2015 Nissan Murano: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2015 Nissan Murano as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- What's That Noise?
- Well, That's Awkward
- Generous Cargo Capacity
- Wind Warning
- Stout V6 Makes It Feel Smaller
- Fuel Economy Update for February
- Performance Tested
- Heated Steering Wheel
- Unique Design That Works
- All the Gauges You Need
- Hood Glare
- Treats Rear Passengers Well
- Fuel Economy Update for March
- Nav Screen Wash Out
- CVT and Seats Shine On Long-Haul Road Trip
- Camping, Cargo, Clutter
- Decent Adaptive Cruise, But Could Be Better
- Drives Better Than the Pathfinder
- Steering Wheel Volume Adjustment Is an Ergonomic Fail
- Comes Out On Top In Recent Crash Test
- First 5,000-Mile Service Not Cheap
- Nav to Nowhere
- A Tale of Two Seats
- Fuel Economy Update for May - Set a Best New Range Record
- Offers Abundant Room for Rear-Facing Convertible Car Seats
- Prefer Adventurous Murano Styling to Rogue's Conservative Character
- Cube Climber Meets Cubic Feet
- Thumb-Wrestling With Steering Wheel Controls
- Navigation System Shows You Exactly Where to Turn
- SXM Sat Radio Delivers More Than Just Music
- The Most Modern Air Conditioning
- Damped Ride for the Dog
- Sailing Through 10,000 miles
- EPA Rating Seems Out of Reach
- Fits My Life, But I'd Get a Quest Instead
- Now That It Is Seen, It Cannot Be Unseen
- Escorts the Yugo to Pebble and Back
- Pano Sunroof Makes Cabin Feel Bigger
- Transmission Deserves Praise
- Fuel Update for August — A Busy Month But Only Small Gains
- Splitting the Difference Between Service Intervals
- Master of the Obvious Brings the Heat
- Fractionally Autonomous Cruise Control
- Fuel Economy Update for September - Good MPG (for a Viper)
- Mediocre Visibility Makes "Around View" a Necessity
- Pleasant Suburban Shuttle Keeps It Real
- Cargo Space Versus the Rogue
- Ow, My Eyes! Murano Has Hot Spots
- Too Much Effort
- Center-Stack Trim Flaw
- Perfect for Morning Board Meetings
- Not Easy to Park
- Last-Minute Switch Turns Out Better
- Fuel Economy Update for October — Plenty of Miles Help Boost Combined MPG
- Classy Cabin Stitching
- Active But Lazy Cruise Control
- More Worthless Alerts
- Where's the Front Bin?
- Will the Bike Fit?
- Unexpected Power
- On Demand Cam
- Soft Touches, Monticello-Approved
- Fuel Economy Update for November: Lifetime Creeps Up
- Cold on the Heated Seats
- 20,000 Miles Fly By
- Slow Steering
- Nissan Connect Touchscreen Interface Works Well
- Family Hauler for the Holidays
- 20,000-Mile Service Performed
- Fuel Economy Update for December — MPG Trends Up
- Competent Handling, But Nothing More
- Intermittent Interface Aggravation
- Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies
- Frontal Collision Mitigation Could Be Worth the Cost
- Fuel Economy Update for January — More of the Same
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
What Did We Get?
The Nissan Murano is one of the few midsize SUVs that has remained truly midsized. While some of its competitors have become bigger to accommodate a third row of seating, the Murano has stuck with its five-passenger setup while the smaller Rogue and larger Pathfinder cater to those looking for seven-passenger capacity.
The Rogue and Pathfinder have been significantly refreshed over the last couple of years, so for 2015 it was the Murano's turn for a complete redesign. The result is a more unique overall look that incorporates some of Nissan's signature design cues like the boomerang-shaped headlights and aggressive grille. One thing that hasn't changed is the 3.5-liter V6 under the hood. It's paired to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that helps it to deliver an EPA rating of 24 mpg combined (21 city/28 highway), up from 20 mpg combined (18 city/24 highway) last year.
Nissan also did extensive work on the interior. The Murano's cabin is covered in plastics and leathers that look and feel as if they could serve duty in an Infiniti. The center stack now incorporates a new touchscreen infotainment system, and physical HVAC controls are laid out logically. All seats save the rear middle are Nissan's so-called "Zero-Gravity" seats, which are similar to the ones we love in our long-term Rogue.
The creature comforts, styling and solid power make a strong case for the Murano. To see if these features continue to impress in the real world, we added one to our long-term fleet.
What Options Does It Have?
The 2015 Nissan Murano starts at $30,445 in base S trim with front-wheel drive (adding all-wheel drive tacks $1,600 onto all trim levels). For that you get 18-inch aluminum alloy wheels, a rearview camera, keyless entry and cloth seats. Stepping up to the SV increases the price to $33,505 and adds features like navigation and a leather-wrapped wheel. The price jumps to $37,835 for the SL trim. Included here are silver roof rails, heated outside mirrors, a power liftgate, 360-degree cameras and leather seats.
