First ever seven-seat Jeep

Retro-look vehicles are all the rage these days. Volkswagen started the trend with the Beetle, and was followed in short order by Mini Cooper, Ford Thunderbird and Mustang. Even Toyota joined the foray last month, reviving the FJ 40 with a beautiful rendition called the FJ Cruiser.

With its all-new 2006 Jeep Commander, it appears Daimler-Chrysler is saying, “Let’s jump on the retro bandwagon and bring back the Cherokee. While we’re at it, since we’ve never had a third row seat in a Jeep product, let’s throw one in to keep up with competition.”

But something seems to have gone wrong with Daimler-Chrysler’s retro formula. The result is a homely vehicle that isn’t exactly flying off dealers’ lots. It seems as though the Commander has taken its design cues from a Lego model.

The traditional Jeep seven-slot grille sits up front, looking the same as a Hummer H3. The oversized plastic-covered front bumper juts a bit too far out and tow hooks stick out through the lower fascia. The hood is long, low and flat. The entire look just doesn’t do it for me.

The tiered roofline is squared off with a very upright windshield, too-tall side windows and trapezoidal wheel-well blisters that appear to be attached with exposed Torx Allen head bolts. The rear plastic-covered bumper juts out below a non-powered rear lift gate with an oversized rear window. A word of caution: When using the key fob to open the rear window, be careful not to stand within striking distance. The window pops open and swings up without warning, and nearly hit me in the head.

Once inside, you might expect all the large windows to provide excellent outward visibility. But you would be wrong. With the third-row seats in place, rear visibility is nonexistent. If ever a vehicle needed a rear backup camera, the Commander is it.

Based on the Grand Cherokee platform, the brick-like Commander manages to deliver a more refined cabin, featuring three rows of seats as standard equipment. Seats are theater style, with the second and third rows positioned slightly higher than the ones in front to increase passenger visibility. Third-row seats are tiny and fold flat with a flip of a lever. No power folding option like Ford Explorer.

To keep passengers from feeling claustrophobic, Jeep added cool looking individual skylights that don’t open, but have sliding shades to keep out intense Arizona sunrays. Front seat passengers have an oversized sunroof.
 
Dash gauges are easy to see, read and use. There’s too much hard plastic and the non-functional Torx Allen fasteners are repeated on the center of the steering wheel, shift knob and dash.

The Commander is available in three models: base ($28,285), 65th Anniversary Edition ($29,030) and Limited ($36,530). Two-wheel drive is standard and four-wheel drive is optional ($2,000; $2,500 on the Limited). Standard features include a roof rack; air conditioning; AM/FM/CD with six speakers; and power windows, heated mirrors and driver’s seat.

I tested a very well equipped base Commander that included the Customer Preferred Package ($4,100) with power sunroof, fog lamps, heated leather seats, power passenger’s seat, adjustable pedals, premium audio system and other features. With the optional rear entertainment system, GPS navigation system, rear air conditioning, Sirius Satellite radio and the larger 4.7-liter V-8 engine, the list price came to $36,640.

The front seats are generally comfortable and handling is good for a large sport-utility. Body lean is modest in turns. Parking is easy due to a fairly tight turning radius. Brakes are good and the five-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly. Standard stability control helps in avoiding spinouts during quick steering and on slippery surfaces.

The ride is generally quiet, however the non-aerodynamic styling does impact interior noise at highway speeds and drags down fuel economy.

Standard safety features include anti-lock brakes and BrakeAssist, a system that works in panic situations to provide the shortest possible stopping distances. Side-curtain and front airbags are included on all models.

Commander is a very large, heavy (5047 lbs.), oversized vehicle that tries to do too much. It’s well built and certainly capable off-road, but Commander just doesn’t get the packaging right and seems overpriced compared to competition. The style is too tank-like and industrial in an age when sharp styling and curvy sheet metal is what sells.