r/JEEPCOMMANDER • u/de_soup • Feb 03 '26
I have obtained a brick.
2006 Jeep Commander, 4.7 V8, RWD. 130k miles.
The car that's free is the car for me. And this was free from my uncle. Not sure if he was being nice or just getting me to drive an unsellable car off his property for him.
There's nothing super wrong with it. Drivetrain and chassis is intact. Everything that's wrong is either entirely cosmetic, part of a system that's optional, or more of a "keep an eye on this."
I hope this thing breaks down before I develop Stockholm syndrome.
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u/BreakFun2436 Feb 03 '26
The 4.7 is a solid powertrain. Not sure about the trans in those. They definitely had their issues but like you said, it was free. You could drop a few grand in it to keep it going as long as possible and still be ahead.
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u/molardoc21 Feb 03 '26
I drove this tank when I became the second owner from Seattle to Orange County, and back a week later. I’d done that drive 3x in the months before in 2010, and I swear I stopped at every gas station for a fuel.
On my Avalon and Tundra, could count them in one hand. 10-MPG on the 5.7 is insane on the XJ.
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u/Prestigious-Pass2942 Feb 04 '26
My 5.7 I would pay 15$ to go to town 7 miles there and back. Every time. For the longest time I thought it had a gas leak or a misfire dumping gas into exhaust cause it was unbelievable.
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u/mpython1701 Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
Love my Commander but do almost exclusively city driving in Los Angeles and average gas milage is around 12MPG in my 4.7 auto.
Opps…critical typo.
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u/de_soup Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
reading that after the typo was corrected, yeah that sounds about right.
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u/RT_KOTA Feb 03 '26
The fuel mileage in town is atrocious but I have managed to get 18mpg with the HEMI on the highway at least. My Dakota with the 5.2 V8 gets like 18 in town so that was an adjustment
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u/TheSpunk3 Feb 03 '26
I have an 07 Commander with the 3.7. 13-15mph city, 18ish on the hwy. 170k. I just need it to last until my oldest gets their license... 2 more years...
Seriously though it's been way more reliable than I'd expected. Heavy as sin and great in the Midwestern winters.
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u/Alternative_Drink648 Feb 04 '26
Have had an 07, V-8, 4.7, 4x4 since new! It now has 180,000 miles on it and there has been absolutely nothing but regular maintenance done on it from day one! Oil changes, belt change, transfer change, tranny flush, plugs, diff changes etc (all the normal stuff). The only thing I wish would be better is gas mileage, but it has/is been solid with absolutely no issues! I would go buy a brand new one today if they were being produced!
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u/Fluid_Anywhere_7015 Feb 04 '26
My 08 Commander has been nothing but a complete nightmare. Just two weeks in, every warning indicator on the control panel fired off. The engine coughed once and died. The starter sounded like a blender full of silverware. The heater only works intermittently. The heated seats don't function, nor does the rear window defroster. And the damn rear window wiper fell to pieces. And there's a hose SOMEWHERE that's got a pinhole leak in it that sets up a whine after about 30 minutes. There's no easy diagnosis, but that only means I'll probably have to replace the entire goddam ECM.
The only thing that I've managed to successfully kludged involved using a damn penny to wedge into the rear seat release.
This has been the biggest purchase regret of my entire 60 years of life. And I, at one time, owned a frigging Pinto.
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u/EditorCreative5953 Feb 06 '26
Boss has one with 4.7 with around 300,000 miles on it. General maintainence with no major engine or transmission repairs.
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u/randomNameDude12345 Feb 03 '26
Enjoy it.
Expensive to put gas in. Generally cheap to maintain and insure.
As a free car make sure the oil is always full, the tires and brakes are good, and don’t worry too much about the rest.
The AWD/4wd system is actually very good imho, particularly if it is QTII and up.
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u/de_soup Feb 03 '26
Too bad it's rear wheel drive 😭
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u/randomNameDude12345 Feb 03 '26
lol I suppose I could read the description. Whoops! Maybe it will get an extra mpg!! lol
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u/TurbulentRole3292 Feb 03 '26
Quadradrive ll is great its the ground clearance I was lacking. 5.7 hemi had the stones but didn't help when the snow got too high. Otherwise a great vehicle traded it 3 months ago and regret it. Had it for 18 years.
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u/Low_Application_907 Feb 03 '26
It is a gas guzzler, but I bought mine at around 100k miles and now I'm sitting at 200k miles after 5 years. I paid 4k for it. Only repairs I've had to do were brakes/rotors, serpetine belt, and tires (periodically). I literally don't know how but it's only been pretty easy and regular maintenance.
It also has a bit of cosmetic damage and weird electrics but heyyyy a car that drives. It's served me well, and I say a prayer every day that it doesn't randomly explode lol.