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My experience so far....

7K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  frank.a 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everyone. Thought I would share my "ride" thus far.

I was a previous Cherokee owner. I thought I would be a hero and trade in my Cherokee and get a Commander for my wife as a surprise while she was away for the weekend. She and myself had wanted one since they came out and we had never owned a new car before. So one Friday I traded the Cherokee in and spent a better part of five hours getting the JC. I had picked out a Dark Khaki, V6, 4x4 with rear A/C control (for our daughter). When it was all said and done I drove the JC to get my daughter out of school and went home to get all of our stuff for our vacation we were taking after the weekend was over. We were going up north (I live in Michigan) for the week. As I get out of the JC at home I notice a hissing noise under the car below the rear A/C controller. "That can't be good". There was liquid shooting out of the drip pan. All the magic A/C fluid was bleeding out of the car and on to my driveway. I called the dealership but the service department closed at five and not open again untill Monday! Great! So now I start up the vacation loaded JC and the check engine light appears. Get ten feet from the driveway and the tire sensor light appears too with a ding dong sound. What the hell!! I stop and check the tire pressure and all is good. Call the dealership one more time to let them know everything that has transpired.

So now I head to my inlaws house to surprise my wife with a brand new JC that has issues already. Check engine light, tire sensor malfunction and NO A/C!! Won't she be excited (insert sarcasm here). Well I went from hero to zero quick. She was thrilled to have a JC but once finding out about the issues it went from thrilled to chilled. Words can't explain how disappointed we were. So we went a week with the sensor dinging all the time and flashing, and no a/c. The ride home after the trip was for 350 miles in 90 deg. weather. IT SUCKED!!!

To make a long story shorter, we had the JC in the shop six times to fix the sensor, a/c, check engine light and throttle problems. All fixed, but the sensor. This was all within a month. Finally after the seventh time for the sensor they call me and tell me the sensor had missing parts. SWEET!! Did I mention the issues that I didn't even have them fix because I was so fed up with the whole thing. Passenger window would not close half the time, dash board vent keeps poping out, hesitation with the engine and an annoying squeek from the rear end suspension.

We are getting ready to make our second payment on the JC and also waiting for the correct paper work to be complete to pick up our NEW JC. I am really hoping the new one will work out a little better. I am praying to the JEEP gods that all will be good. Please pray with me.

Will update the story later.

G
 
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#2 ·
Hello everyone. Thought I would share my "ride" thus far.

I was a previous Cherokee owner. I thought I would be a hero and trade in my Cherokee and get a Commander for my wife as a surprise while she was away for the weekend. She and myself had wanted one since they came out and we had never owned a new car before. So one Friday I traded the Cherokee in and spent a better part of five hours getting the JC. I had picked out a Dark Khaki, V6, 4x4 with rear A/C control (for our daughter). When it was all said and done I drove the JC to get my daughter out of school and went home to get all of our stuff for our vacation we were taking after the weekend was over. We were going up north (I live in Michigan) for the week. As I get out of the JC at home I notice a hissing noise under the car below the rear A/C controller. "That can't be good". There was liquid shooting out of the drip pan. All the magic A/C fluid was bleeding out of the car and on to my driveway. I called the dealership but the service department closed at five and not open again untill Monday! Great! So now I start up the vacation loaded JC and the check engine light appears. Get ten feet from the driveway and the tire sensor light appears too with a ding dong sound. What the hell!! I stop and check the tire pressure and all is good. Call the dealership one more time to let them know everything that has transpired.

So now I head to my inlaws house to surprise my wife with a brand new JC that has issues already. Check engine light, tire sensor malfunction and NO A/C!! Won't she be excited (insert sarcasm here). Well I went from hero to zero quick. She was thrilled to have a JC but once finding out about the issues it went from thrilled to chilled. Words can't explain how disappointed we were. So we went a week with the sensor dinging all the time and flashing, and no a/c. The ride home after the trip was for 350 miles in 90 deg. weather. IT SUCKED!!!

To make a long story shorter, we had the JC in the shop six times to fix the sensor, a/c, check engine light and throttle problems. All fixed, but the sensor. This was all within a month. Finally after the seventh time for the sensor they call me and tell me the sensor had missing parts. SWEET!! Did I mention the issues that I didn't even have them fix because I was so fed up with the whole thing. Passenger window would not close half the time, dash board vent keeps poping out, hesitation with the engine and an annoying squeek from the rear end suspension.

We are getting ready to make our second payment on the JC and also waiting for the correct paper work to be complete to pick up our NEW JC. I am really hoping the new one will work out a little better. I am praying to the JEEP gods that all will be good. Please pray with me.

Will update the story later.

G
 
#4 ·
Re: My experience so far....please ignore this doubled post

Gman said:
We are getting ready to make our second payment on the JC and also waiting for the correct paper work to be complete to pick up our NEW JC. I am really hoping the new one will work out a little better. I am praying to the JEEP gods that all will be good. Please pray with me.

