The Jeep of today has three models that seat seven people and one model that seats eight. But, historically, that hasn’t always been the case. If you were a Jeep buyer in the 2000s and you wanted something for your sizable family, you had just one choice with Jeep’s first three-row SUV, the Commander. This SUV had so much going for it, from Jeep’s iconic boxy styling to a healthy set of equipment. Yet, somehow, Jeep failed so hard that Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne allegedly minced no words when he said that it was ‘unfit for human consumption.’ Here’s how the Commander failed to take authority of the family SUV market.
The SUV and crossover spent much of the late 1990s and the 2000s planting their stakes in the ground as America’s new favorite family car. In decades past, if you had a huge family, you got a full-size van or a wagon. Then, Chrysler’s iconic minivan changed the game, and suddenly, doors slid open, children piled in, and America had a new obsession.
The sport utility vehicle quickly became like catnip to car buyers. The SUV had enough seating for the family, but towered off of the ground, was rugged, and looked cooler to many folks than any minivan did. It wasn’t long before the SUV became a status symbol, appearing everything from driveways in cookie-cutter communities to “pimped out” with spinners and big speakers in the era’s famed rap videos. SUVs grew to become such a huge deal that it wasn’t a minivan that Porsche used to secure its future, but a sleek off-road SUV. Aiding SUVs in their mission for world domination was the crossover, and the big SUV-like car-based vehicles got softer and friendlier with each generation.
America’s SUV fever also got really weird with entrants like the mammoth Ford Excursion, the Isuzu VehiCROSS, and the Dodge Nitro. Jeep, the brand known for its hardcore off-roaders, went on an all-out SUV offensive, producing an SUV for seemingly every kind of buyer. The Cherokee died and was replaced with the Liberty. The Grand Cherokee grew up a bit and tried to put on a nice suit. Jeep also punched out the Patriot and Compass, two Jeep-shaped objects that shared more in common with the Dodge Caliber economy car than they did with the iconic Wrangler. Jeep also got weird with diesel power.
One segment that Jeep didn’t leave out was the big family SUV. Three-row SUVs held 40 percent of the SUV market in the mid-2000s, and Jeep wanted in. If you wanted three rows, seven seats, and a boxy body, Jeep had just the thing. On paper, the Commander had all of the same looks and guts of the Jeeps you loved, but now with an upscale interior and room for everyone. What could go wrong?
Born From An Awesome Concept
The Jeep Commander was previewed on the 1999 auto show circuit with a frankly amazing concept vehicle.
The Jeep Commander concept was far ahead of its time. According to period press releases, the concept vehicle had rockers two inches lower than a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. This was because the concept vehicle was marketed as being sophisticated and upscale. But at the same time, Jeep said that it still had to be a real off-roader, so it had a suspension capable of raising the vehicle four inches. The Commander concept also stood at the Grand Cherokee’s height of 69.4 inches, but had a 7-inch wider stance at 80 inches.
The 1990s were a time when automakers were experimenting with alternative fuels for a greener future and the Commander concept was wild. The concept featured a direct methanol fuel cell, which produced energy to charge a nickel–metal hydride battery. The SUV also had four-wheel-drive through a motor on both axles. Save for the methanol fuel cell, the Commander concept sounds a lot like today’s electric crossovers, only over 25 years earlier.
Jeep’s parent, DaimlerChrysler, said that the technology wasn’t just for show, either. A company report claimed that DaimlerChrysler wanted to produce the “world’s first methanol-powered fuel cell car” in the 2000s.
Trail Rated For Seven
Jeep sort of put a version of the Commander concept into production as the third-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, which shared some of the concept’s styling. As for the Commander, Jeep would go in another direction for that. Allpar got the scoop on the Commander’s development, and what you’re about to read will explain part of why the Commander didn’t work out as well as expected. From Allpar:
According to Jeep’s Michael Berube, the Jeep Commander was the result of a decision to sell a three-rows-of-seats SUV. The three-seat desire expressed by many customers was not for permanent seating, but “in a pinch” flexibility – having to drive home two more kids or adults now and then.
