Hi,

As introduced in the new members section, I am looking for a suitable suv for a drive trip from Alberta to Las Vegas this winter in December. I have somewhat narrowed my search to the ’07 Durango 4.7L V8 with about 122k km or the ’06 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi with about 153k km. I’ve read from the forums that the Durango is more suited for paved roads while the Commander is more of an off-roader (correct me if I am mistaken).

Both these rides have decent mileage given their age which I do not consider high. But I will like to know what are the typical problems associated with these cars having these mileages and what are the possible maintenance items (apart from regular oil/fluid changes) that I will need to do before making the long trip. Will these rides be able to handle daily drives of about 10 hours (700km) at a stretch?

Thanks very much for reading and sharing your ideas.

 

The Commander was an acknowledged flop. I would avoid it. Also nothing special there for "off road" prowess.

If you can, pick up the 5.7 instead of the 4.7 and call it a day.

IndyDurango

 

I would agree with indydurango on this, The durango would be a better ride. I have never seen a commander off road. If you where looking for something off road, i would go with a jeep wrangler 4.0L.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

Now, I'm looking at a few Durango models and I got a little confused. What's the difference between the SLT, SLT+ and the SE models? There's also the Hemi and Hemi Multi-displacement. What's this?

I'm told the V8 has this feature where it will shut down 4 cylinders when cruising at highway speed to save on fuel. Is this available on all V8s or just the Hemi or Hemi Multi-displacement model?

Complicating things further, there are some Ds being sold with "rebuilt" or "salvaged" title. What's the difference? How does it affects my insurance?

Sorry for asking so much. I'm really new at this. Thanks in advance.

 

SLT, etc are all just option and trim packages. Just get what you want. They are all the same vehicle underneath.

Any '07 HEMI should have the MDS to shut down 4 cylinders at highway speeds to save gas.

Rebuilt/Salvaged is exactly that, rebuilt or salvaged. They have been in an accident to the level that the cost to repair exceeded the value of the vehicle, thus they were totaled in a crash and fixed thereafter anyways. IMHO, avoid them unless they are like Free to $5000.

IndyDurango

 

Hi, I finally got myself a 07 D 4.7 SLT+ with 115k km on it. The ride's fine but seems alittle bouncy & roll around bends....needs new shocks I suppose. Will probably need new spark plugs, anti-freeze & a tune-up as well. Hope to be able diy some of these as my wallet's kinda empty.....