anymore

The Official Vehicle of the Credit Crisis.

This would have looked better with round headlights.

You'd almost think this was a decent SUV based off this review

The interior of these were absolutely atrocious. Cheap flimsy plastic everywhere

At least it has character even for a box 📦, all the soft flowy mommy mobiles we have today on the market looks the same!

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.

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

Hank Schrader

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

these are also jeep liberty's

Gosh, the American Big 3 really were putting out junk in the mid 2000s.

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.

One of the worst years to purchase a vehicle from Chrysler.

Gas milage of a Tahoe with none of the reliability or room. Unreliable trash.

Somehow the Cherokee XJ got better mileage

Good idea, I personally like the design because I have an XJ, just terrible execution

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 were piles of junk and litteraly got junked 4 to 6 year after owner ship

Depressing looking at it 🙄

Commander in Chief

Horrible SUV (as well as Dodge Nitro).

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.

I'd rather have the Cherokee,any day.

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.

I want one of these i dont care how much of a pile it shit it is

Some people dont like anything

These things are still sought after, at least the ones that people took care of!

Car is not that old and I haven't seen one of these in years

JUNK!

Wow, that is not an impressive braking performance. And what happened to all of these? They literally dont exist anymore.

I have no idea who these were made for, but they were not popular here at all. These things were ass. Just like the liberty and the nitro, these failed to find a market anywhere, and were notoriously unreliable.

They should've brought this back instead of making the Grand Cherokee L that's just butt-ugly

In China, they have this Jeep called the Grand Commander. The Jeep Commander is the most forgotten Jeep here ever.

Junk

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.