Murano . . . Can anyone recommend one as a fun car to drive?

The best Nissan/Infiniti web resource out there is "Freshalloy.com". They have a Murano forum:

... and you'll be able to find out anything you want to know. QUICK TIP: change the time in the "Date Range" bar if you're gonna do a search from "Newer than 1 week" to something larger, like "last 6 mos" or so.

-Kenny, owner of an FX45

I find mine very comfortable and after a side by side comparison I prefer the interior of the Murano to the FX even if I do still like the exterior look of the FX a little better.

My father owns a 2003 Murano. I absolutely hate the thing and drive it only as required, but he likes it and it is his primary vehicle. I'm also very tired of taking it to the Nissan dealer for him. The CVT takes a bit of getting use to. I personally like shifting, it doesn't shift instead it keeps RPMs at a constant rate and changes the transmission ratio.. Since getting it, it has had paint problems (small piece of road debris hit door panel and ripped the paint right off), clock issues (clock too fast), and problems with a clicking sound when starting from stop, but the last time I took it in, they found the air scoop (which swoops down way too low, in my opinion) to have been dislodged. However, the problem still exists, I don't know if the CVT has a starting clutch but thats what I think is causing the noise. Needless to say, I have to take it BACK AGAIN for the same problem.

Fun to drive.. Not really. Ride and handling are carlike. As for exciting acceleration, it's not bad in Ds mode, but otherwise it's average. Rear seat ride is jittery. Front seat ride is better.

Nissan has not been very helpful. I don't care what the magazine reviewers say, this car is not a great car.

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It's a car, ride and handling are supposed to be car like. What would make it fun, having it handle and ride like an F350?? A Corvette is something I would say is fun to drive and yet it is; I would imagine, very car like. Sorry you have had problems but I'd have to say road debris hitting the car and scratching off paint isn't Nissan's problem and if you prefer shifting you can not judge it automatically bad because it has an auto tranny.

I've owned one for a year now in the midwest USA. There have been many "new model" problems. I have used two different dealerships for service/repairs. Neither dealer appears to be knowledgeable about the model.

Forget about passenger car type quiteness. Ride noises have been a problem since I picked it up. The worst of mine appear at cold temperatures. There have been several websites discussing how to (that means you, forget the dealer) quiet particular problem areas.

Major impressions are that the ride is comfortable for an SUV, stiff but not punishing, highway wind noise is good, cross wind stability is good, acceleration is very good, a bit too much engine whine under throttle, there is no exhaust noise (pleasant or unpleasant), all-wheel drive has performed OK in snow and ice. You must get used to the CV transmission. If it has a fault, it is that it's programmed to downshift a lot in response to a even light accelerator depression. Gas mileage has ranged from 15 mpg on cold city streets to 25 on summer highways.

It needs more headroom (6'3" tall), much of the central display is wasted without the mapping option, high intensity headlights are unbeatable but fog lights are pitiful, worthless automatic headlight control, ignition key location causes much banging around on dash, inaccurate clock (incapable service), BOSE audio is good but not outstanding (I'm changing the windshield speakers), forget about satelite radio unless your into re-wiring cars, windshield wiper design prevents easily cleaning lower windshield and changing blades, rear window gets obscured quickly by dirt and road spray. Most annoying - there is no decent front seat trash receptacle.

I really wanted to be enthuastic about this vehicle, but it's turned out that my wife is much happier with it than I am.

Mine is extremely quiet, but it's a later model and I haven't had any of the door rattles mentioned at other forums.

I think this may have been fixed in later models too, I never noticed that although the CVT is different and you have to grow accustomed to it.

Interesting, I'm 5'11" and when the seat is way down there seems to be enormous room, but, I'm 5' 11"...

I'd like to see them as HID with yellow lenses.

Huh?? If you mean the level control, mine is manual. If you mean auto on/off mine seems to work. I WOULD like to have had DRLs though.

I just noticed since mid October mine has gained 10 minutes. That sucks.

This is the first car I've ever bought that I didn't feel the need to upgrade the stereo. What do you dislike about the dash tweeters and what do you plan to replace them with?

The rear window stays a lot cleaner than the one on my Mustang hatchback...

Door pockets?? I bought one at Wal-mart and hung it on the back of the passenger seat.

service/repairs.

When in the auto on/off mode my headlights don't come on until the skylight is much darker than the legal limit where I'm at. BUT, the second I pull even half-way into my home garage in the middle of the day, the headlights come on only to be turned off with along with the engine two seconds later. Great way to burn them out fast.

I hear practically nothing from the windshield located speakers except at very high volume and with the treble boosted past +3. I got a pair of Infinity 10.5t that I will install when the weather gets warmer.

I travel between many states, so my door pockets are stuffed full of maps. But, I really like that they open up. I've mused about getting my wife to make a "saddle bag" type thing to hang over the center console under the dash.

One other big gripe. This car has the least durable exterior paint of any vehicle I've ever owned. I make a particular 2000 highway mile trip twice a year. The first Murano trip sustained more front end paint damage than multiple trips made by several other vehicles combined. And that was in the middle of the summer, no winter "sand" or rock salt. The paint/clear coat is exceedingly thin and isn't very tough. This has VERY big resale considerations for me and is a killer when considering buying another Nissan in the future.

I have to wonder if that is adjustable. Mine seems to work very well as far as when they come on, but yes, they do come on when I wheel into the garage.

Mine does that too. It's Bose, too much bass and not enough treble. I have my bass control on -2 and the treble on + 3 or 4. Keep in mind that Bose car audio many times has indevidual amps on EACH speaker and 2 ohm drivers. With the adjustments I made it is quite livable for me.

Grubbs Infiniti has a web site that offers the SatRas and wire harnesses, if you have the interest you may look there. If I were goign to get XM then I's want a dock in both cars and my house though.

I havn't noticed, but I havn't hit 2000 miles yet.

Thanks for the thoughts. Just curious, and I am sorry if this has been addressed before, but what is the problem with the satellite radio (as in the rewiring comment?)

service/repairs.

This is a huge problem..

The above picture of damage, which took the paint down to bare metal, was caused by normal road debris.

Paint is a big problem.

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Nothing new. I had to repaint the hood and bumper on my '97 I30 within the first year. A spot the size of a quarter just flaked off on the top of the right front fender after going through a car wash on my '02 Pathfinder. It was less than 2 months old.

Good luck getting Nissan to own up to it and fix it. What a comedy as the dealer brought out this guy who performed a series of "tests" on the spot, waited three weeks, then pronounced that the paint was not defective because more of it did not come off when they did their tests. It took another 6 weeks of calling the Nissan USA help line before they grudgingly agreed to repaint the fender. Then another month of hassles until we got all the parts back and reinstalled that they took off and lost (all the hardware for the bug deflector, the rubber seal on the bottom of the hood was gone, the radio antenna, the radio antenna mount, etc.). I still haven't gotten all the overspray off the windshield glass. The only way I'll every buy another Nissan will be after reading the service manual and making a decision if I can totally maintain it myself. What a bunch of Bozos...

They've never responded to my initial paint complaint. Unimpressed doesn't begin to describe my impression of Nissan.

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