Our tester is in king-of-the-hill Platinum trim with front-wheel drive. The jump from SL to Platinum adds LED headlights, a power tilt-and-telescoping wheel, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel and 20-inch wheels. It also increases the price to $39,885. The only option available at the Platinum level is the Technology package. At $2,260, the suite adds a panoramic roof, adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning with emergency braking. With that option, our 2015 Nissan Murano carries a sticker price of $42,145.
Why We Got It
The five-passenger midsize SUV has gone from the industry standard to the odd man out. Most vehicles in the class now at least offer a third-row seat if it's not already standard. This has pushed the overall size of most midsize SUVs up dramatically, a change that leaves a hole in the market for those who don't need that kind of passenger capacity but still want a spacious midsize SUV.
The Murano has offered that for years, but it got lost in the crowd. That won't happen this time around thanks to its dramatic styling and near luxury appointments. We'll be looking to see if these upgrades are enough to make it a compelling alternative to the larger, more popular midsize SUVs that dominate the market. The 2015 Nissan Murano has 12 months and 20,000 miles in our Long-Term Road Test fleet to convince us.
Best MPG: 18.7
Worst MPG: 16.7
Average MPG over 276 miles: 18.2
The manufacturer provided this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation.
The first time I drove our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano I sat for a minute to familiarize myself with its features. I adjusted the seat, mirrors, steering wheel, seatbelt height, A/C to my preferred temperature and direction, put on the seat heaters, plugged in my iPod. My usual routine. As you can imagine, it takes me awhile to get out of our parking garage.
As I was driving I noticed a background noise that I couldn't pinpoint. It was kind of a whirring noise, or a fan, or perhaps that electronic noise like when you have a TV on mute. I adjusted the vents to see if it was coming from them. Nope. I turned off the A/C entirely. Nope. I turned off the audio system. Nope.
When I got back to the office I had our vehicle testing manager Mike Schmidt come down to the garage with me. We had already discussed the CVT and other possible causes. We sat in the Murano and tried different things, like holding pieces to see if they were vibrating. Sticking our ears up against the door speakers. We must have looked pretty funny to anyone passing by.
I was in the driver seat and Mike was in the passenger seat where the noise was less noticeable. We decided to switch seats and I switched off the driver seat heater to be polite. And the noise stopped.
The noise was coming from a rather loud seat heater fan. Not all seat heaters work with a fan, but those that also have seat coolers usually do. And our 2015 Murano has both.
Mystery solved.
One of the first things I do when I get into a car is connect my iPod. This small space by the shifter in our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano is hard to reach in with your hand and plug in the USB connector.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I have freakishly small baby hands. So if I can't fit my fingers in to plug into that sideways connection, then you know this space is small. I like that it has a cover I can close over to hide my iPod when I get out of the car. But it makes me wonder if Nissan's designers tested this feature with actual human hands after it was built.
I don't mind the location of this connector. I like having my iPod within reach in case I want to make a change. But this space is too narrow.
It's rare to find an empty cargo area in one of our long-term vehicles. Like most real-world owners, we use our crossovers and SUVs for what they were intended, to move people and their stuff.
There's no doubt that our new 2015 Nissan Murano.is going to be very popular among our staffers. With 39.6 cubic feet of cargo area behind the rear seats, the new Murano can swallow 8 additional cubes compared to the previous version. And we'll find a way to use every single one of them.
Since the climate is typically very moderate here in Southern California, we don't often encounter the weather warnings that may commonly blast other less-temperate states.
This wind warning provided by our new 2015 Nissan Murano was certainly a surprise to me.
After some initial seat time in our 2015 Nissan Murano I'm glad it comes standard with a V6. Sure, there are plenty of smaller, turbocharged four-cylinder engines that deliver similar levels of output these days, but the broad range of torque from the Murano's 3.5-liter V6 makes it feel far more responsive, especially for a vehicle of its size.
That extra helping of power also makes the standard Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) feel less strained. In our long-term Rogue, any kind of hard acceleration required long periods of high rpm operation that made the engine sound loud and unrefined. In the Murano, the CVT ramps up quickly but then settles down soon thereafter by simulating shifts like a traditional automatic. Seems like an odd thing to do for a transmission with no gears to shift between, but the end result is a more refined overall experience.
One thing to note, since our Murano is still breaking in, I didn't get into the throttle with as much gusto as our Rogue. Even so, I think the results so far are indicative of a drivetrain most drivers will like, CVT and all.
The 2015 Nissan Murano completed its first month in our long-term fleet while on vacation in Desert Hot Springs, a small town that sits over natural hot mineral water aquifers in the low desert of Southern California. (Hence the palm tree poking its head out of the Murano's roof.)
