Problems with 2006 Jeep Commander STRUCTURE

My wife exited the car on the front passenger side on august 22 and noticed the door handle had shattered. she wasn't rough and didn't abuse it in any way. that door may be opened 2-3 times a week. it's a 2006 jeep commander with 70000 miles. now the door has to be extremely gently opened in fear that it may break. chrysler has acknowledged that it is an inferior design but still wants to charge anywhere from 600-900$ to repair it with the same weak design. i have a 3 year old son, and fear that in an emergency situation the other handles may fail leaving him and anyone else trapped inside. i feel chrysler has no choice but to replace the door panels with a better design. this is a major safety issue that involves thousands of people. *tr

Rear driver side interior door handle shattered when door handle was pulled. door handled was pulled on by an 8-year old female without excessive force. 15jun2013, driver door handle shattered when attempt to open was made, again without excessive force. if vehicle is vehicle is in a collision where electrical system fails and there is a fire, likelihood of occupant survival is low. *tr

In 2009, three years after we purchased our jeep commander, three of the plastic interior door handles on the vehicle broke, making it difficult or impossible to open the vehicle doors from the inside. this is a very well documented problem among owners and dealers for 2006 and 2007 models, and not surprisingly because the housing and hinge are made entirely of plastic, and are very brittle. after a few years of use the plastic starts to crack and then break away, and the inner handle will not function. this is particularly true in tropical climates. this should be an easy fix, but unfortunately in order to replace the handle you need to replace the entire door panel. in puerto rico, the cost of the driver's panel is $747, plus they charge you two hours of labor to install the new panel. it is evident that this is a legitimate safety issued, caused by defective design. apparently chrysler agrees, because in 2008 they changed the interior handle design. however, those of us with 2006 or 2007 models are left with either an existing or expected hazard. even if you have the money to invest into replacing these panels, the flimsy design will not hold up, and you can expect that at any moment the new handles will break again. the defective design of these handles makes them particularly susceptible to being damaged or broken in an accident or emergency situation. it is unconscionable that chrysler has not recalled them, given the inordinate number of complaints with this precise part.

All four of my door handles cracked and broke out within the same year. it scratches you or catches your fingers in them.i have to open the doors in the back for whomever is in the vehicle. this is extremely unsafe! if i have an accident my back passenger could possible be trapped inside the vehicle. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that the interior plastic door handles for the front driver, front passenger and rear driver's side doors handles became fractured. as a result, sharp plastic shards were exposed. the doors had to be opened using only the exterior door handles. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 71,000. updated 08/15/13*lj the consumer was informed it would cost $2,000 to replace the door handles. updated 08/20/13

The driver side door latch of our 2006 jeep commander 4x4 suffered a failure causing the door to not be able to be opened from the inside of the car posing a significant safety risk. the door latch is a plastic pull which is part of the one-piece molded plastic door panel. the plastic behind our door latch started to crack over time and upon a family member closing the door and the door panel coming in contact with the individual's leg, the door latch completely detached from the door panel causing it to float inside the door cavity. the door latch then fell apart and the only way to open the driver side door is to reach inside the hole in the cavity to find what the door latch was attached to. having the door latch only secured to thin molded plastic of the door panel is a design which led to our safety failure and we are not the only individuals with this issue. upon researching online, there are dozens of other individuals who have had one if not multiple door latch failures in early 2006 jeep commanders causing a safety risk. the issues occurs at various mileage points and often with little to no wear/tear and it appears dealerships are not consistently replacing these parts under warranty. one example of multiple people that have this issue can be found on the four pages of comments here: http://www.jeepcommander.com/forums/showthread.php?t=656 as the door panels and door latch appears to be either poorly engineered or poorly manufacturered leading to a safety risk, we wanted to submit this complaint form in hopes that this safety issue will be addressed, possibly as a recall. thank you for your time. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that all of the interior door handles cracked and the front driver's door handle completely fractured from the interior. the vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. the contact was informed that all of the door panels would have to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. the failure mileage was 76,000.

The interior door handles of 3 out of 4 doors have all cracked and broken into pieces. these handles have no become a safety concern, based on the ability to free the passengers from inside the vehicle in the event of an emergency. i have two small children under the age of 5 and it has become virtually impossible to open the doors from the inside.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that the front driver side interior door fractured. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the entire door panel would need to be replaced. the contact also stated that the front passenger side window regulator failed and would not remain closed. the failure mileage was 46,533.

