Faults:

Cracked interior door handle (driver's door).

Front bumper minor lacquer peel.

Seat base vinyl split.

Transmission over temp false warning.

Front alignment out.

General Comments:

Cool looking car; full 4x4 with a modern take on a retro design.

Decent performance, and the Tiptronic gearbox is actually fun.

Average MPG is approx 25 to 26 MPG at reasonably constant driving, with the best long distance at 70 mph of 28.2 MPG imperial.

Some poor quality feeling trim, but kind of in keeping with its upper blue collar image.

Decent room in the front, middle row is tight for legroom, 3rd row can be used at a pinch, but they fold flat on the floor, making the boot floor high, so make sure you're fit enough to lift your dog in and out.

Pretty comfortable, as the soft springing and weight help, but can get a bit choppy on bad roads.

Minor yet irritating, cheap or daft design issues such as un-removable 2nd row middle headrest, that totally blocks the rear view, forcing reliance on the parking sensors. Silly fuel cap with no proper place to put it, such as you'd expect in even the cheapest budget car, fuel flap not on central locking, too many buttons on the trip computer, where on modernish cars you just press a stalk to cycle through the options; I kept selecting 'Spanish' by accident.

Hardly any storage space, and no load cover, so nowhere to hide anything bulky.

Better looking interior than a Grand Cherokee, better looking exterior too, but a pain to clean, due to all the bits of trim and angles over the smoother GC.

Practicality for pavement use is much less than a large estate, but if a proper off road is your thing (as it is mine :) ), then it's between a Nissan Patrol (crude, expensive), and a Land Rover Disco 3 (good MPV, expensive).

I love the looks, as it's much cheaper than both of the above, but it's probably a poor choice for a large family, but I only drive 2 up and the dogs :)

Faults:

I was considering the Commander and the Nissan Armada when I made my purchase in 2006. At the time, I had a 2003 Wrangler Rubicon, which I really liked, but needed a larger family vehicle. Years ago, I had a 4Runner, which is the closest vehicle I've owned that was similar.

Nothing has really gone wrong with this car. I get it maintained at the dealer, and they are always out to get me to service the car for things it doesn't need. I did have to get the brake rotors changed at less than 20k miles, because they said they were rusting. Not really sure if this was true, but I went ahead and got it done for inspection. They looked fine outwardly.

Let's see, there is a small plastic cover on the inside tail gate, I think it is an access panel for the backup camera. This panel would not fit properly and kept falling off. So, I just store it. No biggie.

Sometimes, after a heavy rain, we get water seepage along the inside A-pillars. My wife's 05 Grand Cherokee does this too. I suspect sunroof drains. It doesn't happen all the time, but it is still unacceptable.

I noticed some rust forming in the engine bay in various areas after only 2 years. This is also unacceptable. So far, the outside is rust-free, and I hope it stays that way.

General Comments:

Due to the 12 mpg average, I use the car sparingly. It is great for long family trips, and has made several. Last year, we drove the car straight for 22 hours! Even the dog was comfortable. I can personally drive 12 hours at a time with no problems. Seeing out of the rear with the 3rd row seats up is next to impossible, but we rarely need them. Still, it's good to have the 3rd row in a pinch.

Navigation works great, as does the back seat video DVD.

It's a very heavy car. But physically smaller than other competition with 3 row seating. It feels much heavier than our Grand Cherokee.

The dark khaki paint has held up well, despite being stored in the driveway. I have the saddle leather seats, which are fairly rare, and give a rich look.

They stopped selling this model, and there won't be a direct replacement. Not like the Grand Cherokee, where they come out with new models every 5 years so you are pressured to buy a new one. So, I think the Commander is an instant classic like the old Grand Wagoneer was. For that reason, I plan on keeping it for another 10 years or more.