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SUVs Jeep Commander Jeep Commander Tweaks
32 messages, Last post on Dec 28, 2008 at 11:18 PM
You are in the Jeep Commander Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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06 Commander w/ 13,000 mi. Am very happy so far but have noticed a clunking noise from RF when going over bumps. Sounds like shock is loose. Any body else had this? |
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Replying to: preid (Feb 04, 2007 9:14 pm) |
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Does anyone know what changes are coming to the 08 Commander?
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Replying to: dds872 (Aug 28, 2007 6:59 pm)
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Replying to: neumie2000 (Aug 29, 2007 4:30 am)
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Replying to: dds872 (Aug 29, 2007 6:24 pm) |
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We are considering dropping a size from a Ford Expedition to a new Commander w/Hemi. The Expy is an 03, it's our second one and we love the Fords, but I thought the look of the Commander was kinda neat, so here we go. What can I look forward to by way of improvements, ride, economy...handling? Thanks! 
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I picked up an 07 Commander with low miles for a great deal and have been 100% happy with the vehicle so far with none of the issues mentioned in these forums. In fact, the windshield whistling problem didn't exist on any of the three Commanders I test drove before settling on the one I bought. I traded a 99 Wrangler that I bought new and did have to deal with the Jeep service department for a couple different issues. One thing I have learned about Jeep dealers is if one doesn't fix an issue it is sometimes best to try another dealer. One problem I had "fixed" on my Wrangler four times by my closest dealer before I started troubleshooting the (electrical) problem myself and redid their poor repair to finally fix the problem. I don't see it as a Jeep manufacturing problem but a mechanic incompetence problem. Had I taken it to another dealer they most likely would have done the job right on the first try. The other thing to keep in mind if you are considering a Commander is the few folks with vehicle issues tend to post on these forums more than those that are happy with their vehicles. This is true of any vehicle no matter the manufacturer. We also considered minivans before purchasing our Commander and Toyotas in particular had a lot of unhappy customers as I did my research. Toyota has had problems recently mostly attributed to the company's rapid growth so they have had more problems than in the past. The problem is their dealer network has done a poor job fixing the issues which has made for many unhappy customers. Again, if the dealership were better at fixing problems then selling cars the problems would go away. I wouldn't consider a Toyota a bad vehicle just because they have had more issues recently. On the subject of chipped windshields, this isn't a problem isolated to the Commander. Think about it, is it really such a stretch for one to realize that a rock hitting a piece of glass will leave a chip or crack??? I just spent eight years driving a Wrangler. Every time I saw a rock coming at my windshield I would cringe thinking the stone was going to end up in the passenger cabin. In the 100,000+ miles I put on the Wrangler the windshield was only replaced once. Not too bad when you consider the Wrangler windshield is much steeper than the Commanders. Before the Wrangler I had a sports car - yep, it had chips in the windshield too! Maybe it is because you get a different cliantelle shopping a Commander than a Wrangler but to me some folks expectations just aren't realistic. So far the best way I have found to avoid a cracked windsheld is to leave more room between me and the car ahead. I've come to the conclusion the only way to totally avoid stone chips is to only drive in parades! Ok, I'll get off my soap box! Back to the Commander and my impressions as an owner. The biggest surprise to me so far has been the four-wheel-drive system. Coming from the most unstoppable production 4x4 on the planet in the Wrangler I am highly impressed by the Commander. The Wrangler is all about brute force and driver skill does come into play in slippery situations. The Commander on the other hand has ESP which allows the system to "think" its way through slippery situations. I have literally tried to get my Commander to slide in the snow and been amazed at how quickly the ESP does its job to steer the vehicle in the direction you are steering while stopping the slide. This has been alluded to in some of the other posts and I have to agree, this is by far the most stable vehicle I have ever driven in the snow! I lost my first 4x4 to my wife after I made the mistake of showing her how to use the four wheel drive. Hopefully she won't try to steal this one from me after she drives it in the snow! The interior is very comfortable with supportive seats and nice leather. I love all the little cubbies in the front row for storing things like a cell phone and wallet. Unlike many other vehicles, the cup holders are left free for their intended purpose. The seats fold very easily. Some minivans we looked at have the fold into the floor feature with their rear seats but what I found when I tried them is those seats are awkward and heavy which makes them hard to deploy. Not so in the Commander... If the seats aren't easy to fold then you end up trying to avoid folding them whenever possible. I tend to use my vehicles for transporting large objects a lot and also have kids that necessitate the extra seating so I end up folding the seats a lot. The third row in the Honda Odyssey is slick the way it folds down but pulling that heavy seat up again takes too much effort! The three sun roofs are nice and my kids love the added touch of having them in the back seat along with the DVD system. They also love the theater seating. This is the first three-row vehicle anyone in my family has had where the kids like riding in the third row. This is one feature Jeep doesn't get enough credit for in my opinion. Most people complain about the limited view out the back window with the third row seats up but I tend to disagree a bit here. Over the years I have driven many vehicles that are harder to back into a parking place than my Commander. Perhaps it is the fact that I use my mirrors to park and don't expect to see behind me through the vehicle when parking a vehicle of this size. My wife's extended length Chevy Trailblazer is much harder to parallel park and I have never heard a Trailblazer owner make the same complaint. I would compare parallel parking the Commander more to a minivan than a full size SUV or pickup truck. The backup sensors do work well and make the task of parking easier so I do recommend them. I guess the only other area I haven't mentioned is the engine. I test drove both the V8 Hemi and the V6 and between the two the only advantage I would give the Hemi is how quite and smooth it is. It is definitely a nice engine but I couldn't justify the added fuel consumption. For me the V6 has more than enough power to merge into traffic and only makes a little more noise during acceleration. When cruising along you don't hear the V6 at all. I have no disappointment with choosing the V6. I would only consider the V8 if I had towing requirements - which I don't. |
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| Anyone experiencing a noise when driving over bumps? Sounds like a loose spring, strut, shock, wheel, etc? I have 95,000 miles on my Yukon and it is as tight as a "new vehicle" except our commander with 12,000 miles! Is it the 4 wheel independant suspension? is it a design flaw? the dealer says "no one has ever complained, yet I see one other owner claiming he has a noise like ours. There's no way I coud tolerate it long-term. | |
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Replying to: 07commander (Feb 03, 2008 7:28 pm) |
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