[cschmidt]

Folks,

I've been lurking and shopping for a month or so now. The wife and I are pretty serious about buying a Murano.... so a few questions to the wiser and more experienced crowd here.

I tend to buy vehicles and keep them a while. I like to maintain them well - often myself. Most of my cars I keep until 150- 200K miles. How have owners found the Murano for maintenance? Think it will hold up this long? Any unusually large expenses in the maintenance cycle?

I have looked for info on the Nissan 3.5L engine. Good reviews in the car mags and no negatives I have found. How is the longevity on this engine? Is there a timing belt change interval (or is it a timing chain)? Any idea what that would cost to replace? Any other items to be concerned over?

I saw info on the CVT tranny fluid cost. I would still change it around 30K.

We are looking at a low mileage 2003, and hope to make a decision in the next week. Thanks for all the great info so far.

Chuck

 

[elliotgb]

This is my first Nissan and in turn my first Murano. I can't vouch for the longevity of the vehicle, but I do know that the engine is one of the best and quietest on the market right now. You can't beat the power and responsiveness of the VQ engine.

On the dark side, I've experienced quite a bit of paint chipping on the hood and attribute this to the EPA standards regarding painting processes these days. Comparing the Murano to my wife's 2004 Saab 9-5 Aero, I'd say the type of process used by Saab/GM seems to produce a harder paint? - maybe more coats are applied or something like that or they're baked longer.

On the other hand, you may get lucky and have the car for a long time without suffering any paint problems. Quite a few people on this site have no chipping problems.

Maybe someone with 100k+ miles can attest to the mechanical durability.

 

[Eric L.]

The VQ engine in the Murano is bulletproof. Take good care of it (regular maintenance) and you will get 200k miles out of it. Many many Maximas with the 3.0L version of this engine have well over 150,000 miles and still run great.

The VQ has a timing chain which requires no adjustment for the life of the vehicle. (Perhaps the timing chain tensioner could be adjusted if the water pump ever needs changing.)

 

[Stoker]

Welcome to the site. I to keep my cars for a long time, last car was a 1992 grand caravan that I got new and sold it last spring with 360,000 Km on it. Just do the regular maintenace and use synthetic oil (Mobil 1) and your Mo should last you a very long time. I researched for a year before we settled on the Mo and I have been very happy with it.

If you find a 03 Mo, check and see if the alternator has been changed. This website is showing a 35% failure rate on the alternator for that year and some members have not been very happy with the service from a small amount of dealers.

Good luck on your search as I to lucked out on a used Mo that was less that a year old with 28,000 Km

 

[SugarRushMurano]

Hi there... i am not going to repeat all the things that is being posted above...

Overall, i agree with all of them.

I am going to add some pts:

1.
I have an 03 and 15K miles on it, so far no alternator failure (yet).
So there is nothing wrong getting a used 03 MO with its alternator has not been replaced....It is a warranty item, so if you buy a used Mo and the alternator went south, it is still covered under warranty

2.
IMHO, Murano is a solid vehicle.
The only thing that you should be 'worried' is the cvt.
Why? keeping the car until hi milage (200K+) maybe need transmission overhaul at a point. But again, hopefully the cost of replacement trans will be less by that time.

3.
Several TSBs have been released.
Make sure the 03 you bought have all those TSB applied.

Good luck