The Commander was only two inches longer than the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and was produced on the same assembly lines. Donald A. Renkert, Senior Manager of the Jeep Studio, who was the principal stylist for the Commander (as well as Dodge Caravans and at least one of the second-generation Neons) said, “Jeep is not about being too big – we’re not an intimidating brand. We don’t want to knock down the trees, we want to fit between them. .. We said, let’s embrace and celebrate the box. Let’s not think outside the box, let’s build a cooler box.”
The windshield, windows, and doors all got straightened, providing more room inside, and giving the Commander more of a visual connection to past Jeeps. Informally, Mr. Renkert said that, while the styling does have some elements in common with Land Rover and the G-Wagon, that was not intentional, but the pricey SUVs helped justify the boxy shape to executives.
In press releases, Jeep says that the Commander, which entered production in 2005, was its first three-row SUV. This distinction is important because in the past, it built full-size SUVs, with good examples being the original Jeep Wagoneer and the FSJ Jeep Cherokee of the 1970s and early 1980s.
As MotorTrend notes, apparently, Jeep also initially claimed that the Commander was its first seven-seat production vehicle, and that part isn’t quite true. The ’50s Willys Jeep Station Wagon had room for seven. As David Tracy wrote in 2022, Jeep also made the Australian Jeep Overlander, which had room for eight! So, the only truly new Jeep thing here was that third row.
What’s interesting is that according to this paragraph from the Commander’s press release, perhaps the marketing people should have known that the Commander wasn’t Jeep’s first vehicle for seven:
In developing the 2006 Jeep Commander, designers looked to past Jeep vehicles for inspiration: the Willys Station Wagons (1946 to 1962), the Jeep Wagoneer (1963 to 1991) and especially the Jeep Cherokee (1984 to 2001). All were classically Jeep in appearance, with sharp lines, planar surfaces and rugged looks. The 2006 Jeep Commander is a modern interpretation of that design ethic.
The Commander’s body looked like the second-generation Liberty, but shared its bones with the third-generation Grand Cherokee. That meant unibody construction, a five-link rear axle, and an independent short/long arm front suspension. Jeep says it put a ton of emphasis on making the Commander upscale. Yet, it also wanted to make sure it could go off-road with the best of the Jeep lineup. Jeep says that the Commander shares the 109.5-inch wheelbase of the Grand Cherokee and that the Commander is “as maneuverable and off-road capable as the Grand Cherokee.”
Jeep also got really clever inside. The second and third rows were given stadium seating, or where the second row sits higher than the first row and the third row sits higher than the second row. This is supposed to give everyone a nice view of the road ahead and maybe make the interior feel a little roomier. Another nice touch was the Command-View polycarbonate skylights over the second row seats.
The Commander was also filled to the brim with technology. Buyers had the choice of three Quadra-Trac permanent four-wheel-drive systems, two transfer cases, brake-based traction control, and an electronic limited-slip differential. Other equipment included, from Jeep:
Jeep Commander is the first Chrysler Group vehicle with electronic roll mitigation. Using input from multiple sensors, the system deploys the air bags in certain rollover scenarios, as well as side impact events.
Crash protection features available on the Jeep Commander include advanced multi-stage air bags with an Occupant Classification System, available side curtain air bags, seat belts equipped with pretensioners and digressive load limiting retractors, and BeltAlert®, a buckle-up reminder system for the driver.
Crash avoidance features on the 2006 Jeep Commander include standard Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), and an All-Speed Traction Control System (TCS). A tire pressure monitoring system, ParkSense™ rear park assist, Uconnect™ hands-free communications, DVD-based navigation system, SmartBeam® headlamps, and rain-sensitive wipers provide additional safety and security on the road.
Wrapping up the Commander was a handful of engines. The weakest of the bunch was the 3.7-liter Powertech V6, which was good for 210 HP and 235 lb-ft of torque. The hottest mill was a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 making 360 HP and 390 lb-ft of torque. Buyers outside of North America got their Commanders with a 3.0-liter Mercedes-Benz OM642 V6 good for 218 HP and 376 lb-ft of torque.
In theory, the Jeep Commander had all of the right ingredients to be a home run. It was luxurious enough, it had V8 power, it had eight rows, and it had the status that comes with a Jeep badge.
A Tough Crowd
Getting the Commander into the hands of customers had a rocky start. Aside from the somewhat confusing marketing on passenger counts, the media wasn’t exactly lapping up the Commander.
