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Long-Term Test: 2006 Jeep Commander Limited

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  • 2006 Jeep Commander Picture

    2006 Jeep Commander Picture

    The Commander's square profile is sharply defined at sunset. | October 27, 2009

Road Test

Long-Term Test: 2006 Jeep Commander Limited

Introduction

    0 Ratings
    Read the Jeep Commander's real-time logbook entries.

    Before now, the simple truth about Jeep was that if you needed an SUV with more than five seats you'd have to look elsewhere. Today's families want the all-weather and off-road promise of an SUV, but they also need to bring a lot of stuff and maybe a few friends as well.

    Jeep has had the off-road part of that equation covered for decades with the Wrangler and more recently with the Grand Cherokee. Along with the discontinued Cherokee, those Jeeps were arguably the best in their respective classes for tackling rutted trails, rocky passes, snowy highways, and muddy washes. But today's SUV buyer requires something more. A vehicle that can offer a gentle ride to the shopping mall, rugged off-road ability and seating for the whole family and then some.

    Enter the 2006 Jeep Commander. A four-door SUV crafted in traditional Jeep fashion with everything you'd expect from a Jeep and more. Surprisingly plush, the new Commander is the biggest, most expensive Jeep yet.

    Ours is a Jeep Commander Limited and it includes virtually all the comforts of home plus the ability to take you far from it. The Commander is "Trail Rated" which is Jeep's way of saying, "Take it off-road, please. We dare you." Less than 2,000 miles into our Commander relationship we've yet to take Jeep up on this offer, but we have used the big Commander in a wide variety of other tasks.

    So far there's unanimous praise for the comfortable seats, Inside Line Editor in Chief Richard Homan says, "Thanks to the comfy seats, I like driving this big American SUV." Homan went on to praise not only the seats but the driving position, "Excellent visibility makes it easy to change lanes and parking is easy, too." Homan also noted the bold boxy look by simply stating, "The interior looks cool; the exterior looks even cooler."

    Another area of our Commander Limited that's drawing early thumbs-up is the 5.7-liter Hemi engine that puts out 330 horsepower and 375 pound-feet. Road Test Editor Brian Moody said, "The Commander proves this Hemi is terrific no matter what you put on top of it. In this big Jeep, the engine delivers the expected smoothness but I'm surprised how quickly the truck accelerates."

    But that powerful engine combined with the Commander's 5,000-pound-plus curb weight has already caused concern regarding its fuel economy. Like other Chrysler Group products with this Hemi, the Commander's engine offers a cylinder deactivation feature that lets the motor run on just four cylinders when cruising. Our editors used words like "seamless" and "transparent" to describe its operation, but is it enough? Although the truck is still new, we're getting less than 13 mpg in combined city and highway driving. However, IL Executive Editor Scott Oldham pointed out that the Commander uses lower-cost regular unleaded so that minimizes the sting a little.

    If you're really concerned about fuel consumption, there is a 3.7-liter V6 (210 hp, 235 lb-ft) version of the Commander available and the Limited's base engine is a 4.7-liter V8 (235 hp, 305 lb-ft). But we wanted the 5.7-liter Hemi V8 as we think most customers will opt for the bigger engine. Getting the Hemi requires the $1,495 Quick Order package 25H that also includes the Quadra Drive four-wheel-drive system.

    We set out to find a "loaded" Commander to see just how good a Jeep could be. Locating a Commander in our color choice of "Dark Khaki" with such features as a rear-seat DVD entertainment system, navigation system, satellite radio, and UConnect proved to be more difficult than we first thought. After a few weeks of looking, we found the exact Commander we were looking for at Buerge Chrysler Jeep in Santa Monica. They had added $800 worth of wheels which we asked to have removed. We bought the truck for $1,000 under MSRP which we considered to be a good deal since this vehicle had our first choices for options and color. News Editor Mike Hudson helped find and purchase the Commander, and he said, "The deal was simple with no problems. Overall it was a very fine experience."