Let's take a look at how this midsize SUV's fuel economy fared during its first 2,000 miles. Keep in mind this first month included its break-in period, a trip to our test track, and the vacation drive.
Worst Fill MPG: 16.7 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 26.5 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 20.7 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 302.5 miles
Current Odometer: 1,988 miles
Each car in our long-term test fleet is driven gently until the engine is fully broken in. The owner's manual for the 2015 Nissan Murano recommended we wait until the odometer clicked past 1,200 miles before we could run it through our usual round of performance tests. We brought it to our test track shortly after clearing that threshold to see how the crossover handled the dragstrip, skidpad and slalom course.
Vehicle: 2015 Nissan Murano
Odometer: 1,352
Date: 2/24/15
Driver: Chris Walton and Mike Monticello
Price: $42,145
Specifications:
Drive Type: Front-wheel drive
Transmission Type: Continuously variable transmission
Engine Type: Naturally aspirated V6
Displacement (cc/cu-in): 3,498 / 213
Redline (rpm): 6,500
Horsepower (hp @ rpm): 260 @ 6,000
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 240 @ 4,400
Brake Type (front): One-piece ventilated disc with dual-piston sliding calipers
Brake Type (rear): One piece ventilated disc with single-piston sliding calipers
Suspension Type (front): Twin-tube independent strut with coil springs and solid antiroll bar
Suspension Type (rear): Independent multilink with twin-tube shock absorbers and tubular antiroll bar.
Tire Size (front): 235/55R20 102H M+S
Tire Size (rear): 235/55R20 102H M+S
Tire Brand: Bridgestone
Tire Model: Dueler H/P Sport AS
Tire Type: All-season
As-Tested Curb Weight (lb): 3,918
Test Results:
Acceleration:
0-30 (sec): 3.3 (w/ TC on 3.6)
0-45 (sec): 5.2 (w/ TC on 5.5)
0-60 (sec): 7.5 (w/TC on 7.9)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 7.2 (w/TC on 7.5)
0-75 (sec): 10.5 (w/TC on 11.0)
1/4-Mile (sec @ mph): 15.5 @ 92.5 (w/TC on 15.8 @ 91.8)
Braking:
30-0 (ft): 29
60-0 (ft): 117
Handling:
Slalom (mph): 61.0 (61.2 w/ESC on)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.77 (0.78 w/ESC on)
RPM @ 70 mph: 1,500
Comments:
Acceleration comments: Kind of a strange vehicle to launch. Even with all traction control and stability control systems left on, the front-wheel-drive Murano got some wheelspin just a bit after leaving the line. That seemed to freak out the stability system so it cut power and caused a big hesitation. After turning the ESC system to off (which didn't seem to be fully off), it got a bit more wheelspin on the next run and therefore an even bigger freak-out moment from the ESC. So the second run was actually slower than the first. After another run dealing with the system bogging things down, I realized I would have to drive around the ESC system by doing more than just mashing the gas pedal off the line. Basically, I had to kind of ease off the line for a moment, and then go to full throttle, all in an effort to avoid any wheelspin and then skirt around the ESC system intervening and ruining the run. Kind of strange manners, really. Once through that mess, this V6 is pretty strong, if a bit loud at high rpm. The CVT simulates upshifts at around 6,300 rpm in an effort to act more like a traditional automatic transmission. Believe it or not, this CVT actually blips the throttle when you downshift in its manual mode by pulling the console-mounted shift lever toward you.
Braking comments: Brake pedal has a medium-firm feel. Stops are pretty well-controlled with a bit of nosedive and minor side-to-side squirm but nothing overly noteworthy. What was interesting was that the stops actually got shorter, unusual for an SUV of this type. Especially since the Murano's pedal got a bit softer toward the later runs. The first stop was the longest at 122 feet, while the seventh and final stop was the shortest at 117 feet.
Handling comments:
Slalom: The Murano is not a sporty crossover and doesn't like to be chucked between slalom cones. It feels more like a minivan or tall SUV. Steering feels distant, body motions aren't well controlled, and the electronic stability control system (ESC) is rightfully tuned on the conservative side for safety. After the second transition from side-to-side, the rear of the Murano begins to feel like a heavy caboose and ESC clamps down abruptly to maintain composure.
Skid Pad: On the steady-state circle of the skid pad, the ESC senses the weight shift and just as the tires begin to howl, it reduces throttle to reduce the speed. If pushed through that threshold, it will additionally apply a brake to quickly bring the speed down. Here, the steering is lighter and feels even more distant and artificial.
Some people may say that using a heated steering wheel in 69-degree weather is ridiculous. I beg to differ. As with heated seats, if the option to warm up a body part is available, I'm going to use it.
Lucky for me, a heated steering wheel comes standard on the 2015 Nissan Murano Platinum edition.
