Big, safe, quiet... a truck for the family

Author's Rating:

Pros: Appearance, quietness, 4x4 stability, Price (if you get it on a program.)

Cons: Appearance, Price (if you don't get one on a program), Fuel Economy, Smog Output

The Bottom Line: 
Great vehicle if you buy on the right incentive program. Awesome ability to avoid getting stuck in bad conditions and off-road situations. Comfortable seating for a really big family.

Author's Review
I just got a 2006 Jeep Commander. I love this vehicle.

Part of the reason I love this vehicle is that it is NOT the vehicle I drove for the past six years: a Dodge Minivan.

I would ordinarily not have looked at a vehicle so expensive as this one, but I wanted to find out what sort of programs the folks at Chrysler were running for the 2006 model year closeout.

Jeep had the misfortune to launch this land-yacht product at a time when gas decided to climb to about $3.00 a gallon. Near as I can figure, they've got a few of these on the lot.

With an estimated 15 mpg, city and 19 mpg, highway, this is not the vehicle to drive if you are trying to avoid high gas prices.

In fact, in around-town driving with the air conditioning on, 12 mpg is probably a more reasonable estimate. On the freeway, with the A/C on, I got a little over 17 mpg. However, on another trip across the state, I got less than 16.

A lot of it is aerodynamics. This thing is about as aero as a washing machine. Every MPH over 55 you go in this thing, the less you're going to get in mileage.

You can almost see the gas guage needle move every time you step on the gas. (Okay, not really, but let's just say that calling this a gas-hog would be like saying Ted Bundy had some minor personality issues.)

The gas tank (listed at 20 gallons, but seems more like 18) is just way too small for a vehicle with this sort of mileage. Seems like I'm filling the thing up every other day. It absolutely needs a 25 or 30 gallon tank.

I bought the 28S package. It is basically a base-model Commander 4x4, but with the 4.7 liter v-8 engine, Quadra trac II, rear air conditioning and heater and adjustable roof rack crossbars.

Total sticker on this vehicle is $32,260. Again, I would ordinarily be looking for something less than $30,000 in a new vehicle, but they offered a special program on the year-end closeout.

Lease note: My lease is basically, $2,000 down, a little over $300 a month for 27 months, and an $18,000 residual on the lease. Only 12,000 miles per year on the lease. Not a big deal to me, though. I plan on buying it out for the residual at the end of the term.

If, for some reason, I don't like the vehicle, I can simply turn it in after 27 months. So, a short-term lease like this really opens up a lot of options.

Other than the stuff that comes with the 28S package, the vehicle is stripped down.

However, "stripped down" is a bit of a misnomer. Like any relatively expensive vehicle, the things that come standard are substantial (in my opinion.)

For instance, power windows and locks, cruise control, AC, heated mirrors, trip computer, side curtain air bags. All that is standard.

One very, very pleasant surprise for me is that although this feels and handles like a truck, it is very quiet. My 2001 Caravan was MUCH noisier at virtually every speed.

This is basically one of the flagships of the Jeep line, though. So, they clearly put a lot of effort into making this a nice ride.

Inside it is very spacious and roomy for the driver and front-seat passenger.

2nd row passengers have a nice ride as well.

3rd row passengers? It is not unlike riding in the back seat of a smallish car. If the passenger is 4 or 5 feet tall and a little kid, they'll be fine. If the passenger is 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, it'll be a miserable ride.

The 3rd row of seating is supposedly what inspired Jeep to create this vehicle.

So, if you're a family of 3, visiting a family of 4 and want to take everybody out for ice cream, you're going to be able to seat everyone comfortably.

If you're the infield and outfield going to get something to eat while the pitchers and catchers have a meeting, you're going to have 2 guys in the back who are really unhappy.

The seating is "stadium style" with the 2nd row of seats slightly higher than the 1st row. The 3rd row is slightly higher than the 2nd row. That's why the thing runs out of headroom when you get to the 3rd row.

