[larry1960]

My insurance company just called me and totaled my car.I need to deside on a murano or a pilot I like both cars. I am leaning on the murano and I like it I have rented a FX35 it rides to hard and the murano is a better ride .So how are the muranos holding up? Does anybody have 50-75 thousand miles? I have heard of rattles and CVT issues? Is this true? I drove one and on acceletration their was a vibration .What is that ? So I am going to find a deal tomorrow. I hope What is the the best deal on a 05? Invoice is the best I hear.So any replys will be very helpfull

Thank You
Larry..
:2:

Thank you I now have a 05 murano SO COOL TO DRIVE This is some car.Thank you for all the replys.

Mid Blue With Nav

 

[ekaxel]

Pilot is more of a traditional SUV. Murano is a lot more sporty, probably rides and handles better. Pilot sacrifices 2nd seat legroom to make room for the third seat, which is terrible for anyone but children. But with the 3rd seat folded, the rear cargo area is cavernous. Pilot has a superior AWD (same as the Acura MDX). Pilot does not have the same luxury feel or features on the interior as the MO.

 

[SugarRushMurano]

I will go to the point by answering your question.

> I am leaning on the murano and I like it I have rented a FX35 it rides to hard and the murano is a better ride .
>>From this statement, i think you should go with the SL model.
SE suspension is a sport suspension; more like the FX. A little bit bumpy for some people.

>So how are the muranos holding up? Does anybody have 50-75 thousand miles?
>> There are forum members who have reached 50 - 65K, as of 2 months ago. By now, they should be close to 75K range. So the answer to your question is YES but not many of us.
Pilot is, no doubt, has a proven tracked record.
I wont blame you if you consider pilot for longer reliability record.
After I test drove the murano and pilot, there is no doubt MO is the winner: Ride quality, looks, price, smoothness of cvt, mpg, vq engine.

I never owned an suv before, all my vehicles were sedan: 3 series, audi A4, miata. The murano convinced me that there is still the "sport" in an suv.

>I have heard of rattles and CVT issues? Is this true?
>>From many posts in the forum, rattles are quite pronounced in murano. Yes, mine rattles a bit when it is 41F outside (A Pillar, pasanger side). Some ppl have more rattles than the others. Just bring it back to the dealer and have them fix it, under warranty. Or if it is minor and intermittent, then live with it.

Issue with the CVT? what issue?

> I drove one and on acceletration their was a vibration .What is that ?
It can be many things: tire not balance, suspension problem, tire pressure . But one thing for sure: it is on that murano you test drove. Mine does not do that.

> So I am going to find a deal tomorrow. I hope What is the the best deal on a 05? Invoice is the best I hear.So any replys will be very helpfull
>>I own an 03, bought it as end of model year clearance on nov 03 as bday present. At end of year, it is always easier to get good deal on the clearance model. In your case, you can get several hundred or even 1K below invoice for an 04.
But i dont think you can go much below invoice for an 05. As they just come in to the showroom, around this time.

Buy the murano, you wont regtret it!
Every wekeend, i still got at least one person look at me when i get off from my MO and he/she asked questions about the car.
I, off course, promote the car and redirect them to this website.

In a pilot, the only thing you will get is BIG YAWN .....
Good luck, posts some pics when you take her home. :4:

 

[GripperDon]

Great post SugarRush ! That says it all, only thing I can add is it's very easy to get in and out of. GRIP

 

[Stoker]

Chose Murano

My wife and I drove a pilot and a highlander before we settled on the Mo. I had reserach the MO for a year and are very happy with it.

With the pilot we felt like we were riding in a tank and it is taller than the Mo ( roll over concerns). We also did not want a 3rd row seat as we just finished 14 years in our Dodge Caravan, it was time for us to have fun again.

The highlander was nice and came in a close second, but the options that we wanted drove the cost of the car up by $10K.

The Mo ( at least in Canada) with the SL package comes very well equipped as we only order a sunroof ( for $1000 you cannot lose) as our only option.

Buy the MO you will not be sorry.

 

[zebelkhan]

I think I have said this before but one thing I have truly come to love about Murano is that just about every interior piece "snaps" together or is tide town by a clip and is therefore so easy to remove, modify, or replace. A source for some of the rattles? perhaps, but is a good tradeoff.

 

[bob1]

The only problem I had with the Pilot and Highlander was sleep related. You see I got so bored on a test drive I almost fell asleep at the wheel. I'm sure they are fine reliable SUV's. If you want just another car/suv that's OK. If your looking for excitment and cutting edge styling and toys go with the Murano. I still look foward to getting into the MO and taking her for a spin.
Bob1

04-SL/Pewtar

 

[bruno]

When shopping, I got down to a short list of two- Murano and Pilot. The Pilot was definitely the frontrunner, if only because my wife has a new Accord V6 Coupe and it is a lovely quick car.
The Pilot is bigger, heavier, more like a truck, feels solid as a rock. It doesn't have nearly as many toys as the Murano , for about the same price. What made the decision though, was back to back test drives , then going and parking the Mo beside the new Pilot in the Honda parking lot.