When I first saw the center armrest in our 2015 Nissan Murano I was suspicious. Cutting out the center section for the sake of design seemed like a bad idea. Turns out, my right elbow had nothing to fear.
After driving the Murano numerous times over several weeks, I never once missed the displaced cushioning. Turns out all I really need is the outside section anyway. And every once in a while I went ahead and just rested my whole arm in the channel down the middle.
I heard a Nissan designer describe the idea behind the design. He said something about it looking like the edge of two tables next to each other in a restaurant, or some other such weirdness. I'm not sure that's what I see, but it doesn't matter. As long as it's functional that's fine by me and in this case it's just fine.
I've become a bit of a sucker for simple instrument panels like the one in our 2015 Nissan Murano. Big analog speedometer, big analog tachometer and not much else, that's the basic formula.
The trend these days goes in the opposite direction. Almost every car short of a base model economy car is trying to jam as much stuff into the instrument panel as possible. Nissan didn't totally forego the idea with this Murano as there's a reconfigurable screen sitting between the two gauges, but you can pretty much make it go away with enough button pushes.
Get that far and you're left with this clean looking setup that gives you just about everything you need at a glance. It's a nice surprise on a vehicle that is so outwardly different in so many other ways.
This was my view from the driver seat of our 2015 Nissan Murano yesterday afternoon. With the sun high in the sky, there's significant glare directly in front of the driver. My front passenger reached across to take this photo to simulate the driver-eye view, but it was just as bad on her side.
I think the hood ridge at the root of this problem looks neat. It gives character to an area of the car that is often overlooked. But in the midday sun it's my least favorite part of the Murano. Since that ridge starts just a few inches from the base of the windshield, I’ll grab a shirt or jacket to toss on the dash and block the reflection the next time I sign out the Nissan.
One of the added features you get with the Platinum version of the 2015 Nissan Murano is a pair of two-level seat heaters. Not bad for a non-luxury crossover.
But as you can see, that's not all. Rear passengers also get their own vents and a USB outlet for charging phones and the tablets.
At first glance, features like rear vents and an auxiliary USB port seem like they should be in an SUV in this price range. I would agree, but you would be surprised how many SUVs and trucks don't have dedicated rear vents.
Extra USB ports are starting to pop up on newly redesigned cars and trucks; they're just not always accessible to rear seat passengers. Putting one on the back of the console is a small nod to the needs of the kids in back.
The seat heaters are just icing on the cake. And considering that the outboard positions of the Murano also have the same "zero gravity" (read: very comfortable) design as the front seats, the rear passengers are most certainly treated well in this Murano.
March was a slow month for our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano. It covered only about 600 miles, most of which were in the city. Those in-town commuting miles gave it a new worst-fill MPG and dropped the lifetime average from 20.7 to 19.7 mpg.
We've got 10 months remaining on this long-term test, however, and with the way many of us already love the seats and general cabin comfort, the Murano won't stay idle for long. With summer coming, we've got plenty of time for road trips and reaching the EPA estimates.
Worst Fill MPG: 15.3 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 26.5 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 19.7 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 302.5 miles
Current Odometer: 2,409 miles.
The 2015 Nissan Murano comes standard with a fancy new touchscreen infotainment system. Our Murano has the range-topping Platinum pack with the Technology package. This $2,260 option includes, amongst other things, a panoramic sunroof.
Unfortunately, thanks to the world's most reflective screen, use of the panoramic sunroof and the nav screen are mutually exclusive.
Just look at that! We've got convertibles on the market with screens this big or larger (see: our new BMW 235i ) that don't wash out in the sun, let alone turn into a giant reflector. And it's not just with the sunroof open. If the sun's up, there's a solid chance it's going to stream through one of the windows and erase the screen.
Lame.
Perhaps Nissan needs to move their testing to somewhere sunny. Or at least drive with the sunroof open more.
Last week I took our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano on a 2,200-mile road trip from Los Angeles to Portland, Ore., and back. It was almost exclusively a freeway blast, because that's how you connect those two endpoints.
The objective this time was to reach the destination and not linger on the road too long, so I took Interstate 5. This is a long, straight, boring freeway until you reach Shasta in northern California, where it bends and climbs, and comes with pretty views.
Here's what I learned about this big wagon on this trip, which was also my first time driving it.
First, the powertrain. CVTs sometimes get a bum rap. That's because CVTs are often paired to weedy little engines that need their necks wrung to produce any meaningful results, making for tiresome motoring.
The Murano's 3.5-liter V6, however, has torque at low revs with no waiting. It turns out that ample low-end torque is a key enabler allowing CVTs to shine. In the Murano, there's always plenty of thrust on tap, no matter where the tach needle points, so the CVT doesn't need to zing the revs to redline just to move off the line. Nice.
Plus - and this is the clincher - the CVT is always smooth. When left to its own devices, there's zero shift-shock. None. There's just an endless, seamless hydraulic shove as you accelerate from zero to whatever mph. No traditional transmission can touch the CVT in this respect. Freeway passing is a breeze.