In November 2005, Car and Driver held an interesting comparison test. The Ford Explorer, which got a facelift, went up against the Commander, which, as we established, was largely a tarted-up three-row Grand Cherokee. This test is a neat read because when the publication performed a six-way comparo in April of that year, the Explorer finished dead last in the pack, but the Jeep Grand Cherokee finished first.
The Commander ultimately won the head-to-head comparison test in 2005, with the SUV’s styling, almost perfect driving position, intuitive controls, and growly Hemi V8 all getting compliments. But don’t mistake that for perfection, because Car and Driver had plenty to complain about, from the issue:
Lows: Gun-slit windshield, dismal mileage, cramped third-row seat, numb steering.
The Commander instantly earned points for its wide and roomy front seats, its control relationships, and its agreeable arms-out driving position. The front footwells proved more spacious, too. Then it lost points for its constricted third-row seat. The uneven floor made it tricky to climb back there, and “climb” is the correct descriptor. Third-rowers sit with their heads jammed into the 3.2-inch step in the roof, and their view of passing scenery is scant. Come to think of it, the driver’s view isn’t so vast, either, limited by the stubby, upright windshield. Retro design comes at a price.
The Commander’s steering is a hair too lazy off-center and more or less numb thereafter. Truth is, neither of these trucks offers anything like true road feel. On the ballot to rank steering, one editor eschewed numbers and simply wrote, “Some.”
Robert Farago reviewed the Commander for Jalopnik in 2005:
So I was heading toward the new Commander when a-million-miles-from-MILF Mommy commandeers me. “Is that the new Jeep?” she asks, cutting off my escape route. Oh crap. She gazes at the Commander’s ungainly form like a crutch-wielding supplicant encountering a vision of The Mother Mary polishing the cross at Fatima’s Little Chapel of the Apparitions. I heard it’s got a third row,
she announces with alarming interest. As a professional car reviewer, I am committed to telling the truth, the ugly truth and the really entertaining ugly truth. But I thought, screw that. Let’s do this empirically.So I pop the Commander’s hatch, yank up the fold-flat seat and show the child-ferrying harridan the back of the bus. I move aside so she can see that the legroom is as shallow as the British Royal Family’s gene pool. Lots of room back there, she remarks. If you know what I mean. I don’t, and I don’t want to. To distract her and physically remove myself from her immediate vicinity, I clamber into the rear row and try to resist the urge to scratch my nose with my right knee. Terrific! She pronounces, as if she was hoping that the Commander’s extra accommodation would violate The Geneva Convention.
I mumble something about the hallucinatory effects of branding. She doesn’t even duck. I retreat to the Commander’s helm to try and sort out what just happened. My analytical abilities are short-circuited by the steering wheel’s faux chrome center ring. It’s about as convincing as the ad for Valenti International Matchmaking that’s been cluttering The Robb Report’s classified section since the day of The Excalibur. Why in God’s name are there fake Allen screw holes in the thing (the steering wheel, not Irene Valenti)? The ones in the dash are at least real fake Allen screw holes. The wheel ones are embossed, for Christ’s sake.
Wow, that was a ride and a half. At least Robert got serious in the ratings section:
Exterior Design *
Just what the world needs: a large, gas-guzzling SUV with all the aerodynamic efficiency of a flying brick. Why didn’t I think of that?
Acceleration ***
Our tester’s 4.7-liter V8 didn’t have enough to power to motivate this 5273 lbs. behemoth into anything remotely resembling a sprint. Sixty comes up from rest, eventually, in 10.2 seconds. On the positive side, the engine torques a good game, imparting a reasonable facsimile of forward thrust. If for some reason I’ve yet to discern, you buy a Commander, be sure to equip it with a Hemi. The 5.7-liter mill increases the Commander’s ability to get out of its own way and increases the lumbering lummox’s staggering afrugality.[…]
Why you should buy this car: It s a Jeep. It s a well-built Jeep. It s a well-built Jeep that looks like a Cherokee Limited from the late-80 s. If you re a nostalgic outdoorsy-type who doesn’t mind torturing that spare set of sprogs, you re good to snow.