Mo is way more fun to drive and looks way better. Case closed. I love my Murano 15, 000 miles later.


__________________

 

[andy]

i think that Murano hadles turns better. i really like the suspension.. and don't forget about the 245HP

 

[ekaxel]

2005 Pilot is 255 hp.

 

[hfelknor]

I saw that. 255 HP.
Course it weighs a bit more than the MO.
I suspect that a MO will still outrun it. But it's close.

It's a very nice SUV.
Boring, but nice.

I might have bought it but as I looked at the seats I knew that it wasn't "done" as well as a minivan and I didn't need AWD, etc......
So, I gave up the seating for 7 to get UPTOWN seating for 5.

 

[ekaxel]

Ditto on that Homer. Back seat legroom in the Pilot isn't much, and the seat isn't very comfortable for a long trip.

 

[95se]

My wife is a big honda fan, always driven them. I can't argue too much because they are competent and reliable vehicles that maintain their value very well. She likes the Pilot a lot and wants to get one when it's time for her upgrade.

I've always been a big nissan fan. I've found them to be a little less reliable and they probably don't maintain their value quite as much. However, I've found them to still be very good values and to me (subjectively) they're much better styled and much much more fun to drive.

 

[GripperDon]

Get your wife to drive an 05 Murano and directly following that the Pilot. END OF STORY. Grip

 

[SugarRushMurano]

replying to 95se post...

My wife is a big honda fan, always driven them. I can't argue too much because they are competent and reliable vehicles that maintain their value very well. She likes the Pilot a lot and wants to get one when it's time for her upgrade.

In Japan, Honda and Toyota are top 2 manufacturers.
They ARE indeed well known to build reliable, high quality, competent, comfortable, big-bang-for-the-buck vehicles.
Yet, they are also known to build vehicle models whose lineups mostly lack of emotion and boring (except: mr2, celica, s2000, nsx)

Nissan and Mazda are the #3 and #4.
They are known among japanese youths comunity for building vehicles that are not-as-reliable-as-honda but instead are more high performance oriented (sport) and aiming to evoke the owner's emotion.

Quoting from a porsche advertisement.
" Calling a porsche transportation is like calling sex reproduction" -

Honda and Toyota ==> pure transportation
Nissan, mazda (and mitsu evo ) ==> more than just "reproduction"

 

[Kris]

Sugar,

you have nailed it!!!!!1

 

[murano123]

Murano's Pluses:

1. Superb handling for a mostly FWD vehicle. At times you can forget it's an SUV and drive it like a sports car.
2. Fastest accelaration 7.5 secs 0-60 MPH for a V6 based SUV, 0.1 second faster than FX35.
3. You will love the vast space inside below the windshield around the front speakers. This space is unique to Murano and makes you feel you are driving a boat or something. I don't know if you can use this space for something, but it feels gorgeous.
4. Most features available at a reasonable price, AWD, Nav, heated seats, Bose Audio, side curtain airbags and many more.
5. Looks great inside out.
6. Brakes are good.
7. Least likely to rollover. It has never given me the feeling it was going to rollover even when making sharp turns. Only Pacifica has better rollover ratings, but Pacifica is more of a van.
8. Generally a quiet ride on freeways (except occasional rattles).
9. CVT's smoother accelaration when driving uphill and downhill and during turns.
10. No floor bumps below the rear center seats.
11. Plenty of leg room for rear passengers.

Murano's Minuses:

1. Rattles are definitely there. Some people are sensitive to them, others are not. If you are tolerant to minor rattles, you are ok.
2. CVT is slightly rough. Even with drive by wire throttle, you will feel vibrations on the gas pedal and steering wheel at times.
3. It's not an Infinity or Lexus, so the dealers are not very sensitive to your complaints regarding rattles. The standard response you will hear is "Your vehicle is ready to pickup sir. We did not hear any rattles".
4. No touch screen navigation or voice controls (Only voice guidance is provided).

 

[GripperDon]

If you must No GO MO. GRIP

 

[andy]

Re: replying to 95se post...

" Calling a porsche transportation is like calling sex reproduction"

:2: :2: :2:

That's a good good one, SugarRushMurano!

 

[SugarRushMurano]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" Calling a porsche transportation is like calling sex reproduction"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's a good good one, SugarRushMurano!

It is a pitty that Ad only printed for short time. I no longer see it, used to be in auto magazines.
Perhaps it is too "vulgar" ?
Any how,I always have been a big fan of porsche.

Have you all seen this really cool Porsche ad - - start the film ?
No wonder Porsche owners are so proud. That's what "evoking emotion" all about.