Nissan Murano Forum banner

Purchased brand new 2014 Murano Platinum

5K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  4Me2CTV1 
#1 ·
Hi. New to this forum although I've been reading lots to maintain our 2004. I read so much that I convinced myself I should trade in the 2004 before it became of too little value to do so. It only had 105k km and the CVT had only 45k km. I was probably nuts to get rid of it but what can I say. The BIG sticker on the side of the 2014 at the dealer said SAVE $7000. So that's what did it for me. I have to say, I am saddened to see the 2004 go. It seemed to be built better. Maybe it's all in my head but the 2014 seems more cramped. I'm just over 6ft tall. The windshield view even seems more cramped. My wife thinks it's because of the black interior and it's an optical thing. She could well be right. The seats don't seem to be as comfy. But I need to wait to break them in, or maybe my body needs to grow into them....who knows. Can't say I had this problem with the 2004. The cargo space seems less. Now I can't just manually throw the seats down in the rear, they are electric...maybe I'm getting old, but the 2004 seems to be easier to work the rear seats. The 2004 seemed to be physically built sturdier. More metal supports, plainly more metal period under the hood. Today is the 3rd day I've had the car. I pressed on the door panel and holly cr@p, this is flimsy!!! Unless they used some kind of spring metal, you'd better not bump the car or it will ding. It's disappointing. The 2004 was VERY solid compared to these panels. Well...I traded the 2004 because of concerns about the transfer case, CVT, and the usual maintenance that happens around the 160k km mark. I hope I did the right thing.


Adrien.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Wow! Usually people have all sorts of nice things to say about their new ride. So when they post here we congratulate them. With you I am not sure if a congratulations is in order... :(

Did you test drive before you buy?

You did the right thing I am sure. At this point it does not make a difference any ways so why not just enjoy your new car.

By the way, welcome to the forum... :)
 
#3 ·
4Me2CTV1, first you need a more user friendly screen name! Just kidding.

I am a former 04 and now 14 owner. OMG, the 04 could not hold a candle to my 14.
The techno stuff is killer in the new ride. It is so tight and quiet when she rolls down the road. I could not be happier nor would I wish to have my 04 in it's place.

To each their own, that's just my take. Good luck and enjoy the new car smell.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the replies. I was hoping to provide some first impressions. That's all. We figured newer design, better car...well.....

Now that we've driven the car a little more, there is definitely a problem with the seat pan and the angle. The angle is only adjustable to a certain point and no more. If you could adjust it more so that it would approach being level it would make a huge difference. But you can't. You can adjust more angle (raise the front) which is pretty useless. Unless engineers expect you to wedge your butt into the seat with your knees up high. What about shorter people? Poor design. They've totally messed up the comfort. Big disappointment here.
The driving view experience we don't care for either. They changed the design and position of the pillars, the height and shape of the hood and the windshield area. To me it's a smaller obstructed view area. It's more difficult to sense where the front of the car is. It's a completely different experience from driving the 2004. It will take some getting used to. My wife hates it. The car really needs a front camera for parking and other situations.

My recommendation; make sure you rent one before you buy. You can't take it back once you own it. It depreciates about 28% once you buy it. I know this from trying to trade it in.

Adrien.
 
#7 ·
Of course certain things are different from your 04. It was redesigned in 09 :1pat: There is a strap near the back seats you can pull to manually lower the rear seats. Hopefully you'll get to like the car, it's an awesome vehicle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bob1
#5 ·
Again Adrien, it's all in ones impression and opinion. I said it before, my 04-SL could not come close to the 14-SL. I am way more impressed with the newer version.
What do I have in this SL as opposed to the 04-SL?

Heated leather, back up camera, auto lift tail gate, intelligent key, color display monitor with nifty read outs, rain sensing wipers, a sun and moon roof, auto reverse rear seat button, blue-tooth and I'm sure there is more I did not list. At the price I paid, I could not be happier with it.
 
#6 ·
Now I can't just manually throw the seats down in the rear, they are electric...maybe I'm getting old, but the 2004 seems to be easier to work the rear seats.