Two hundred-and-sixty horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque may not sound like a whole lot when it comes to punting around a near-4,000-pound wagon, but the Murano makes it work way better than you'd think.
Long-haul motoring is a tough test for seats. I never got squirmy, even after a nine-hour driving stint (the trip was broken into two days each way). The Murano's seats are well-shaped and plush, though I'd like an extendable thigh bolster. Unlike Dan Edmunds, I dig the Murano's knob-based seat heater/cooler controls. I want the cooler on at full tilt all of the time and don't want to be bothered turning it on every single time I get back in.
The suspension has a solid amount of control, which delivers a nicely firm, never harsh ride quite agreeable for freeway cruising. Around town, the Murano's heavy wheels (and 3,918-pound mass) make for a somewhat leaden, ponderous feel. Here the Murano follows the road texture rather than absorbs it. It's not totally off-putting, but it's there.
Here's something for the "annoying" file: tilting the Murano's gigantic, silly sunroof (which, by itself, is dumb) requires the shade be retracted. This is really dumb. Read this in case the dumbness is not obvious.
No long road trip of this sort would be complete without an assessment of the cruise control system, which I'll share in a separate post. Oh, and fuel economy. That, too.
Two adults, a toddler, an infant and their baggage piled into a 2015 Nissan Murano for a week of camping. It felt like a punchline should follow and in a sense, it did. This was our first legitimate get-out-of-town since our 10-month-old came on the scene, so we tried to keep things mellow. But kids tend to make life an adventure.
The itinerary: Four nights at Carpinteria State Beach, with bookend stay-overs at the in-laws. You could argue that this was fake camping and I would agree. But this trip was more about getting back out there, to a place where our elder rugrat could go nuts. The Murano played an important role, though it was not the only vehicle at our disposal.
In the spirit of kid stuff overkill, we also borrowed an RV. The forecast called for overnight temps in the 50s. A warm retreat for the girls and a tent for the guys felt like the right thing to do. Vehicle logistics dictated that the Murano carry our entire payload.
To its credit, the Nissan was spacious. The spec sheet claims 39.6 cubic feet in cargo area, but other specs actually make using that space more practical. When open at its lowest point, the hatch was 73 inches from the ground, lessening the chances of my 74-inch frame bonking its head.
The load floor sits a reasonable 31 inches high, limiting lower back strain for awkward items like strollers. Load floor dimensions are 43 inches wide at the wheel wells, increasing slightly in front of them, and 35 inches deep. As an unexpected bonus, rear headrests extend nearly to the roof. This meant I could pack softer items up top without fear of them falling into the passenger area.
Sometimes ride quality suffers as you approach a vehicle's weight limits. No such issue with the Murano. Despite adopting a noticeable squat, the densely-packed SUV handled the roads just fine.
Our propensity to travel with far too much child-related gear gave me an opportunity to see what the Murano could do. I think it did a great job for all that was asked of it. If we were to make this trip again, however, I'd take our long-term Toyota Highlander (if it weren't already sold to CarMax). The additional cargo space would make a big difference. Of course, more space means we'd probably come up with more clutter to fill it, but that's another story.
During my 2,200-mile road trip with our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano, I used the cruise control. A lot.
As something of a persnickety cruise control-er, I made a few notes about the Murano's cruise control system, which does some things very well, but has room for improvement.
The Murano's cruise control is adaptive, and in this capacity it works pretty well. It always correctly discerned between vehicles that weren't actually in my lane and those that were. No false positives. Not once was it tricked by curves in the road, which is not something that all systems can claim. Pretty solid showing here.
It also does its slowing, like when approaching a slower vehicle, with minimal abruptness. It sheds speed smoothly and without drama. Like all adaptive cruise control systems, the Murano's following distance is more conservative than I'd prefer, which also means that it begins slowing sooner than I'd prefer. I get it — lawyers, after all — but it doesn't mean I have to like it.
Where it could improve is on 'Resume.' The Murano takes its sweet time initiating the Resume process after a slower car finally moves (completely) out of the lane, and then the actual resuming occurs too leisurely at freeway speeds. I found myself adding throttle manually to speed things along, which revealed another quirk of the Murano's cruise.
Rather than my throttle input supplementing the car's built-in rate of resuming (which is the way it works in most cars I can think of), it appeared to override it. Meaning the car ceased its own resuming activities when it saw my throttle input.
I discovered this thusly. When my desired set speed was looming, I'd lift and let the car, which really ought to have been contributing its baseline amount of throttle this whole time, take care of the rest. The car however, having paused its Resume process, would then be caught unawares and fall on its face momentarily until it realized what was going on and could re-initiate the resuming process for the last few remaining mph.
