Curious if you knew the maintenance history on the TC. Mileage?
We bought it (2007 S model) at 39K miles in very nice shape, had all fluids serviced. At around 100K the transfer case was seeping slightly, which is absolutely typical of those transfer cases. Not worth repairing unless you have a major leak, as the repaired cases tend to start seeping again pretty quickly and it's really easy to keep the transfer case gear oil up to the correct level. They don't leak fast, they just seep.
I checked the level in that transfer case every 3 months or so, it never got as much as 1/4 inch below the fill plug. The car did no off-roading, had no unusual stress, was used primarily for town and highway driving. I had about 110K miles on it if I recall correctly, and I sensed just a bit of slack in the drivetrain. In fact, I was checking car ads for something more fun to drive and had my eye on a 2008 BMW 328ix Sportwagon in Denver, 60 miles south.
One day I was turning left from a traffic light, normal acceleration, and about halfway through the corner, BAM! There was a big impact right under my feet with a mechanical noise associated.
I've blown gears out of a manual transmission and I've heard a rear end differential go. This was a similar noise.
I pulled over into a parking lot across the street, and wisely chose a spot where a flatbed tow truck could get in front of me to retrieve the car. I knew from the sound and impact that it wasn't moving again. I got out, looked under it and gear oil was running out of the transfer case onto the ground. The transfer case had split wide open.
I got on the phone to a tow truck, then called the place with the BMW and told them I'd be down the next day to drive it.
I work with a couple of independent shops; one of them found a used transfer case which I had them buy and install, after which I immediately sold the Murano - while driving the BMW, which I bought immediately.
There was NO reason for that transfer case to have failed. At least in the time I owned it, it had never been stressed, never run low on fluid, never given any indication of problems. While I do accelerate more briskly than some here, that's not a reason for a transfer case to ever have a problem.
For that reason, on this forum you will often see me caution people not to off-road their Murano or to stress the transfer case.