Adrien.
Adrien, are you sure about this? I have an SL and the seats go down by either pulling a cord at the base of the seat or by pulling a lever in the trunk. Perhaps in Platinum it is all electric.

As for the view from the front seat, I had moved from a 2008 Acura TL to a 2012 Murano SL and had the same impressions as yours. The interior felt a bit cramped and it was hard to see where the front of the car was going. But after a few weeks I got used to it. I think it was just a matter of optics.

Anyway good luck with your new ride. I am sure you will start to enjoy it soon.
 
#8 ·
Electric rear seatbacks go up only with switches in cargo area near the fold down levers or from the switches below the left side of the dasboard! However, I find them very easy to pull & push up contrary to my 2012 Rav4 that needed quite a force to both fold them (you think the levers would break!) and pull them up (I'm not Superman) ; people with a handicap or muscular/joint disease, children, seniors, etc. will all appreciate this feature and I sure do even if I don't have any physical problems. To me it's another proof that the Mo is in a different class, more luxury than run of the mill.


I never drove a Gen 1 Mo but I agree with the OP about front visibility as I'm still not quite used to it; it feels like the front is much wider than it really is. I'm surprised that only reduced rear visibility was mentioned by auto journalists, Consumer Reports, etc. and I've adjusted to that in no time, go figure! Only the rear head rests block my view partially and if I could store them neatly in the car I would...I did that on previous cars where they had large and deep under floor storage. I may have to leave them in the house as I have rear passengers perhaps only a couple of time a year...
 
#9 ·
I'm surprised that only reduced rear visibility was mentioned by auto journalists, Consumer Reports, etc. and I've adjusted to that in no time, go figure! Only the rear head rests block my view partially and if I could store them neatly in the car I would...I did that on previous cars where they had large and deep under floor storage. I may have to leave them in the house as I have rear passengers perhaps only a couple of time a year...
One of the first things I did was remove the rear headrests and put them in a closet. Visibility with them on was unacceptable, for me.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for pointing out about the rear seats also working manually. The sales rep neglected to mention that. ...and I've just had no time to study the manual.

All good points you have all made. The car is loaded with technology. That was one of the main reasons why we bought it.

My wife being short cannot get comfortable in the new seat. Because of the more restricted front view, she has to raise the seat up to see and then her legs basically dangle plus the front of the seat pan pushes upwards because it's too high. I have to see if we can somehow modify the seat to get the front of the seat pan lower. I have research to do about the airbag because I think the seat has one in it and it's dangerous to mess with it. I will start another thread for that topic once I get to it.

As far as the redesign of the pillars, hood and windshield...we just have to get used to leaning forward to gain a better view when necessary. It's a matter of reprogramming the neurons. Strange how that works. As you get older, it takes longer.


Adrien.
 
#11 ·
The 2015 looks even worse...
 
#13 ·
I removed also the middle head rest as it looked kinda weird and put all 3 in my garage!
 
#14 ·
Hi. I finally got around to looking at the manual.

For the rear seats from the 2014 owner manual:
pg 35

  • If the rear center seat belt connector and the seatbacks are not secured in the correct position, serious personal injury may result in an accident or sudden stop.

I wonder if they mean cargo will not be contained or if they mean the rear seats will become projectiles in a crash? I think they mean the seats. I am surprised by this warning.


Adrien.
 
#16 ·
They mean if the seat backs are not fully raised and therefore not latched; that is true for any vehicle with folding rear seats. In case of a frontal crash or sudden stop, the set back would move forward seriously injuring the passenger especially if there is luggage or heavy objects in the cargo area.
 
#18 ·
My 04 had no wind noise, my 14 has some and I base that upon the 14 has a roof rack and my 04 did not. I do not have anything at all that sounds like a rattle, just the whooshing sound of wind most likely deflecting around those racks.
 
#19 ·
Wasn't the sunroof different i.e. smaller on Gen 1? That could explain the wind noise on Gen 2 with double sunroof.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top