Why you shouldn’t buy this car: It’s ugly, cramped, thirsty (we saw 7.9 mpg) and slow.
Not everyone was negative. You can count on the legendary John Davis of MotorWeek to give any car a fair shake:
What’s interesting is that as time went on, some journalists soured on the idea of the Commander. Car and Driver reviewed the Commander again in 2009 and wasn’t nearly as nice that time:
Lows: Does nothing particularly well, nobody but the driver is comfortable.
Movies might placate the kids in almost any circumstance, but adults relegated to middle- or back-seat duty will be begging for more territory. The second-row seats recline individually, but the seatbacks are narrow enough to strand the inboard shoulder on the middle seat, which only folds forward. Free up some shoulder space by flipping down the center section, though, and the narrowness of the bottom cushion forces those of ample bottom to ride knock-kneed.
The third-row perches are about 25 percent wider but come with their own compromise, namely, the positioning of the seat only eight or so inches off the floor. Imagine sitting on a pair of phonebooks with your knees in your face, and you have a pretty good sense of it. And, the third row tucks so tightly against the back glass that it leaves only eight cubic feet for cargo—barely more than a Saturn Sky roadster’s trunk. At least the power-adjustable pedals, the tilting and telescoping steering wheel, and the eight-way adjustable seat mean the driver can get perfectly comfortable.
Oof.
Based on the reviews, you might think that the Commander failed because it was bad at being a big SUV. I mean, at its core, it was a Grand Cherokee massaged into a shape only barely capable of seating people in a third row. But that’s only part of the story. The Commander still had an epic list of features and could even tow up to 7,200 pounds. They also seemed to be reasonably reliable for a DaimlerChrysler product of the mid-2000s.
While lots of folks have reported issues, lots of others report great reliability. Some folks have complained about finicky transmissions, and some others have complained about leaking skylights. Yet, I haven’t found anything that really stuck out. Even the most reliable cars have at least some sort of population of problem children.
Instead, Car and Driver offered a different explanation for why the Commander failed. Sales were actually decent at first, with 88,497 units finding new homes in 2006, the first full year of production. Sales were still strong enough in 2007 with 63,027 units sold. Then, sales fell off of a cliff to 27,694 in 2008 before halving to 12,655 in 2009.
What gives? Well, our old friend the Great Recession reared its ugly head. Practically overnight, gas-guzzling SUVs were deemed unpopular, and people especially weren’t going to pony up the cash for one with cramped seating. The economy clipped the Commander’s wings before it could really fly.
Still, sales slumped until Jeep took the Commander out back and put it down. In 2011, the body of the Commander hadn’t even cooled down yet before the late Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne was shockingly honest to Automotive News about how he felt about the vehicles designed before FCA took over:
“That car was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don’t know why people bought them.”
Australia’s Drive reported that Marchionne even took a shot at the Dodge Durango, saying:
“If I had been here, the Durango would have been a Grand Wagoneer.”
I don’t think the Commander is really that bad. Is the third row tiny? Yes, sure, but a lot of SUVs were like that back then. On the bright side, the Commander had Hemi V8 power, a decent tow rating, actual off-roading capability, good features, and proportions that weren’t quite full-size.
As a teenager, I remember loving the boxy look of the Commander, its sweet skylight windows, and how the Limited model had cool handles on the rear end. Truth be told, the Jeep Wrangler JK didn’t do much for me, but the Commander seemed like my jam. While I’m not exactly in a rush to buy one, I’d love to at least drive a Commander one day.
When new, the maxi-Jeep had a base price of $27,985. That got you a 4×2 V6. $29,985 was the floor for a 4×4 model and if you wanted a V8 Limited 4×2, that was $36,280. Paying $38,900 got you the full ride with the Limited trim and 4×4. Today, you’ll find used Commanders for under $10,000 all day long, and some even under $4,000. Jeep sold over 230,000 of these things, so they’re not at all rare.
Today, the idea of a plus-size Jeep isn’t new or radical. I mean, Jeep’s longest SUV is as long as the Ford Excursion was. The Jeep Commander was a pretty big deal when it hit sales floors. But, for a number of reasons, the Commander started off strong before landing with a thud. Still, if you’re looking for a cheap Jeep with a big interior, maybe you’ll take the lead in a Commander one day.