    With the promise of off-road superiority plus seven-passenger seating at our disposal, we anxiously look forward to pressing the Jeep Commander Limited further into service. As the winter thaws we're looking forward to family road trips, summer sand dunes and maybe even the occasional camping trek. We expect the Commander to be popular and suspect it will be a "go-to" vehicle whenever the open road calls. Of course, the trails will probably call, too — is the Commander up for it? Check back for our next update.

    Current Odometer: 1,855
    Best Fuel Economy: 14 mpg
    Worst Fuel Economy: 11.6 mpg
    Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 12.5 mpg
    Body Repair Costs: None
    Maintenance Costs: None
    Problems: None.

    Read the Jeep Commander's real-time logbook entries.

    Road Test

    Wrap-Up

    Read the Jeep Commander's logbook entries.

    Why we bought it
    Durability
    Performance and fuel economy
    Retained value
    Summing up

    A grassy median was the only thing that separated the 2006 Jeep Commander from the big oak ahead, and the Commander's wide front grille met tree bark within seconds. Bam! Leaves showered down upon us as we crawled out of the crumpled, hissing Commander and staggered away.

    Just like that, our long-term 2006 Jeep Commander test ended, two months earlier than planned. Days later the insurance company confirmed what we already knew at the scene. The Commander, with the engine pushed so far back that it peeked into the front footwells, was beyond repair.

    Why we bought it
    In November 2005 we reviewed our dwindling annual fund for long-term test cars and found $45,000 left to spend. One of us recommended the all-new seven-passenger Jeep Commander, and pointed out that you really could make a Jeep cost that much.

    Turns out, a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 with Jeep's Quadra-Drive four-wheel-drive system, a rear-seat DVD entertainment system, a navigation system and satellite radio can tickle the bottom of $45 grand. A Jeep priced like a luxury SUV? We had to try it.

    After a couple of weeks of searching dealer lots via the Internet, we found a loaded Jeep Commander Limited in our Santa Monica neighborhood. Following a brief negotiation with Buerge Chrysler-Jeep, we agreed on $43,740, $1,000 under MSRP.

    Durability
    A recurring theme from the Commander's long-term notebook has been admiration for the way it drives. Karl Brauer, Edmunds.com's editor in chief, noted, "I have to give the Commander kudos for the precise steering and relatively agile handling that makes this SUV feel smaller than its considerable dimensions."

    There is also plenty of love for its 330-horsepower 5.7-liter Hemi V8, but the initial off-the-line lurch isn't always appreciated by passengers. Dan Edmunds, director of vehicle testing, said, "There is more than simple Hemi power at work here. The electronic throttle is tuned just a bit too aggressively at tip-in. Sure, it makes an engine feel more powerful, but it makes it a pain in the neck to produce a smooth getaway."

    The Commander's speed is also difficult to control while rock-crawling in four-wheel drive. A little too much throttle in 1st gear while in low range produces too much torque, causing this beast to lunge over rocks and inevitably bash its skid plate on the other side.

    Overall, however, the Commander is an admirable off-road machine, considering its size. We often used it as a support vehicle for off-road photo and video shoots. "We covered nearly 100 miles of harsh terrain by day's end," said Senior Editor Ed Hellwig after one outing. "Its soft suspension bottomed out quite a bit, especially with the added weight of our gear, but it rarely scraped its undercarriage. Not bad for a vehicle with all-terrain tires and an average ride height."

    Inside, the boxy Commander has the plushest Jeep interior ever seen. The driver seat is well shaped, and the seat-bottom cushion is long, providing good thigh support for those with long legs. It's a shame the steering wheel doesn't telescope.

    Although the cargo area will accommodate 69 cubic feet of stuff behind the first-row seats, the load floor makes things difficult. Because the second- and third-row seats can't fold flat, everything else has been raised to create a flat loading surface. The high liftover makes it difficult to load big items, but we think it's a compromise necessary because of the solid rear axle, one of those things that comes with a vehicle that's meant for rugged off-road driving.