Will update the story later.

G
Are you getting a "NEW" replacement XK??, or are you speaking of picking up your current "NEW" Commander from the shop after repairs??

XKPearl
 
#5 ·
I hate to read stories like this...it sure doesnt help to give the rest of us confidence with our trucks. All I can tell you is that so far my jeep has been great with zilch problems. Believe me I am hoping that in a few months I too dont have to write a story like yours but so far so good. Having owned many Chrysler products in the past with no problems to speak of I am hoping this continues with the Jeep. After reading all the problems people are having with their Commanders in here I am almost becoming paranoid.
 
#7 ·
They sold over 8,000 Commanders last month. How many posts related to Commander problems, a dozen maybe. Lets say it 100 people. Put it in prespective. Every make and model had issues, its just to what degree. Hondas have excellant service records but I am sure there is a certain percentage of new ones out of the ten of thousands they sell that have defects from the factory.
I would say the bigger problem is how the dealer and company handles the repairs. DC still may have issues in this department.
I have a new Commander with 6,000 miles on it and haven't had any issues with it.
 
#9 ·
I am about ready to Rooney. The thing that ticks me off is the fact that I have already waited three weeks for a replacement JC. They said it usually takes about a month to process, but they were going to put us at the front to get us a new ride quicker. I'd hate to see how long it takes from the rear(there is a pun in that sentence but I won't point it out).

In all honesty, I really want to enjoy a Commander. They are about the coolest looking ride out there. It is very encouraging to see others have not had any issues with thiers. I hope that will be the same for me soon.

G
 
#10 ·
I am getting a new one XKPearl. Thanks for asking. We have a Dark Kahki one now and they said they would get us an identical one. I said no thanks. I need one that does not remind me of this experience. So we are getting a red one with grey interior. The damb thing is sitting at the lot and I have to wait for the "paperwork" to be completed from Chrystler. Holy Wa!!

Good points kmag and Walkjon. It is great to see others have had good luck with thiers. It is reassuring to me that all will be good.

One thing is for sure. Even though I have had crap happen to me with this truck, I still would never own a different brand.

G
 
#11 ·
Mine goes in tomorrow for scheduled service. I just took it out for a round robin test to see if I could reveal any problems to report to the service manager. I'm glad to say that everything appears to be working perfectly. The ambient temp broke 100 degrees and I figured the windshield molding couldn't get any more flexible than it is now and if mine were to develop the dreaded hummm, now's the time. 85mph on the highway and it is silent as the grave.

More than happy so far,
XKPearl:)
 
#12 ·
walkjon said:
They sold over 8,000 Commanders last month. How many posts related to Commander problems, a dozen maybe. Lets say it 100 people. Put it in prespective. Every make and model had issues, its just to what degree. Hondas have excellant service records but I am sure there is a certain percentage of new ones out of the ten of thousands they sell that have defects from the factory.
I would say the bigger problem is how the dealer and company handles the repairs. DC still may have issues in this department.
I have a new Commander with 6,000 miles on it and haven't had any issues with it.
While it is true that people always tend to post their problems in message forums, this place seems to have an extraordinary amount of posts about issues compared to the other forums that I read.

I'd say that less than 1% of Commander owners ever even visited this forum, so there's no way to make an accurate correlation between the amount of people driving Commanders and the amount of people complaining about them here... So the only way to really put it in perspective is to look at the ratio of active forum members to compaints. And unfortunately, that number seems much higher here than other forums that I read regularly.

I really think Daimler Chrysler has to step up the quality control a few notches.
 
#15 ·
I finally had a bit of bad luck w/ my XK. It was in for scheduled service planned to take 1/2 a day but it ended up being two. They gave me a new Liberty Limited as a loaner and treated me well but when I picked up the XK it had a BB sized divit in the windshield. Now it is scheduled to go back for repair. Bummer. :(

Otherwise, my C/T is begining to register over 20mpg on the highway when I drive 60mph. So far the C/T has been fairly close to the actual averaged milage per tank of gas so this helped cushion my displeasure over the windshield.

XKPearl
 
#17 ·
My C/T trip meter was reset while in the shop and had accumulated 2.7miles when I picked it up. The windshield has a near perfect spherical divit the size of a BB w/ a slightly larger but less deep footbal shaped crater around it. I'm unsure if it is from road debris while they were driving or if it is from an actual BB while parked. The windshield had visible finger prints and finger smudge marks over the chip which indicated someone at the dealership was aware regardless of the cause. I found it troubling that no one brought it to my attention and I had to point it out first.

The Service Manager is confident that this chip can be fixed w/ the repair being near invisible. My main concern is having water get under the glass and freezing during the winter cracking my windshield.

XKPearl
 
#21 ·
Thought I would give you guys an update.

