CarComplaints.com Notes: Whenever a new product is introduced, there's bound to be some problems. And man oh man, does the 2006 Commander have some problems.
It's the plight of the 1st-generation adopter: you get the newest and shiniest in exchange for a handful of issues that get ironed out in future versions. But what happens when that handful of issues becomes a bucketload? The 2006 Commander has quality control issues like the door handles breaking off and the sunroof leaking. But what's truly worrisome is the electrical problems like the vehicle shutting down unexpectedly, gauges going crazy or the cruise control having a mind of its own.
Bottom line: if you want a Jeep Commander, you're better off looking at a later model year.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
89,150 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2006 Jeep Commander. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle started losing engine power and then the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to restart after one attempt. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 115,000.
Transmission over temp is a never ending light that lights up daily. I've had 3 reprogrammed PCMs and the ECM replaced as well. The car was also reprogrammed at the dealership twice with the results the same. It will work for a couple days then right back to the original issue and including a few more. Recently the trans over temp came on and stalled in rush hour traffic. Resulting in a almost serious accident. Several attempts made to restart the car. Started and stalled immediately. After the 4th time and reving the engine very hard it stayed running. I've called the recall line on this and several other recalls (1 that was under warranty) with no resolution. This is now a safety issue for me and others on the road. This car is a lemon and should be taken off the road. I've waisted money at the dealership being charged over $300 each time to reprogrammed with no improvement. Bought 3 PCMs at $1200 each. I replaced almost everything under the hood and car with no positive results.
The contact owns a 2006 Jeep Commander. The contact stated while driving at 55-65 MPH, several unknown warning lights were illuminated and the vehicle lost electrical power temporarily. The contact stated that he veered to the side of the road and inspected the vehicle but could not determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the failure could not be replicated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly and the vehicle would stall while driving. Additionally, the contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle would go into limp mode and would not shift out of third gear. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring intermittently. The contact also stated that the transmission was shifting hard. The contact stated that the warning message "Passenger Air Bag Off" and the front passenger air bag warning light would illuminate when a lightweight passenger sat in the front passenger-€™s seat. The dealer was notified of the failures and informed the contact that the vehicle could not be repaired under unknown recalls because the VIN was not included. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 170,000.
2006 Jeep Commander Limited 5.7L V8 Message as appears on dash - TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP While driving a short distance the message TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP appears, the fan kicks on HIGH & is very loud, and it feels like the transmission disengages like being thrown into neutral, but is still drivable. About 2 weeks prior, I noticed smoke coming out from under hood & the engine coolant tank was almost empty. There were no visible leaks on carport. I refilled the tank & immediately called Kilby Automotive repair shop, then took it in. They said that the radiator cap needed to be replaced. The also said the valve cover gasket was leaking. They replaced the radiator cap & made an appointment for June 3rd to replace the valve cover gasket. Before that appointment the vehicle started displaying the TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP message. I took it into Kilby Automotive on May 27, 2021. They said it was a faulty transmission temperature sensor, but they could not repair. They have done a lot of repairs on the vehicle for several years. I called Ultimate Luxury Auto Service explaining the issue. The man said that he could put a new sensor in & there is a broken transmission mount. He replaced the sensor. Fix mount later. When I was driving home, the same message appeared & the fan kicked on as before. I messaged the shop & took the vehicle back in. They put a 2nd sensor in, drove it & received the same TRANSMISSION OVER TEMP message. They returned the 2 new sensors & put my original sensor back in. They said they were sorry they could not fix it & dropped the price of repairs. I entered the make, model, & message online & found out a lot of people have the same problem. Some people have said they replaced numerous parts & it did not fix it, and others say they replaced the PCM. I am disabled and do not want to be stranded or have a vehicle fire. I am afraid that it would pose a risk to me & others, as transmission oil can ignite on hot surfaces and cause a fire in the engine.
This has been the 3rd time this type of event happens, the first time was at a city street driving straight forward at 30-35mph and the engine started stalling, truck completely went off, head lights would go on and off, along with my interior dashboard indicators and media center. Second time, same thing, and the third time while driving at about 35-40mph in a city street and gradually slowing down to 10-15mph to make a left the truck completely went off, head lights would go on and off, along with my interior dashboard indicators and media center. It seem like I had turned off the engine completely for like a split second. I though it might've been that I hit the key with my knee, but I pulled over restarted the engine after 15 min, and the problem continued. All the lights would go on and off and the engine power would shut down, when putting the gears, it would sound very forcing. I turned it off again and waited 30 min, restarted the truck again it did the problem for a few seconds and then it was like nothing ever happened.
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
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2006 Jeep Commander vehicles is shutting off randomly while driving and the steering wheel is locking up. Also the lights on the dash board flicker randomly. Mechanics could not find anything wrong. There is no recalls on my specific VIN but for other 2006 Jeep Commanders. I do not want my family and I driving down the highway and it's does this and we die then you finally say oops yeah there's a recall on that...
The contact owns a 2006 Jeep Commander. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the ignition was turned to off position however, after exiting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the engine was still running. The contact re-entered the vehicle and placed the key in the ignition, shifted the gear shifter and the vehicle started revving up. After several minutes, the vehicle returned to normal operation with the seat belt warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to jacksonville Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram arlington (9600 atlantic blvd., jacksonville, fl 32225) to be diagnosed however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred intermittently. The manufacturer was a made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 116,000.
While driving the car will shift off for no reason. It appears to be something wrong I have a new battery and don't now why it's losing power.. it cuts off while driving and when I made a turn but also while driving straight. Also the wheels feels like they are wobbly while driving in the front.