    We fulfilled most of our maintenance needs at Moothart Chrysler/Jeep in Cerritos, California. The service writers were prompt and friendly, and didn't attempt the old trick of trying to sell us "dealer recommended" service.

    There were just a few minor issues during our ownership. One was a glitch with the air-conditioning system, which cooled us adequately when the air was on full blast, but was considerably less powerful when it was adjusted just a notch. The dealer found the refrigerant levels were low and recharged the system. The manufacturer recently issued a programming update for this problem, so the SUV's computer module was flashed with an update.

    Unfortunately, the Commander's major breakdowns were attached to interstate vacation runs.

    The day after returning from a cross-country trip with his family, Karl Brauer attempted to fire up the Commander in his driveway and found it totally dead. He charged it long enough to get the engine to turn over, and the dealer replaced the battery.

    But the Edmunds clan got the worst of it when the Commander stranded them while en route to visit family in Oregon. "Click, click, click, is all I get after a twist of the key," said Dan Edmunds. "It's not a dead battery, as the power windows, lights, nav screen and everything else works at full strength. The battery has been replaced, so something sinister is at work." In the end, the starter motor was replaced.

    Total Body Repair Costs: None
    Total Routine Maintenance Costs (over 10 months): $417.37
    Additional Maintenance Costs: None
    Warranty Repairs: 5
    Non-Warranty Repairs: None
    Scheduled Dealer Visits: 3
    Unscheduled Dealer Visits: 3
    Days Out of Service: 2
    Breakdowns Stranding Driver: 1

    Performance and fuel economy
    After its initial break-in period, we put the Commander through our usual battery of instrumented tests. The big Jeep scored a 0-60-mph time of 8.1 seconds and a quarter-mile run of 16.1 seconds at 85.5 mph. Our braking test recorded a stop in 141.4 feet from 60 mph. This is respectable performance for such a heavy SUV.

    Unfortunately, our Commander's untimely demise means we were unable to conduct performance tests at the end of the Commander's loan to determine if there were any major changes in performance during our 10 months together.

    Just how thirsty is the big V8 in the Commander? It swills gas like an early '80s Camaro. Despite the thousands of freeway miles, the Commander still averaged just 14.1 mpg over 26,000 miles.

    Jason Kavanagh, engineering editor, reported: "Commuting to work this morning I was surprised to see that I had relieved the Commander's fuel tank of about a quarter of its capacity. An hour and 15 minutes to drive 30.7 miles, and the Commander kicks me in the shins to the tune of 6 mpg.

    "Maybe it's creeping along in bumper-to-bumper traffic with lots of idling and brief throttle stabs to squirt through traffic. Acceleration enrichment kills fuel economy, especially when it's all happening in 1st gear."

    Best Fuel Economy: 17.5 mpg
    Worst Fuel Economy: 9.6 mpg
    Average Fuel Economy: 14.1 mpg

    Retained value
    We got our money's worth out of the Commander. We often get the short end of the stick with these yearlong ownerships, eating the first big hit in depreciation. But with the Jeep, our True Market Value (TMV)SM calculator indicates a success story. We paid just under $44,000, drove it for 26,000 miles under warranty, and walked away with nearly $38,000 from the insurance company after the Jeep was totaled. The TMV price shows real-world transactions in our ZIP code now averaging just $30,000 for 2006 Commanders like ours.

    True Market Value at service end: $30,144
    What it sold for: $37,885.20 (Insurance payoff)
    Depreciation: $5,854.80 or 13.5% of original paid price
    Final Odometer Reading: 26,070

    Summing up
    Although there were a couple of major bumps in the road, we weren't anxious for the test to end, especially so abruptly. But even after 26,000 miles and 10 months, most of us still weren't completely comfortable with the notion of a $40,000 Jeep, no matter how upscale the interior. To us, the Commander seems like a big Jeep, not a luxury Jeep. It tries hard to be a Land Rover, but the tough, down-and-dirty heritage that makes us love the Jeep brand might actually keep the Commander from fitting in with other SUVs in this price category.

    Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.

    Read the Jeep Commander's logbook entries.

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