It's just kind of sloppy calibration, that's all, but these are the things you fixate on during a long, dull drive up Interstate 5.
No adaptive cruise works ideally for all drivers in all conditions, which is why all adaptive cruise control systems should (and often do) enable you to revert to conventional cruise. The Murano's system unfortunately doesn't. It's adaptive cruise or none at all. Well, poop. Adaptive cruise is part of the Murano's optional Technology Package, something to be aware of if you're a cruise nerd.
It's easy to pick on Southern California for its lack of public transportation infrastructure (yes, we have trains and busses, but they don't go where people need them to). But look at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. It is the prettiest Union Station in the country.
As you see, I drove our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano here this week. A family member of mine actually took the train home from work. At first, I was none too excited about driving the Murano. From the driver seat, it feels big to me, like the current Nissan Pathfinder or our departed long-term 2012 Ford Explorer. I've quickly acclimated to the Murano's size, however, something that never really happened for me with the Explorer.
No doubt the Murano's quickness has something to do with that. Nissan's 3.5-liter V6 engine feels much more potent in the Murano than it does in the heavier Pathfinder (the heaviest Murano is listed right around 4,000 pounds, while a loaded Pathfinder is around 4,600 pounds). It's also a great deal quieter when you're accelerating hard. Plus, as Jay Kavanagh noted after driving the Murano to Oregon, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) does a really good job of keeping you in the power when merging and passing.
I also think our Murano gives you a nice balance of comfort and composure. It is not borderline-sporty like the first-generation Murano (I never drove the second-generation version). But it'll go around a challenging highway interchange without going limp, while the ride is comfortable and serene to an extent that any parent will appreciate.
And I really can't imagine purchasing a Nissan Murano if you don't have kids. It's attractive enough, but this isn't some kind of personal luxury crossover. This is a family crossover through and through.
Secondary audio controls on the steering wheel are not exactly a new innovation, and predictably, our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano has the standard set: seek, source and volume adjustment.
I've found that audio system volume is generally the only thing I use steering wheel audio controls to adjust. If I'm going to seek or change audio sources, I end up using either the touchscreen or the vehicle's voice control.
As such I was disappointed to find that my most commonly-used function is located toward the bottom of the steering wheel hub. If you drive with your hands at nine o'clock and three o'clock, it's very hard to use the volume adjustment without lifting your hand, especially if you have baby-lifting-induced forearm tendinitis as I do.
Would this stop me from buying a current-generation Nissan Murano? Of course not. But it's definitely an ergonomic misstep.
In a new round of testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, our 2015 Nissan Murano finished tops among seven popular SUVs and crossovers in the small overlap front crash test. The Murano earned the Institute's "Good" rating, and by offering the optional frontal-collision and mitigation system (can automatically apply braking if driver fails to take evasive action), it qualifies for the Institute's "Top Safety Pick+" award.
But while our Murano came out on top, our long-term Jeep Cherokee did not. It earned only a "Marginal" score in the small front overlap test. Other vehicles tested included the Jeep Wrangler ("Good"), Ford Flex ("Acceptable"), Hyundai Santa Fe and Dodge Durango (both "Marginal") and the Dodge Journey ("Poor").
The IIHS small front overlap test aims to test the crash-worthiness of a vehicle's outer edges, which are generally not incorporated into the overall frontal crash structure or crush zones. The vehicle travels at 40 mph into a 5-foot tall rigid barrier, simulating a collision with a tree, utility pole or an oncoming vehicle (think a headlight-to-headlight strike), forcing the front wheel, suspension and firewall to absorb most of the crash energy.
Make the jump to see great video of our Murano and others getting munched in slow motion. Keep an eye out at 0:50 to see the Murano's left front wheel get absolutely obliterated.
Our 2015 Nissan Murano was a hot ticket during its first three months here. Before we knew it, the SUV needed its first scheduled oil change and tire rotation at 5,000 miles. The closest Nissan dealer to our office is in downtown Los Angeles, 12 miles away. Instead, I took the Murano home and brought it to nearby Puente Hills Nissan.
I called on a Friday morning to make an 11 am appointment.
"No problem," the advisor said. "There aren't many cars in the service bay. It should only take two hours."
I paused.
"It takes two hours for an oil change and tire rotation? You just said you aren't very busy." He then replied that it should take an hour and a half. I reduced my estimated wait time by 30 minutes with a single question, so I guessed the time was padded and they'd actually complete the work sooner than that. I made the appointment.
I made it to the dealer five minutes late and was greeted promptly. After taking my info, they gave me a WiFi password and I connected to the Internet immediately with my laptop in the customer lounge. I must have looked busy, as I was the only customer in the lounge not being probed by a salesperson trying to sell a car.
I haven't seen this in a dealership in my one-and-a-half years at Edmunds and I was happy not to be bothered. Matt Jones, our resident ex-car salesperson, assured me that trying to sell to customers waiting in the service area was not an uncommon practice.