Door handles , interior, are cheaper plastic than for child's toy car. three out of four have shattered during normal use, the fourth is almost completely cracked. vehicle cannot be opened to exit from inside. imagine trying to get out in water, or other emergency situation. have spoken to dealer, and chrysler takes no responsibility for this defect. serious and common issue. *tr

faulty door panels and door handles on 2006 jeep commander , they break and crack easily there are hundreds of people on jeep commander with same issue. *tr

The thin plastic housing for the door handles on the 2006 jeep commander have both cracked, fallen apart and fallen into the door. now i continue to get scratched and cut on the pieces that remain. after reviewing online post, it is apparent that this is a defective part. *kb

I have an extreme problem. i have a jeep commander and all 4 door handles have broken and now you cant open my rear doors. my kids cant get out unless i let them out. this is a serious safety issue and i cant believe after the hundreds of complaints on jeep websites, that nhtsa hasn't shoved a recall down chrysler's throat. c'mon folks this is dangerous!!! hundreds and hundreds of folks having problems. look on you tube and see what is listed there for you to see. just regular folks having a multi billion dollar company stuff it to em. chrysler didn't even offer to send me new door handles. this is a manufacturers error. *tr

All interior door handles are cracked due to plastic material cracking. handles are all exposed and hanging by a spring. at times handles won't open doors & they have to be opened from exterior. extremely dangerous if in a situation where you couldn't exit vehicle. it appears from research that the manufacturer will not replace even though this is an extreme widespread problem. many threads online discuss this issue. the fix is to replace entire door panel at up to nearly $700 each. i can't imagine having to pay $2800 to fix my door handles due to a manufacturer's faulty design. *tr

Driver door handle back panel cracked then broke without physical damage being done to it. jeep commander 2006. *tr

Two of my inside door handles have broken. i am very concerned that in an event of an emergency my family and i will not be able to exit the car. with four children it is paramount that this problem is rectified. after much research i found that many other owners of this model and year vehicle are experiencing the same problem. in addition, it is difficult to procure replacement parts. i feel that jeep should take some sense of ownership for the inherit problem and offer to repair the problem at their expense. *js

Front passeger door closed on my wifes heel and shattered the door handle. i was shocked that the weight of the door closing on itself would cause this and jeep will not cover the cost at $500+ a door panel. now its become a safety issue for me, especially if it happens to all my doors. if we had a fire in the cabin of the car, we would be at serious risk of burns or even death. i know i am not the only one this is happening too, there are many commander owners reporting the same issues and safety concerns. since jeep is not stepping up to help, what is the nhtsa doing about it? *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that the interior rear door handles separated from the door frame. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who advised that the door handles needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 45,000 and the current mileage was 54,000.

Cracked and broken door panel behind the door handle, both front doors panels, 5js891d1ag. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that all four interior door handles failed and trapped the passengers. the vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis where the contact was informed that all four door panels needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 70,300. *tr

The plastic inserts that the door mechanism connects to has failed and broken on all 4 doors, in this case the door opened on the highway with no injuries. however when i reported it to jeep they told me it was due to extreme wear caused by me, it's only me and my wife in our house no kids so the back doors have not been used. yet they have the same problems. jeep is happy to fix this at a cost of $2600. when i did some searching online, i found a few websites dedicated to this problem. sometimes you can't get out of the car, what if their was a fire? *js

Drivers side interior door handle has broken. i went to exit my 2006 jeep commander and the plastic behind the door handle broke away from the door panel and my passenger door is now broken also. *tr

Two door handles broke and i was unable to open doors, the plastic shattered in pieces. i had to get out by the passenger side. i love jeep but this is simply junk! *kb

Two interior door handles, one at driver position and one rear seat passenger side door, have broken and fail to open the door without great manipulation. i fear for my safety or my passengers safety if i/they should need to exit the vehicle quickly. the doors do not open easily at all!! *tr

On my 2006 jeep commander, 3 out of the 4 interior door handles are broken. the plastic on the doors first began to crack, producing holes in the handle cut-out. now the interior handles move up and down, and if not situated properly, prevent you from entering or exiting the vehicle. obviously, this is a safety concern for every passenger in the car. after doing online research, it appears that this is a pervasive problem. the dealership informed me that the whole door panel needs replacing at an approximate cost of $500 per panel and is not covered under my extended warranty. they suggested i look online for replacements and they would happily install them. *tr

The door handle is cheap the plastic piece on three doors has fallen apart. this is a known problem - you are herein notified that failure to mandate a recall will put nhtsa as a liable party to any suit. door will not open caused by inferior faulty design. *tr