I am sorry but the styling on these was atrocious. No balance. Dumb as dirt proportions. Just a total mess that deserved to die IMO.
I missed out on getting one. I had other life drama and didn’t know it was out there until after they were discontinued.
I adore the boxy design. Personally I’d remove the rear seating in favor of two seats up front and a large cavern in back to play with.
For now I’ll just stick with my ’78 Bronco for that boxy feel.
I’ve always felt that I can’t help but be drawn to these.
I’ve owned a Jeep XJ for the last 13 years, and now also have a 2007 Escalade that we use as our main trip vehicle.
The Escalade is great, but sometimes too big and cumbersome. The XJ isn’t going anywhere, but it’s not great for towing and I’d love an occasional 3rd row.
I’ve always wondered if a 5.7 Commander would be a great halfway point between the two vehicles.
The 3rd row in our Escalade (the “short” Tahoe length one) is pretty terrible, and the only way to properly get a flat load space is to remove the very heavy seats. I’m really curious as to whether the Commanders third row is actually any worse, and at least the seats fold flat.
“marketing people should have known that the Commander wasn’t Jeep’s first vehicle for seven”
If the auto industry is anything like the one I work in, it’s common for marketing departments to blatantly (or because they don’t know better, a likely possibility) attempt to rewrite history.
Hey David Tracy,
The 1960-1964 Traveller version of the Willys* Wagon sat nine.
*Kaiser-Jeep, technically.
Cheers!
Mercedes: A typically excellent article.
Just one note: never let the name “Robert Farago” appear in your work again, for the good of all mankind.
‘Far ago’?
Clearly a fake name!
Oh no, I’m going to find something bad through a Google search, won’t I?
the guy sucks, as does his writing
About 15 years ago, my wife and I looked at one of these. She test drove it and really liked it. It was a V6 4×4 in gray.
Normally, I let her get what she wants. I may hate it, but she has to drive it, so…
This was the only vehicle I flatly said no, you can’t have it. Horrible gas mileage, cramped interior, terrible visibility out. No way.
She ended up with a Mazda5 that she LOVED. She doesn’t really care much about cars, but she still talks about that one.
My mom got a new base Mazda5 in 2006, put 200k miles on it, then traded it in for a loaded out 2015 Mazda6 and still talks about how she wishes she had that Mazda5 again.
My dad had a Commander with the 4.7: he wanted a vehicle that had a large flat cargo area so he could sleep in it when he went fly fishing. It was actually a really good fit for his needs and IIRC it never had any real mechanical issues.
I looked at one at a dealership a few years later. It was the runabout vehicle for the sales guys and I was excited to look at it until I saw it was configured with the 3.7.
That’s not a typo. For some reason Jeep thought a smallish V-6 out of a Liberty might work in that behemoth. Actually I should have driven it just to see how slow it was.
Just a few years earlier you could spec a Ram 1500 with the 3.9 V6 that dated back to the 1970s and was only rated at 175hp.
I drove such a truck for a while and can confirm, it was extremely slow, even in the lightest possible variant (single cab, 2wd, short bed, short wheelbase fleet spec).
Pulling a roughly 2000lb boat absolutely brought it to its knees, even a moderate grade had it down to 2nd gear, flashers on, floored and doing 35mph, and it was a vehicle where there was an immediately noticeable loss of power if the AC was on even empty.
Despite the complete lack of power, at least it got terrible fuel mileage also. I think the absolute best I ever saw was 15 and usually more like 12. Probably because you had to wring it’s neck just to keep up with traffic.
Yikes!! 😮
Jeep claimed 210hp from the 3.7 but it might have been dealing with more weight. The 4.7 did all right – it wouldn’t pin you back in the seat but it had more than enough beans to e.g. merge on to an interstate.
And it got terrible mileage. 🙂
I had one with a 3.7 and loved it. Just as fast as a 4.7 and didn’t grenade itself like the 4.7’s tended to do.
They thought the same for the 3rd generation Dakota. Had a 3.7 in one personally, and people would give me the business about why I floored it everywhere…. then realized when I drove it like a normal human being, they saw snails keeping pace.
I’m sure the Commander was even slower.