The car was ready to go an hour later. Unlike Hyundai, Mini, Scion, Toyota and Volkswagen, Nissan does not have a complimentary maintenance program. Puente Hills Nissan also did not offer any service specials at the time.
The total came to $91.38, steep for this kind of minor service. If I had shopped around a bit, I may have found a different dealer offering service specials. Cerritos Nissan had a $34.95 oil change special and Stokes Tire Service rotates SUV tires for $25. Instead I paid extra for one-stop convenience.
Total Cost: $91.38
Total Days out of Service: None
I don't often venture north of Interstate 10 (the freeway that basically bisects the Los Angeles County basin), so before I headed to Westlake Village for the annual Heels & Wheels event, I consulted our 2015 Nissan Murano's navigation system. I didn't have the address at hand, but the Four Seasons Westlake Village was listed as a Destination in the nav, so I selected it and hit the road.
I knew vaguely where the hotel was located, so I started to take notice when the nav directed me to the opposite side of the freeway.
Six miles later, the nav politely announced I had arrived at my destination.
I looked around. No Four Seasons in sight. There was a small Ventura County fire station a few hundred yards away, but I doubted they had a spa.
The Murano's maps run on an SD card, and a quick check of the Nissan website confirms that we're running the latest map update (the site advises us to check back after a year of ownership for a new update).
After using my phone to look up the street address, I entered it into the nav and again drove in search of the hotel. I backtracked several miles, crossing back over the freeway to where I thought I should be headed in the first place.
Sometimes, you just need to trust your own instincts.
It was the best of seats, it was the worst of seats. Well, that's a bit dramatic, but it works with the title. I signed out the Jag F-Type for a weekend not knowing what my lower back had in store for me. In hindsight, I may still have signed it out instead of our 2015 Nissan Murano, but I'm an idiot.
Halfway through Saturday, my lower back decided that two months of inactivity (due to injury in a motorcycle mishap) was time enough for the muscles to weaken. I was almost crippled, needing to hold myself up against the walls of my hallway to get to my kitchen.
Monday, I called my chiropractor who was gracious enough to see me that day. Then I realized I had to get there in the Jag. Getting into the seat was an ordeal. I had to hold on to the windshield, then let myself fall into the seat. It took this level of pain for me to realize how uncomfortable these seats are. Ouch.
The next day, I wanted something that wouldn't hurt, so I went with something I was familiar with: The Murano. I attended the press launch a few months prior and they went on and on about the zero-g seats, inspired by NASA, yadda yadda yadda.
But here's the thing. They really are comfortable, which became immediately apparent on the drive. At least in regard to my back, the difference between the Jaguar and Murano seats was as dramatic as being waterboarded or floating in a sun-drenched pool, with beautiful maidens gently cooling me with freshly-cut palm fronds. OK, maybe the pain meds just kicked in.
In any case, the Murano's seats are notably comfortable. And that's the whole point of this long-winded post.
May was a slow month for our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano, covering just 1,500 miles. Our goal is 1,700 per month. But this number is a bit misleading though, since it doesn't include any of Jay's 2,200-mile road trip to Portland, which technically ended on the first of the month.
As for May milestones, there were two. We took the Murano in for its 5,000-mile service which, at $91, was a surprisingly pricey experience. We also posted a best new single-tank range of 401 miles.
Worst Fill MPG: 15.3 mpg
Best Fill MPG: 26.5 mpg
Average Lifetime MPG: 21.5 mpg
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 401.0 miles
Current Odometer: 6,744 miles
Families of four or even five will be quite happy with the 2015 Nissan Murano. It's incredibly roomy for a five-passenger, two-row crossover SUV.
The third-generation Murano easily passes my personal car seat test: My oversize convertible car seat (a First Years True Fit C680 SI) fits in all its side-bolstered glory, and there's still space for an average-size adult to sit up front quite comfortably.
Seen above, not only does my front passenger have ample legroom, he's able to recline the seat to a reasonable angle. This setup would certainly work for a road trip.
I didn't need to do anything special to snug down the car seat in our long-term Nissan Murano. The lower anchors are pretty accessible. Although it's sometimes hard to get my seat's chunky, push-button LATCH connectors hooked onto anchors located between the seat-back and bottom cushions (you kind of have to push the cushions apart to get access to the metal loop), I didn't have much trouble here.
The Murano only has LATCH anchors in the rear outboard position. I didn't try a seatbelt install in the rear center position, because I didn't think my seat would fit well between the front seats. With a narrower convertible car seat, this would certainly be worth trying.
All three generations of the Nissan Murano have had distinctive exterior styling. Arguably, the very first generation was the most distinctive, almost all curves at a time when competitors were still rehashing the pickup-truck-with-a-backpack aesthetic. By comparison, our third-gen 2015 Nissan Murano has a more mainstream appearance and the same basic shape as many of its contemporaries, including the one-size-smaller Nissan Rogue.