However, in the first row, I have more headroom than in any other vehicle I've ever owned. My head rubs the roof in most cars. In this one, I've got several inches to spare.

The roofline actually goes up for the 2nd row of seating, making headroom a non-issue, there.

The radio has an "aux" jack built in. So, for those who carry their music on an MP3 player, the radio can handle it, easily. One nit: when you turn the radio off, it reverts to the radio when you turn it back on and you'll have to set it back to "aux".

Not a biggie to me. If I like this thing, I will probably get the factory stereo replaced by an aftermarket stereo and GPS unit.

The 6 speaker stereo that comes with it works fine, though. Not great, but not bad.

There are all sorts of cubby holes throughout the front passenger compartment. That's not a big feature for me, but they're there.

The visibility is good, but a bit obstructed to the rear. The squarish windshield seems short and wide, but overall, only the visibility to the rear seems any worse than my minivan.

There is a backup sensor that will alert you to things you might be backing up into, though. That is necessary, especially if the 3rd row of seats is up. Even with the 2nd row seats up, the headrests provide a distraction and reduction of visibility to the rear.

However, with the 3rd row seats up, the headrests reduce the rear window to a smallish porthole that isn't sufficient to be sure you're not backing into something.

As for styling, this is certainly more of a truck looking style. Reminds me of Range Rovers and older Mitsubishi Monteros. The boxy style is also reminiscent of a Hummer.

I've heard people say they hated this style. Seems like Dodge styling these days is designed to delight about 1/3 of the population and totally repulse the remaining 2/3.

Contrast to most car styling philosophies which involve being mildly acceptable to 90% of the population and loved by nobody.

Same with this particular model. Some folks love it. Some hate it. I personally like the boxy style. Others who want a more station-wagon appearance won't like it at all.

This is also "trail rated". Granted, that's more marketing ploy than actual certification, but the bottom line is that this thing is an honest to goodness, rock-scrambling, dirt chewing 4 x 4.

I'm not into off-roading, but I live and work in Ohio and Michigan. The Winters are cold, snowy and icy. Also, Michigan has some of the worst roads in the country once you get off the main drags.

In the rural sections of my part of the world, the drainage ditches on the sides of the roads are 6 feet across and 6 feet deep. You simply do not want to accidentally go off the road, ever.

I've had to pay for a lot of new tires and alignments for times when the minivan got swallowed by a pothole. Both Ohio and Michigan are known for having at least some roads in bad repair. In Michigan, unpaved roads are not an uncommon sight.

The suspension is truly rated for rough conditions and off-road driving. So, I need not worry about getting an alignment every year.

The windshield has an odd thing about it. Because of the shape of the hood and the upright position of the windshield, I get this thing covered with bugs worse than any other vehicle I ever had. I end up having to clean my windshield to scrub the bugs off at every fill-up. (And fill-ups happen pretty frequently on this thing.) With the minivan, I seldom had to do this.

Also, when the roads are wet and slippery, I've got a much higher degree of confidence in this vehicle than any other I've ever driven. Even at highway speeds, a huge downpour on worn tires was enough to create a white-knuckle experience in the minivan. In this one, the vehicle is as stable as ever and just keeps truckin' along.

Overall, I love this product, especially relative to what I was driving before. If you can afford the gas (that's a big "if" these days), want a truck (not a minivan), want seating potential for 7 and can get one on a Chrysler incentive program, this may be the truck for you.

As for the 4 star rating, instead of 5, I have to admit that the fit and finish... all the little attention to detail items that make great cars great, are still a half step behind the Japanese makes. This is particularly frustrating considering that most of those Japanese makes are actually made in the US these days.

Also, the dash light for the heating controls is dead. I'll have to get that fixed under warranty the next time I get an oil change.

American manufacturers simply have not yet closed the quality gap.

However, my experience with 120,000 miles on a Dodge Caravan tells me that Dodge/Jeep products are still very, very good.

As a final note, full-coverage insurance on this vehicle cost about as much as my ratty old minivan. Apparently insurance on these vehicles is pretty reasonable. (At least it was in my case.)