ME: Hmm, interesting, those actually look pretty great and I bet even good ones are cheap as hell these days
ROBERT FARAGO: (we saw 7.9 mpg)
ME: lol, lmao
Yay, Farago! He was right up there with Clarkson (and maybe Liebermann) as my favorite snarky-yet-truthful auto journos of the early 2000s.
If it wasn’t for TTAC’s allure, I probably wouldn’t have been around on Jalopnik for 15 years, and then here.
TTAC was toxic. Zero merit, especially RF.
I like Sajeev a lot.
He gets a pass.
The adventures of Bertil Schmidt were fun, but I stopped reading TTAC ages ago
Out of all the Mopar intros of the era, this is one I did really like. I thought it was much better looking than the WK Grand Cherokee. But it didn’t really make sense because the 3rd row was so tight, and that was its main reason for existence. Not that most comparable 3rd rows were great but they were usually optional, not the key differentiator for the model. IIRC from trying them at auto shows an Explorer 3rd row was tolerable, and the GMT370s (on their way out by then) had gone the looongg way to get space back there.
Yank the 3rd row and offer the GC’s diesel and that would have been more interesting. Which I admit is a rather backhanded compliment.
These were just born too soon.
Put a OME lift and some custom bumpers front and back with a roof rack and you’ve got a solid more affordable overlanding alternative to the Lexus boys
These exist, and they look FANTASTIC like that. I see one around town that’s lifted with an aftermarket bumper and aux lights, that does wonders for the experience.
but this is a total shitbox and even the domestic choices are better for legions of reasons
My buddy had one and it was fine. He ditched it at the pandemic (rust starts to get em up here in MN) Maybe they were terrible, but his was fine, only complaint he had was that it was a bit of a dog as far as acceleration.
I’ve seen folks say the original WK grand cherokees were shitboxes also but mines still chugging along. The transmission had some issues with the speed senors but its like a couple hundred dollar part. Yes it has some lifter tick but nothing catastrophic yet…just keeps going.
Is the Lexus GX a better overlanding rig – probably but it carries a heckuva premium and if your gonna be modifying and adding suspension and building/welding stuff then some basic maintenance like crankshaft position sensor replacement and transmission speed sensors shouldn’t really scare you all that much IMO.
I guess when I look at overlanding rigs I look at heartache and pain… I look at old defenders and discos, rigs for folks not afraid to turn a wrench. I think the Commander deserves a spot there…just my opinion.
These are all fair points.
I only know of one person who had one, and this person ain’t the best, and they know less than nothing about cars…and they ran from it as fast as they could. Gets cold up here…did interior bits snap off that you knew of? That was the beginning of the end for the person I know.
And I know that some stuff runs forever, even if it runs poorly. Good that yours is one of those.
I do have a GX, and this is my second. The first one wasn’t perfect by any means (2004) and the rust monster got it. That Toyota hasn’t solved rust entirely will never cease to amaze. I have tried to take steps on my current GX so that the same doesn’t occur, but last summer, there I was, wire wheeling the frame (god damn seams are absurd) and treating ahead of coating to try to keep it forever. So far, so good. I’m at 166k.
But even this one…so, OK, lift it. OK. But you’ll see it said that if you lift it up to 2.5 inches, you won’t need UCAs to align. What you won’t be told is that the alignment will never stay good and after either a month of driving or a wheeling trip, you’ll need an alignment and it will snack on front tires like Skittles. So I just went to Bilsteins and OME UCAs in the hope that tries last longer, as do alignments. This is apparently common, but I don’t have an alignment rack in my garage to throw it on there weekly.
Also, an additional trade off with a GX is that to carry six people you’ll need a roof bag or some such because there is no interior space (done) and that gas mileage will be at 15 at all times. The touchscreen sucks and the big rear door is a pain sometimes.
I snagged one because it was (they still are?) cheaper than a comparable 4Runner and I prefer the sound of an understressed V-8 as opposed to the 6 the last gen 4Runner had. And I hear many, many bad stories about Tacos and 4Runners now, so should mine eat a deer or something similar should happen, I’ll grab another last Gen GX. But there are certainly many compromises that a GX makes, as with any rig.