I have a 2006 Jeep Commander that I bought 2 months ago. It has been one problem after another. First of all the first day it rained the whole entire cab was soaked, come to find out that there is a problem with the sunroof drainage of these Jeep. The drain lines don't stay connected to the floor and when that occurs the carpet get drenched. I had to pull all of the carpet out of the Jeep because of mold concerns. Secondly shortly thereafter the check engine light came on the first time I drove the Jeep. Took it too a mechanic and the code showed a crank sensor and a cam sensor. Got both of those replaced and it required a driveshaft repair kit. Another day later the check engine light went off again. The truck started to shake and shimmy so we had to pull over on the side of a highway because it wasn't safe. Took it into another mechanic that was closer to where I was having the issues and they put another set of crank and cam sensors in again. Supposingly I was good to go but just 2 days later the check engine light came back on.went back to another mechanic that was close in proximity to where I was having trouble in which the truck started to shake and shimmy again. This mechanic found a short to the ground in altanater unit which required a new altanater because the other one wasn't pulling enough voltage. Today (Sept 5th) went to start the truck and it stalled again and when I restarted it the check engine light was back on. I have spent well over $2000 on this situation and it still isn't fixed. I have read a lot of other customer complaints about this model as well as others who are having the same problem. There should be a recall on this from Chrysler to fix whatever issues these cars are having. They have been getting away with this crap way too long now. Going down the freeway 70 plus miles an hour and all of a sudden the check engine light comes on.
Worst vehicle ever! we got it with around 98K miles on it, and it now only has 103K miles on it and in the last 4K we've put over $5K into it trying to get it to run. We had to put a new transmission in ($2K) and have the lifters in the engine replaced ($2,600). Currently it's been shutting off on its own a few seconds after I start it and giving random "transmission over temp" and "service 4X4 system" messages even though there's not a problem with those systems. I turn the key, it runs for 3 seconds, then shuts off. Sometimes it does this several times in a row and then won't start at all. Other times it starts fine so it's ridiculously hard to diagnose. Sometimes when it's doing it's shut down bit, you can get it to stay on a little longer by revving the engine, and it will let you pull out of the driveway, but then shuts off in the middle of the street. The sun roof leaks horrifically, even after I've tried the "clip the nipples off the bottom of the hoses" trick.
While driving the 2006 keep Commander the vehicle will start stalling from driving as you press the gas it will not pull and make a loud noise and turn off. There was a lot of smoke that came from the hood of the car. When you try to start it back up it will not start and keep making a weird noise like it's out of gas. The gas tank is full and it still want start. The truck was towed to a mechanical shop and they advised me it was a bad engine.
Our 2006 Jeep Commander has had a recurring problem of stalling at random times, while both driving and idling. Every day we start the vehicle but cannot drive it right away because it stalls out if we don't wait at least 5 minutes to "warm it up". another example, we were driving on a city street and turning left in an intersection and it stalled out while in motion and lost control of steering and braking. I noticed that there have been recalls for thousands of 2006 Jeep Commanders, but our VIN # shows no recalls for our car. We are having the same exact problem with this truck as the other owners of recalled 2006 Jeep Commanders. It is currently in the shop for the third time and the mechanics cannot recreate the stall while moving issue and cannot figure out why it is hesitating and stalling. This is my 16 year old new driver's vehicle and I'm afraid for her safety.
While driving on the highway, at highway speed the car shut off with out warning. While driving the car on the street or pulling out my driveway the car will shut off with out notice / warning
Check engine light came on. Engine surged rpms and lost all power while driving. I put it in neutral and started it back up. Upon parking, rpms surged again, vehicle tried to pull forward before the rpms dropped and stalled the engine in drive. I checked used my scan tool to check the code and it came back P1521 which is for wrong engine oil. I used royal purple 5W20 in my last oil change. It drove the vehicle for 2098 miles before this incident occurred with no issues in between. I noticed the 4.7 litre had a recall done for the same exact issue and it being a software update for the power control module.
This issue has happened three times now, I have been driving on the freeway at about 70 mph and all of a sudden there is a ding on the dash board and the car stalls, and the engine light comes on. Once you shut down the car and start it again the car works fine but the engine light stays on for a couple of hours, according to Jeep they charge for a diagnosis and I see online that this is happening a lot in my type of vehicle but Jeep has yet to acknowledge it. I think it is very dangerous since I have been driving on a freeway where people are driving as fast or faster than me and could cause a problem.
Repeated transmission over temp error messages displayed on dash. Error is intermittent, occasionally causing vehicle to turn off unexpectedly during operation. Happens while driving in normal conditions.
I have a 06 Jeep Commander with the 5.7 hemi. I have been having a problem tied the vehicle stalling at random time. Most of the time it is while the vehicle is in motion. A few times at highway speeds. Also and I dont know if its coincides but the Jeep will buck like you hit something and the traction control light will illuminate and stay on. (dry roads). Thank god no accidents but was told by countless Jeep dealers there is no issue.
I was driving to drop my son off at school and when I would press the gas, it wasn't moving like it should've been. It was barely moving, you could engine rev but it wasn't moving and didn't move until it got to 2, ig 2nd gear on the dash.
The contact owns a 2006 Jeep Commander. While driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle stalled and the security warning indicator illuminated. The contact called gastonia Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (2339 E franklin blvd, gastonia, nc 28054, (704) 874-6000), but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the key was not programmed to the vehicle and the failure was similar to the failure listed in NHTSA campaign number: 14V438000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 58694595. The contact was referred to NHTSA. The failure mileage was 158,951.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Largo, FL, USA