We own a 2006 jeep commander and have failing interior door handles that are preventing our family from exiting and entering the vehicle on demand. for safety reasons this problem could lead to the death of anyone riding in the vehicle and is involved in an accident, stalled vehicle or other event. because of the faulty design the entire panel has to be replaced and is quite costly($500 + each). i do not feel this burden should be placed on jeep owners simply because of the bad design. i would suggest a recall of these door panels before a law suit is brought against the people or design and manufacture of these panels. i do have an extended warranty to 100,000 miles and paid to have the highest plan i can have and these still are not covered. i implore you to please search the internet see all the loyal jeep owners and recall these panels before jeep is no longer a trusted name. *tr

Water leak - left side header from visor to across top of door down driver side pillar, driver side & left rear floor soaked. sunroof drainage tube at fault. water leak damage has occurred twice in less than 1 year. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that all four interior door handles detached from the vehicle causing the handles to separate from the door frame. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the driver side and an unknown rear door handles were replaced. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 74,000. updated 01/12/16*lj; updated 4/20/18 *jb *cn

The interior door handles are all cracked and 1 out of the 4 works. i have to crawl over the console to exit the vehicle! i am not the only 2006 jeep commander with this design flaw, many have exactly the same problem as i do! chrysler does not want to correct the problem they created. i understand 2008 models had a door handle redesign so they obviously knew of this problem. thank you for any assistance you can provide. this is a major safety concern in the event of wreck, fire, or if you drove into high water. how do you get out of the vehicle quickly...dukes of hazard style?! come on chrysler! *tr

Physical deterioration and detachment of the inner door handle mechanisms on 2006 jeep commander. through normal wear, the rear driver side inner door handle physically failed fully. through normal wear the front driver side inner door handle has started to fail beginning with the recessed plastic portion directly behind the door handle becoming detached and separating along what appear to be stress lines. it appears that this will shortly lead to the full failure of the door handle from the inside of the vehicle making exit from the vehicle infeasible without access to the outer door handle. *tr

Front and back door handles break under not much use. they are plastic and believe this is a design and material flaw. when they break, the only way to exit the vehicle is to roll down the window and reach outside and open the door or to exit through another door. this has happened twice to me and from speaking with others, it seems this is a common problem. what makes it worse is that jeep does not sell just a replacement handle. they make you buy an entire interior door panel at $600+ to fix not including labor. my fear is that this is not just an inconvenience, but a major potential safety problem. i would encourage nhtsa to investigate and would recommend a fix and ultimate recall. this is very dangerous, particularly if you are in an accident situation. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that the rear driver side interior door latch fractured one year ago and the dealer repaired it under warranty. most recently, the passenger side door latch fractured. the manufacturer was contacted and a claim was filed. the vin was unavailable. the failure mileage was 100,000.

1. normal use of the vehicle. 2. the inner door handles break and you cant exit the vehicle. 3. the only current solution is to replace the entire oem door panel for every door. the door handle is plastic and is molded into the door panel so there is no easy way to repair it without replacing the whole panel at a very large expense. unfortunately the replacement door panels are the same design so it is only a matter of time before they fail also. my fear is that in a time of crisis one or all of the doors could fail to open. below was sent to chrysler.com there is a major design flaw with the inner door handles on the jeep commander. the housing is entirely made of plastic and is very brittle. after a few years of use the plastic starts to crack then break away and the inner handle will not function. in order to replace the handle you are forced to replace the entire inner door panel. part 5js891d1ag for the drivers door. as you can imagine purchasing the entire oem panel for each door is ungodly expensive but necessary if you and your family actually want to exit the vehicle without having to go "dukes of hazard" and climb out. the replacement panels are in no way improved from the original design so it is only a matter of time that they will break as well in the same manner. i am very concerned for my family that they will not open the door in a time of need. i am a member of several online forums and this is a known issue with several commander owners. from what i have found the jeep liberty has the exact same issue....poor design. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the vehicle was parked and shut off when the contact opened the front driver side door from the inside; the plastic material behind the door handle suddenly fractured. the same failure occurred on the front passenger side door. the door could no longer be opened from the interior. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the vehicle was not inspected or repaired. the failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 68,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that after exiting the vehicle, the front driver side exterior door handle detached from the door. the contact stated that the remaining exterior door handles became detached on separate occasions. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was repaired but the vin was unknown. the failure and current mileages were unknown.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that the front driver's side and both the front and rear passenger's side interior door handles were fractured. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis. the technician stated that the door panel would have to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 30,000. *jb

The interior door handles are cracked and 1 out of the 4 is broken so that the door can not be opened from the inside of the car. only 1 is intact but the other 2 are barely working. this is a major safety concern in the event of wreck, fire, or if you drove into high water. *tr