My WK has a few tabs on teh bumper broken off from bashing through snow plow piles at the end of the alley but other than that the plastic bits have been fine.
Rust will certainly take it eventually – probably somewhere near the muffler or exhaust manifold would be my guess.
Every time I see the new Landcruiser at I distance I wonder if its a new jeep i didn’t know about. The new Landcruiser/Lexus body is everything Jeep should be building in design.
It’s better looking than the contemporary (WK) Grand Cherokee, and I feel like if you go into it expecting a 5+2 rather than 7-seat SUV, it’s fine.
On the other hand, coworkers who got to experience them new tell me they’re worse to drive than the Grand Cherokee, which I wonder how Jeep managed to do that.
heavier with the same powerplant – a bit of a dog was the main complaint from my buddy that had one.
For the time, I like the Commander with the 5.7. I saw it as a station wagon and more like a Ford Flex than a Jeep of any sort. The interiors were the same as every Chrysler product of the era, of which I had several. I do not make good decisions. ‘
We had one of these in 2008. Don’t know if anyone remembers, but there was a massive oversupply of them, the economy sucked, and then gas prices went bitcoin.
So, being any rational Jeep family, we ended up buying a mid level one for a hair over $25k out the door. This was also back when Chrysler was probably (?) going bankrupt, so they were offering the lifetime powertrain warranty.
My god, did we get our money’s worth out of the Jeep. And for a lazy three row people carrier, it was good enough. Finally sold it in 2023, when used car prices were still stupidly overinflated.
They were good vehicles. Plus, they were bestowed with the 545RFE, the second of Chrysler’s good transmissions, following the 45RFE. This thing was so overbuilt, it had a pan filter and a secondary spin-on filter. The engines were fine, with the exception of the 3.7 V6, assuming you knew how to maintain a vehicle.
Glad to read something about these!
Would never own one myself, but I do concede they aced the exterior styling. I had wondered why they were scarce and didn’t continue being a thing.
And let’s be real, “Commander” is a cool name, too.
I have a Hemi one of these, I never really understood the “Unfit for Human Consumption” label. Is it perfect? No, it suffers from many of the quality issues of mid-2000’s Chrysler, but it also has its charms. The interior feels fairly nice, I like the styling pretty well, It’s comfy in a particularly American way, it is handy to have those “just in case” seats (I have used them for young nieces and nephews), and the few times I’ve taken it off road it’s been awesome. The QDII system really is pretty fantastic, I couldn’t even get it to spin tires starting hard uphill in the snow. Of course, I bought a Sequoia recently and I don’t need two SUVs so now the Commander is for sale.
I had a 2008 Limited with the 4.7 and QDII 4×4 system. It was a great little rig. Got decent mileage and acceleration but that thing was unstoppable in the snow. I couldn’t even force it to slip on compacted snow and ice. Easily the best 4×4 system I’ve ever experienced. It never gave me any trouble up until the time I sold it when I got something with more space for kiddos. The looks are what sold me; gunmetal blue with camel leather interior, it looked sharp and hearkened back to the design cues of the old XJs and SJs.
As per usual, you generally have two types of commenters The ones who actually owned the vehicle getting panned and know it’s mostly hyperbole and the “lolwtf it sux” band wagon riders who never actually owned one, but knew a guy whose third cousin new a guy at the gas station who rode in one once.
Jeeps (and all Chrysler products) of this era also had some of the worst interior materials I’ve ever encountered. Plastic storage bins felt more upscale.
The most cynical one was the Aspen, which had not one iota of luxury over its Durango platform mate. The Escalade and Navigator didn’t have the world-class materials that they do today, but they at least felt a step or three nicer than their plebeian-badged counterparts.
It was a ballsy move just trying to market a car called “Aspen” as a luxo-cruiser. Too many people are still around that remember the Aspen/Volare from the 70’s which was the epitome of bland and boring.
https://youtu.be/ObYkg5L2_ao?si=FB4qSHC9Ucf3sZT9
The problems started with the name, and didn’t end there. Least of all, no one would associate the pricey ski town with a discount premium car. Why, Subaru would have done better to use that nameplate than did Chrysler.
I think they just thought they were being clever, having sister SUVs with names of locales in Colorado.
