It's hard to find things not to like about the Murano (I have a silver SL AWD with everything). But I have managed to uncover a few dislikes I'm hoping Nissan will reconsider for the next production and wanted to pass them onto you.
The sun visors are really cheap and clumsy. Mine don't really fit into the holders in the headliner so they don't stow as nicely as they should. And they're thin and flimsy. They stand out as being really cheap among the rest of the interior.
The 2001 Pathfinders (I've owned 2001 and 2002 LEs) had an "auto" headlight feature that would allow you to leave your lights on all the time without having to turn them off upon exiting the vehicle; they'd go off on their own in like 30 seconds. The 2002 Pathfinders got rid of this and the Murano has followed suit. For those of us who like to drive with lights on all the time, day or night, this is a missed feature.
It would be nice to have a tray in the center console that allowed you to put 30 CDs in it (right now you have to turn them sideways in the tray and can only fit as many as the tray is wide). This would allow you to put 30 CDs in the bottom of the console and 30 more in the tray that could be lifted out for quick access to CDs at the bottom. As it is now, if you want to take 60 CDs with you in the console, it's a bit difficult.
The cargo net is odd. I kept mine from one of my old Pathfinders and am actually using it instead of/in addition to the Murano net. The Murano net is hard to figure out. There are these wierd pulley clips that are almost impossible to work with when you want to loosen or cinch up the net, especially in the cold with gloves on! And the net doesn't hang as nicely in the trunk as the Pathfinder nets if you want to use if for a small amount of groceries (i.e., hook all top hooks to the same D-ring to form a pocket, rather than two hooks to the top and two hooks behind the seats). If you use this configuration and fill it with groceries, you've got stuff that easily spills out of the ends of the Murano net.
I don't think the back hatch is as light and easy to lift as it's promoted. Again, compared to the Pathfinders I've had, the gate actually feels heavier to lift! However, you can lift it part of the way and get it to raise up on its own without much effort.
There's an annoying rattle in the pillar behind my left ear that's driving me nuts and something chattering under the dash slightly. I'm sure I'll figure out how to fix this, but in the mean time it's detracting from the nice ride!
CVT does take some getting used to ... And I'm still breaking mine in so I haven't really gunned it yet, but it doesn't seem as spritely as the Pathfinder. However, I'm sure once I've got some miles on it and can really put it through the paces, I'll be pleased.
Gas mileage has been around 16 in the city. I was hoping for more. But, it's also the holiday season and there's been lots of traffic ... We're driving it to Ohio (from DC) this weekend and we'll see what it does on the long stretches of highway.
All said, the Murano is an EXCELLENT choice. There's TONS of stuff I absolutely LOVE about this thing and can't imagine how I lived with out it all these years. The negatives are admittedly MINOR and can be worked around with little effort. I just thought I'd post some feedback of my experiences for those of you who haven't bought yet and are curious if there ARE negatives, if you can truly call them that! Like I said, it's hard to find things NOT to like!
The sun visors are really cheap and clumsy. Mine don't really fit into the holders in the headliner so they don't stow as nicely as they should. And they're thin and flimsy. They stand out as being really cheap among the rest of the interior.
The 2001 Pathfinders (I've owned 2001 and 2002 LEs) had an "auto" headlight feature that would allow you to leave your lights on all the time without having to turn them off upon exiting the vehicle; they'd go off on their own in like 30 seconds. The 2002 Pathfinders got rid of this and the Murano has followed suit. For those of us who like to drive with lights on all the time, day or night, this is a missed feature.
It would be nice to have a tray in the center console that allowed you to put 30 CDs in it (right now you have to turn them sideways in the tray and can only fit as many as the tray is wide). This would allow you to put 30 CDs in the bottom of the console and 30 more in the tray that could be lifted out for quick access to CDs at the bottom. As it is now, if you want to take 60 CDs with you in the console, it's a bit difficult.
The cargo net is odd. I kept mine from one of my old Pathfinders and am actually using it instead of/in addition to the Murano net. The Murano net is hard to figure out. There are these wierd pulley clips that are almost impossible to work with when you want to loosen or cinch up the net, especially in the cold with gloves on! And the net doesn't hang as nicely in the trunk as the Pathfinder nets if you want to use if for a small amount of groceries (i.e., hook all top hooks to the same D-ring to form a pocket, rather than two hooks to the top and two hooks behind the seats). If you use this configuration and fill it with groceries, you've got stuff that easily spills out of the ends of the Murano net.
I don't think the back hatch is as light and easy to lift as it's promoted. Again, compared to the Pathfinders I've had, the gate actually feels heavier to lift! However, you can lift it part of the way and get it to raise up on its own without much effort.
There's an annoying rattle in the pillar behind my left ear that's driving me nuts and something chattering under the dash slightly. I'm sure I'll figure out how to fix this, but in the mean time it's detracting from the nice ride!
CVT does take some getting used to ... And I'm still breaking mine in so I haven't really gunned it yet, but it doesn't seem as spritely as the Pathfinder. However, I'm sure once I've got some miles on it and can really put it through the paces, I'll be pleased.
Gas mileage has been around 16 in the city. I was hoping for more. But, it's also the holiday season and there's been lots of traffic ... We're driving it to Ohio (from DC) this weekend and we'll see what it does on the long stretches of highway.
All said, the Murano is an EXCELLENT choice. There's TONS of stuff I absolutely LOVE about this thing and can't imagine how I lived with out it all these years. The negatives are admittedly MINOR and can be worked around with little effort. I just thought I'd post some feedback of my experiences for those of you who haven't bought yet and are curious if there ARE negatives, if you can truly call them that! Like I said, it's hard to find things NOT to like!