I'm sure most of you reading this remember your first Jeep. I know I sure do. My first Jeep was an old rusty OD Green toy. It had a removable hard top, and the obligatory white star inside a circle on the hood. I loved that thing, in fact I still have it somewhere. I could never bring myself to get rid of it. Growing up I always had a love for toy trucks with big wheels that were clearly for off road purposes. It wasn't until I was in my thirties, however, until I got an actual gas-powered 4 wheel drive Jeep vehicle. It wasn't a classic Wrangler, or even a Cherokee XJ although one would soon be showing up in my driveway, it was a 2008 Jeep Commander. The Jeep that many would argue should have been the true successor to the XJ lineup. It didn't have the 5.7 Hemi, or the smaller sipping 4.7 V8. No, it had the 3.7 Liter V6 turd. It got horrible gas mileage (I was lucky to get 14 mpg), but it had that third row seat so there was always room for my family and even some of their friends. It didn't have a low gear, or the ability to change my 4x4 settings. It was an all time 4WD vehicle with traction control but that made no difference to me. It never left me stranded and certainly never got stuck no matter how hard I would try and get it to be.
My wife and I were looking for something bigger because our 2005 Mercedes-Benz E500 just wasn't cutting it anymore. It was a rear wheel drive vehicle and living in Southwestern Pennsylvania my wife needed all wheel drive or four wheel drive so she could get to her patients when needed. So off to the dealership we went. Originally we were looking at some all wheel drive mini-van. But when we walk out onto the lot to look at the van, there was an all-black Commander parked right next to it. Any thoughts of that mini-van were immediately gone. We were both focusing on the Jeep. With the trade in of the Mercedes, it was right in our budget also. It didn't take long for us to decide that this Commander was the jeep we were getting.
Overall we loved the Jeep. Sure, it could have used more power as the 3.7 was just a bit under-powered for the weight of the vehicle, but when needed she would still perk up. Within 3 weeks of owning her we packed up the kids and filled the cargo area with our stuff and went up to the family camp. For a Jeep she was pretty comfortable which made road trips much more enjoyable. Mechanically speaking it was a great vehicle. We bought her used with around 60k on the clock. Around 80k we had to have the water pump replaced which was covered under our warranty, and around 100k, we ended up have to replace our Transmission line cooler and get a differential service done, again, covered under warranty. Other than that the only other issue we had was the corrosion on the starter wire. I had become a pro at climbing under the vehicle and reaching up blindly to give the wire a jiggle or put it back on the post. Eventually I grew tired of doing that every couple of days and put it on a lift at work and repaired the harness with a new spade connector, and some shrink wrapping for the connection.
During this time I had been driving my fathers old 1997 F250 which was on it's last legs. I knew it was time to get something new so I took my vehicle search to Craigslist offering the F250 as trade. It took about 2 weeks before I had someone contact me wanting to trade their 1997 Cherokee XJ with 114k miles on it, for my 1997 Ford F250 with 114k miles on it. It was fate. With the deal done We were now a 2 Jeep family. We remained so for about a year and a half. My wife decided she wanted back into a Mercedes and my youngest step son needed a vehicle so I gave him my XJ and the Commander became mine.
I loved that vehicle. It got me through some tough times. When divorce happened, I used it to move my belongings into my new apartment, I used it a few times to pull out stranded motorists, and even one time to get a mail truck unstuck (too bad they didn't use Jeeps anymore huh?). Then true tragedy struck. On the evening of September 18th at roughly 7 PM in Belle Vernon, PA, my Jeep was destroyed. A young driver made an illegal turn across traffic hitting me at a near 45 degree angle with enough force and momentum to flip me on my side and spin me almost completely around.
I could see it happening in slow motion, could see the look on the young girls face as she realized what was about to happen. I remember thinking to myself that I was about to be hit, and it would be a hard hit. The thunderous sound of the collision was nearly muted by the explosion of the squibs going off as the side curtain airbags went off. I could feel the rear end of the Jeep being lifted up from the impact and pushed out. The sound of metal scraping on the pavement was terrible as every window on the passenger side exploded inwards from landing on that side. I looked to my right (now downwards) and saw sparks coming in through the now open window.
As the vehicle came to rest I realized how well the seat belt had held all 300 pounds of me in my seat. I don't know how long it took me to get my bearings, but I instinctively reach down to turn the key off. My phone was still in its suction cup mount blasting God Forbid through the speakers. My hat and glasses were gone from my head and face, but I'll be damned if that phone holder didn't even budge. My first coherent thoughts were of the possibility of the vehicle catching fire. Of course this isn't Hollywood, and I wasn't in a movie. I managed to pull my leg around and brace myself so I could unbuckle the belt that had been my saving grace.
Now I found myself standing on the pavement, yet still inside the Jeep. I tried opening the sunroof to no avail. Could I try making it to the back and climbing through the window there? No, the third row seats were up. So I tried opening the drivers side door and sure enough it opened up. I was able to hold it open enough to look outside. There was already an ambulance and State Trooper on scene, both of which had witnessed the accident happen. The officer ran over with two EMT's to help me get out of the vehicle. The EMT's braced the Jeep as the officer help the door for me so I could climb out.
I was finally able to sit on the road side, smoking the last cigarette (a habit I have since given up) from my pack, and survey the damage. The girl who had hit me and her passenger appeared to be fine as both were standing next to their Hyundai Sonata that was now about eight inches shorter than it had been five, or ten(?) minutes earlier. The girls who had been driving was a brand new driver and if the officer hadn't told me it was her, I would have pegged her as a twelve year old passenger.
My Jeep was lying on her side, her fluid leaking out onto the road. I felt like I was staring at a dog, a faithful companion, who had been hit by a passing car. Shards of glass littered the intersection and you could see a clear trail from where my Jeep had first been hit, then flipped, then spun, and where she came to her final resting spot. My faithful friend was gone, but certainly not forgotten. The flat bed operator had said she hit me so hard that her front bumper had to be cut out from my Jeep...
One day I will get another Commander, that will hopefully sit next to my next XJ. But for now, I will drive around in my leased Nissan Sentra SR and enjoy my 32 mpg. With tax time coming up I just may have to allot some of my return to a new toy. Perhaps amd XJ, or even a ZJ. One thing is for sure though, whatever I choose to put in my driveway next, will have a 4.0 under the hood.