The more damning thing—and probably why the Chrysler brand is in such dire straits—is that in a world of SUVs and crossovers, Chrysler has only had two, and neither was great (the other was the original Pacifica). Hell, at this point, Jaguar and fellow FCA brand Alfa Romeo have had more crossovers than has Chrysler.
As a former Magnum owner you are absolutely correct. I still loved that car though.
My ex still has a 2005 Magnum RT, with 250K miles. When we were together, I declared it a piece of shit with an excellent engine and transmission. The dashboard have warped so badly, the panels no longer fit together.
You could probably say the same thing about the ex, eh?
My aunt had to have one of these. So she got one. It was about as much a piece of shit as you could expect, but was part of a series of DaimlerChrysler era vehicles that particular household owned, including several early-aughts Sebring convertibles, a 2007 Sebring sedan, a Pacifica (the original one), a heavily abused JK Wrangler Unlimited, and a Patriot.
Not that I could talk, because during that same time period, my dear father took his money and willingly bought a 2007 Dodge Caliber, which I learned to drive on.
Anyway, these days, that same aunt flosses in a 2014-era Ghibli with a red interior, if that tells you anything.
I think it tells me that your entire family should get bus passes. Or that every one of you should accept phone calls from people selling extended warranties.
It will be hard to find one in Southern California, but a Commander with rusted-out floor pans and some patination both cosmetic and mechanical might be just the ticket once Delmar (not his real name) gets a few more siblings.
DAVID NEEDS TO BUY IT BEFORE I DO!!!
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/747832438?makeCode=JEEP&modelCode=COMMANDER&numRecords=25&sortBy=relevance&zip=90001&clickType=supplemental
Green?! With brown leather?! And a seemingly leaking diff?! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
If there was one Jeep I ever seriously considered buying, it was this one. Knowing it was a Jeep didn’t stop my heart from fluttering every time I see one.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
(Proving my heart doesn’t work in QC, I feel the same way about the land rover range rover sport)
I too have an irrational want for a 15-year old Supercharged LR Sport.
I actually really liked these and thought about one as a dinghy to tow behind the bus. I worked with a guy that had a sweet one that was set up as an overland truck. I think he rolled it.
I try to forget the commander. I knew a guy who got one new to replace a gmt400 suburban. I bet that suburban is still kicking. I remember thinking at the time it looks ok but seems junky. Still probably better then the current grand wagoneer. Somehow my aunt ended up with one afer going to look at a smart car. I still haven’t quite figured that one out. Such a problematic vehicle. Always had sensors going out and the transmission always seemed like it wanted to go too. She finally dumped it for soul. They deserve to be be $1500 beaters.
At least the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer are class-competitive for space utilization, fit-and-finish, and amenities…if not fuel economy or resale value. I’m not saying I’d ever buy one, but I could see why someone might.
The problem with those vehicles also plagues most of the other stuff on newer Chrysler/FCA electrical architectures, including the WL Grand Cherokee and the new Charger Daytona.
Meanwhile, the Commander was just an unaspirational piece of shit.
I think it’s the same demo just 3x the cost now. Seems to be alot of people that choose between a grand wagoneer and Kia carnival the carnival normally wins if you are reasonable
The Carnival costs a ton less. They are hardly comparable vehicles.
For what it’s worth, I am seeing some well-heeled people purchase them who would otherwise go to other brands, so their attempt at captivating outside customers might be working.
They carnival is decent value. Comparable in a lot of ways. Passenger capacity, storage. As the grand wagoneer sit on lots and get massive reductions they are closer in price they you realize. When I first saw one driving on i-40 during their press event around Nashville I first thought it was a land Rover. Im sure people see it associate it and think they are more premium then they are.
Are there a lot of people? There are so many other vehicles that both of those vehicles would be cross shopped against across segments, before one another. Both are somewhat specific of a buyer. Carnivals were hard to get for a time, while Wagoneers have been known to hang on lots with healthy discounts.
Surprising amount of people. I don’t understand it. I think it comes down to 8 passengers and something different.
I could make a valid argument that every CDJR vehicle that was gestated in the Daimler-Chrysler era was unfit for human consumption.
And yet that Commander is head and shoulders above the semi rounded boxed street vehicle that we get from Jeep today.