I Just picked up the new Commander yesterday. Finally!! They originaly told me that it would take about two weeks. Unfortunately it took about five weeks. In that time frame I had my sales rep drive it for a day to see if there were any issues and if so to fix them before I sign any papers. The last thing I wanted was to go thru this crap again. I have put about a hundred miles on it so far and no issues.

It's unfortunate that this happened. My wife and myself were so excited to get a Commander and this episode has just ruined the experience of our first new car. We are just kind of waiting for something to go wrong with the replacement. Hopefully there won't be any issues. I did notice that the old one was built on 8-05 and the new one was built on 1-06. Maybe that will make a difference. Only time will tell my friends

G
 
#22 ·
OMG! I am so glad I found this forum. I was very excited to purchase the new Jeep Commander and so disappointed after just a week or so of driving it. We took it to the dealer for the humming buzzing noise, they said they could not duplicate the problem, which meant no problem found. The tire pressure light came on (!) and the service guy told us that it meant to change the oil, RIGHT NOW!!!! THAT IT WAS OVER DUE!
Therefore they did not fix anything again. The water pools around the door and pours out on your feet! We just took it in for the 15,000 mile inspection and it cost us over $200 to have the rear axal cleaned, something they advised had to be done at that point! I thought the truck was under warrenty at 15,000 miles. The ride is horrible, very bouncy, rough and hard to control. It doesnt have enough room in the back seats and is very uncomfortable, the seats are hard as a rock!
Now the A/C smells funny. It has to go into the shop again for that. And you can bet we will bring up these other issues they never fixed. Sounds like this is a real "lemon" of a truck!
We will never purchase a Jeep again and tell everyone who asks how much we dislike it!
 
#24 ·
heres a suggestion. when you go to the dealer ask him if you can drive another commander to compare the ride. maybe you have something broke in your steering an/or suspension.

as for the oil change, if it was overdue then thats your fault. you can't rely on jeep to call you to ask if its due.
as for the rear axle, i think i would be questioning those charges.
the seats are firm but i feel they are pretty comfortable.
the A/C smell i have seen others complain on here but i don't have any issues with that. the water pooling seems to be a big complaint but i haven't had that problem either.

the only complaint i have on mine is the material in the cloth seats stains too easy and is almost impossible to get dog hair out of. other than that i have no complaints with my 2006 3.7 4x4 JC with 6800 miles.

i will be looking in to getting the seats redone in leather. i would recommend anyone buying a new JC and plans to take your dog along to spend the extra for the leather seats.
 
#25 ·
Coastette said:
OMG! I am so glad I found this forum. I was very excited to purchase the new Jeep Commander and so disappointed after just a week or so of driving it. We took it to the dealer for the humming buzzing noise, they said they could not duplicate the problem, which meant no problem found. The tire pressure light came on (!) and the service guy told us that it meant to change the oil, RIGHT NOW!!!! THAT IT WAS OVER DUE!
Therefore they did not fix anything again. The water pools around the door and pours out on your feet! We just took it in for the 15,000 mile inspection and it cost us over $200 to have the rear axal cleaned, something they advised had to be done at that point! I thought the truck was under warrenty at 15,000 miles. The ride is horrible, very bouncy, rough and hard to control. It doesnt have enough room in the back seats and is very uncomfortable, the seats are hard as a rock!
Now the A/C smells funny. It has to go into the shop again for that. And you can bet we will bring up these other issues they never fixed. Sounds like this is a real "lemon" of a truck!
We will never purchase a Jeep again and tell everyone who asks how much we dislike it!
I would definately want to ask to drive another commander cause if you are having this much unhappiness with the ride there has to be something going on. It is the smoothest riding suv I have ever been in and the handling is great in my opinion for an suv.

The seats I have no problems with either. I have taken two 10 hour up and 10 hour back trips in this vehicle and my husband and I both love it.

I have no idea why they would have cleaned the rear axle does anyone have any ideas about that? I have never heard of such a thing. No matter what if it is something that had to be done it should have been covered under warranty is my thoughts about that. The only thing I pay for is my oil changes. Any other work done to my jeep other than cosmetics is warranty work. Sorry to hear you dislike your commander so much cause I would not trade mine for anything.

Also, the tire pressure light came on and the guy told you it was time to change the oil. Is the tire pressure light the same light for both checking tire pressure and telling you when to change the oil? That makes no sense to me. Does it anyone else?
 
#26 ·
Tlambert95 said:
I have no idea why they would have cleaned the rear axle does anyone have any ideas about that? I have never heard of such a thing.
Perhaps they meant having the rear differential serviced (which really shouldn't happen until 30,000 miles). This is part of normal maintenance to a 4WD vehicle and is not covered under warranty (pretty much like an oil change).

With a solid rear axle you will have a more truck like ride than say a Mercedes E-Class or something. This is something the buyer should have seen during a test drive.
 
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