2006 JEEP Commander

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 3 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 10.6

I bought this car new in 2006. It is 10 years old now and I have driven it very little (just turned over to 60,000 miles). During that time, I took immaculate care of it. Overall, it was a great car (despite the numerous factory recalls). I love the design, layout and look of the vehicle. The the interior and logic of the instrumentation is great. It is very comfortable to drive and to ride in; both in the front, back seats and even in the 3rd seat. The mileage is terrible (city 10.5mpg / hiway ~15mpg), but what do you expect for a heavy Jeep with a 5.8L HEMI. All was magical in the land of Oz; that was until I hit 45,000 miles and had to replace the transmission ($4000). Then I hit 60,150 miles and experienced a "catastrophic engine failure" last week. I am really disappointed that the transmission in this car only lasted 45k miles and that the engine completely failed at 60k. I am now torn between paying $10,000 for a completely new engine and try to get a few more years out of this beast or buy a more reliable new car. if I do get a new car, it will not be a Jeep.