[PaulQ]

(I disclaim this first by saying I should have checked my tire pressure much sooner but I think I was hypnotized by the magnificence of the Murano)

At 2K miles, I finally decided to check my tire pressure. I looked at the door sticker to learn the normal pressure was 33. I went to the front-left tire and checked. It was 24.0! I went back to the door sticker to make sure I didn't misread it.

I started to think, "Great!Already have a bum tire!" I spent a few minutes filling it all the way up to 33psi.

I moved back to the left-rear. Checked pressure - 24.0!!! I went and checked the other two. All 24.0! That's 9 lbs lower than manufacturer recommended!

I basically ruled out four good or bad tires all leaking at exactly the same rate. I guess they could have leaked a pound or so maybe the dealer had the tires are up a bit higher.

Maybe I am overreacting but driving these tires at 24psi seems unsafe and likely to wear the tire poorly.

My only guess is that they under inflated their vehicles so they would ride softer on test drives.

I spent 15 minutes filling tires! They are at 33 as of now. If it is a mechanical issue, I'll guess I'll know in a week!

Naughty dealership!

 

[Eric L.]

If all four tires were the same pressure, its likely the dealership did not inflate the tires correctly upon delivery to the customer, and yes, it was probably a sneaky trick to make the car ride better on test drives. Not too many people throw the vehicle into corners aggressively enough to notice the benefit of higher inflation pressures on a test drive.

I find that set at 33, the ride is still a bit mushy. I inflate mine to 37F/35R and like the added response in the steering. Its been 21k miles and the tires are wearing very evenly (about 50% remaining I would guess).

 

[jaak]

I saw the title of this thread and thought, wow, someone got caught with the 50 lb. shipping pressure again...

But 24!, that was intentional... Don't you love people like that?

 

[mgthe3]

I think mine were at like 48 when I checked them the first time.

I did throw mine into a really tight curve when I test drove it---that was the clencher, the hook was set, I was reeled in after that point.
I had not felt that kind of G force in a long while.....
In the curve my wife said, "MARTIN!".
hehe
When she was 17 she used to say WOOOHOOO when we power slid the ole camaro around curves at 120....and my knuckles were white. Funny how we inverse over the years isn't it?
But back to the thread--
Yes, twas obvious the dealer was trying to hook those looking for a soft SUV ride....which is kinda silly really. Try throwing a 76 Elderado into a curve with any tire pressure you want....I think it would go straight or wallow around it. But man 0 man, what a soft ride, even train track crossings would be unnoticed.....

 

[jaak]

Reminds me of my 72 Newport... I'd go over speed bumps with the torsion bar front end and hear a bump, but not feel one. Well, until it hit the rear wheels with leaf springs... Used to amaze me. Of course, so did it's top speed as well as it's fuel consumption.

 

[mrken3]

My tires had 38PSI, usually the dealers underinflate to give the car a better ride.

 

[elliotgb]

Mine were delivered with 50 PSI in all 4 tires. The dealer did nothing to correct this. The salesman was miffed when he found out I burnt the dealership on my initial survey. I thought they should have done a better job and could have created a potentially dangerous situation for me. Good thing I had the tire pressure sensors or I wouldn't have known right away.

 

[9495]

I had heard about the overinflation problem several times on this forum, so as soon as I got my new MO home the first thing I did was check the tires. Exactly 33psi on all four. One more positive check mark for my dealer. Too bad they're an hour away. Seems rare to have such a positive dealer experience, especially with Nissan.

 

[zebelkhan]

One more positive check mark for my dealer. Too bad they're an hour away. Seems rare to have such a positive dealer experience, especially with Nissan.

With that kind of experience even I am inclined to use them, and they are 12 hours away from me!

 

[jmeitz]

I checked my pressure last night and between the four tire they had between 82-86lbs. I couldnt believe it. I let air out for about 20 seconds and that brought it down to 40lbs. I settled for around 34 or so. Wondering why it rode so rough.

 

[Eric L.]

I checked my pressure last night and between the four tire they had between 82-86lbs. I couldnt believe it. I let air out for about 20 seconds and that brought it down to 40lbs. I settled for around 34 or so. Wondering why it rode so rough.

Wow, I don't think I have heard of a situation where normal road tires were inflated that high (other than the donut spare). You might want to verify the inflation with another tire guage. I had a formerly accurate digital guage suddenly read 10psi higher overnight. Thats why I prefer the dial guages.

 

[jmeitz]

Just to verify i tested the tires on my mazda and they were 33, so i new it was someone accurate.

 

[twelsh]

When I first got my 2003 Murano SE I really liked the way it handled and didn't feel that that ride was particularly rough (I was coming off a '99 Impreza RS which had a very firm suspension for its day). A month later I learned about the delivery tire pressure issue and checked my tires to find they were all @ 50psi. I of course lowered them all to 33psi to "prevent tire damage" but was never as happy with the ride after that - I found at low speeds it was noticably more difficult to turn, didn't get the same gas mileage (the first month, not even broken in, I was getting 20.5 mpg, after that it dropped to 19.6mpg), and it just didn't seem as responsive.

I now have 22k miles on the car and recently noticed that the front tires were down to the wear indicators and considered getting some new Kumos but couldn't justify it as the rears still had a good amount of tread on them. Instead I decided to just rotate the tires again (I rotated the tires once once before at 10k miles) and live with it until the fronts wore down. Then my wife got a new BMW X3 3.0 and I was really impressed with the handling and gas mileage of her car but noticed that the ride was a little harsher than my Murano. Her car came with tire pressure monitoring and full scheduled maintence but for fun I decided to check her tire pressures anyway - they were all at 46psi! I noticed the max pressure on her tire sidewalls was rec'd at 51psi so I decided to lower them all a little but only to 41psi (rec'd on the door jamb was 30 front and 38 rear) because my wife didn't want to lose the mpg she was currently enjoying - 20.5) Since then her mileage has only slightly decreased - avg 20.2 mpg - but the ride is a noticably softer. Given this experience I decided to do some research and found a performance company in CA that sells tires that rec'd inflating all tires to within 2 to 5psi of the max indicated by the manufacturer on the sidewall (cold) depending on the tire (tires with lower max pressures like 31 can be inflated to 29 whereas 44max psi tires can be safely inflated to 38). Apparently the overinflating problems only occur when your tires are inflated beyong the manufacture's max rating. After reading that, and knowing I was only biding time with my tires anyway, I decided to put them all at 38psi and see what happens. Man, what a difference! It's like I put new performance tires on my car! The turning is easier, the cornering is firmer, my mpg has gone up to 20.2, and the tires are noticeably quieter. The only trade offs I've noticed is that the ride is a little harsher (esp on our frequently pot-holed western NY roads) and occasionally the car will "skip" sideways a little if I hit a bump while cornering hard, but It's definitely worth the trade off. I figure that when I get my new tires, I'm just going to do the same thing!

Other people may have different opionions, but I didn't get a Murano because I wanted a luxury hauler, I got it because I wanted a sports car with 4wd.