On the 2006 jeep commander the area behind the door handles very easily breaks causing the handle to go up in to the door preventing it from opening. in the event of an emergency with the need to get out of the car fast you would not be able to exit. the only fix is replacing the entire door panel with is over $500. but the problem would not be fixed since it would just be putting the exact door panel back on. 3 of my door panels are either broken or cracked. i've found website where lots of people with this same year model have the exact same problem. my jeep has not been mistreated. the plastic behind the handle broke in to many pieces when i just went to open the door. *tr

Similar to most other complaints, all interior door handle housings are severely fractured. driver side housing is so badly damaged that the handle requires a precise method in order to open it. my sister-in-law owns the jeep commander as well, same problem. cost of repair (ie you are required to replace the entire panel for around $800) does not make any economic sense. this is undoubtedly a major safety issue in the event of an accident or worse, a roll over. seeing that everyone who owns the commander has this same complaint, how has this not been recalled??? *tr

My son tried to open the passenger door and found it would not open due to a broken panel around the door latch handle. i also find that other door latches are experiencing the same problem and find that a person could become trapped in the vehicle. the drivers door latch is about to fail also at this time. i have not replaced the parts as yet and find that this is an ongoing problem with these vehicles. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated when it rains the water leaked through the bars and the windows. the leak was in the driver and passenger side windows. the entire electrical system also failed including the speedometer and radio. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 68,048.

Behind the interior door handle, the housing of the door panel shattered and i couldn't get out of the car without lowering the window and grabbing the outer door handle and opening it from the outside. *tr

The inside door handle of the right rear passenger seat broke loose preventing the occupant from exiting the car. three months later, the inside door handle of the left rear passenger seat broke loose in the same manner. now the driver's inside door handle is cracked and doomed to fail. without these handles functioning properly, it is impossible to egress the vehicle without being let out by someone outside the car or by lowering the window and awkwardly using the outside handle. very dangerous. *tr

When i bought my 2006 jeep commander from burns motors i did not notice that the driver door handle (plastic cup where handle goes) was cracked. sure enough when my husband was driving he leaned his knee on the door and there was a loud pop and handle cup came off in about 3-4 pieces. i then noticed that the passenger door handle cup was also cracked, so within a few months it came off in several pieces too. now with about 2 years with this vehicle, i have all 4 door handles broken. i have also gotten an estimate at the dealership when i took it for service and got an estimate of about 1,200 for 2 doors only. i have also check for parts online and you need to a door to get this piece which ranges from 600 to 1000 dollars for 1 door. now i am starting to get very concerned for the safety issues since i have 3 kids and wouldn't even what to think, what would happen if i needed to get out in case of an emergency. i have also had my passenger companions find it very frustrating to open from outside or wait for someone to open door for them. there should be a safety recall since we are a lot of customers with the same issue and nothing has been done from chrysler company. thanks for taking the time to read my concern. greatly appreciated and hope something gets done to help the many customers like me that are concern about their safety. *tr

There are no events leading up to the failure, other than normal opening and closing of doors. i have a 2006 jeep commander and the door handles are cracking and breaking off. the front passenger door handle is completely broken and my daughter can not open the door unless she opens the window and uses the outside door handle. the driver side back passenger door has now done the same thing. the driver door handle is now cracking and i am afraid it will do the same thing. the car only has 51,000 miles on it and it is very dangerous that if the car were to wreck and power windows couldn't be used, my passengers would be unable to get out. *kb

The interior door handles easily break inside of the jeep commanders. if it does break, getting out of the car in an accident or other emergency may not be possible. *tr

My 2006 jeep commander's roof is rusting. i noticed it in march 2010. i took it to the dealer who said it was because of bird poop and will only pay half the money to get it fixed. it costs $1,600.00. i do not have $800.00. another body shop i took the jeep to said it was rusting from the inside out, therefore i think it is a factory defect and they should replace the roof. *tr

All of the door handles/openers on all (4) doors are defective caused from normal usage on very poor plastic material that gets brittle after a while. this is a huge safety concern considering that under the right circumstances no one would be able to exit the vehicle in an emergency. i have read were a jeep commander like mine has wrecked into a body of water and all of the windows shorted out and the person could not exit the vehicle and died. please handle this matter correctly before there are any more deaths. thank you. *tr

2006 jeep commander. interior door handles have broken on my jeep which do not allow a passenger to exit the car. potentially very dangerous. there has been no recall on the door handles and the owner has to pay for the repair which is about $550. per door. *tr