Yet when a Rogue parked near me during a post office and dim sum takeout run last week, it was apparent to me what starkly different roles these two play within the Nissan family.
The Murano and Rogue are clearly related. The overall shape is familiar. So is the integrated roof spoiler. And they both have the like-it-or-not chrome grille mustache. And that's about where the similarities end.
Whereas the Rogue is conservative in character, the Murano takes you on a crazy adventure. You'll need a road map to follow the character line down the side of Nissan's midsize crossover, and the Murano's headlights and taillights are positively zany. It's probably too much. It is too much. But the 2015 Nissan Murano is not boring, even with taupey beige exterior paint, and that's why I prefer it.
One of many things that you can haul easily with the 2015 Nissan Murano is a Little Tikes cube climber and slide that I bought for $25 off Craigslist. Of course, if I'd had a pickup truck, I wouldn't have needed to disassemble the sun-faded cube, a process which revealed myriad spider webs and snail shells. But once in pieces, the climber fit easily into the Murano's 39.6-cubic-foot cargo bay.
I'm sure it would have all fit into the trunk of a midsize sedan, too, but as it was, I didn't have to put too much thought into the loading process. And a folded Joovy umbrella stroller fit in there, too, and without obstructing my rearward view.
I don't really want to tell you how far I drove to spend $25, but the Nissan Murano is quite enjoyable on a somewhat longer drive. I really like its forgiving ride, and its seats are well-cushioned and well-shaped for a 5-foot-10-inch-tall adult of average weight.
Much like in our long-ago-departed 2012 Nissan Quest, the continuously variable transmission (CVT) works really well. I rarely notice that the Murano has a CVT and not a conventional automatic, because this CVT does such a fine (and normal) job of keeping you in the useful range of the V6's power. When you really get on it to catch a gap in traffic, the Murano feels not exactly fast, but certainly potent enough for a family crossover.
Later we assembled the slide.
What would you say is the most frequently-used steering wheel control? Perhaps I don't make many Bluetooth phone calls, perhaps I don't fiddle with the trip computer that much, and perhaps I'm loath to use voice controls. However, I am constantly changing stereo volume. In the 2015 Nissan Murano, however, the steering wheel volume control is not on the easily-reachable wheel spoke.
Instead, it's considerably lower (see my thumb in photo) and not comfortable to reach. Why is it all the way down there?
That little button labeled "OK" skips back and forth among radio presets or media tracks, while also being an "OK" button for selecting media tracks within a list. It's not a bad thing that it's there, but having the volume control closer would be more appreciated than the other buttons (especially the trip computer menu toggle).
For the record, the other side is home to the cruise controls.
Am I missing something here, or would you too use the volume controls most frequently?
Even with the help of a navigation system, I often make wrong turns when I'm driving in unfamiliar areas. Partly, it's my inability to conceptualize a turn that's coming up in 0.2 mile or 400 feet or whatever, and partly it's due to dividing my attention between the primary activity (driving the vehicle), listening to the radio, and following the nav system's guidance.
Secondary maps that display in the instrument panel are usually helpful. This one in our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano is one of the best I've seen. It highlights the street (or ramp, in this case) that I need to turn on in blue while also showing me the nearby streets in gray.
In unfamiliar areas, this kind of context is very useful. The Murano's nav system is basically telling me, "Turn on this street, not the one before or the one after," and that saves me the trouble of thinking that through on my own.
Like many of the vehicles in our long-term fleet, our 2015 Nissan Murano has XM/Sirius satellite radio. It's great for long road trips in the middle of nowhere or the daily commute depending on what kind of programming you're into.
To make the satellite experience even better, XM/Sirius has also added the ability to deliver additional information like the oft-touted, but rarely sought after weather/sports/stock market combo. It's been around for a while, yet I've never bothered to look for it in any of our test vehicles.
Turns out our Murano has an auxiliary home screen that puts all this information in one place.
It's one iPad swipe over from the main home screen and it's easily reconfigurable depending on what you use most often. Setting up the stock market screen is as simple as typing in the ticker symbols, while sports scores show up according to which sport/league/division you select.
It's laid out well and easy to read, but I can't say that I'll use it much now that I know it's there. It's just too redundant compared to my phone, which delivers all the same info anywhere I am. Of course it's always better to have it accessible hands-free in a car, but none of that info is so vital that I need to check it that often.
I couldn't live with a car that didn't have satellite radio, but this particular feature is not the reason why.
If you live in a place that gets hot more than a few weeks out of the year, the ventilated seats in the 2015 Nissan Murano deserve consideration. During a toasty weekend here in Southern California — the first official weekend of summer — I used them constantly.
After a while, I realized that I barely needed the normal air-conditioning most of the time. Turns out, having air blowing right onto your backside does a surprisingly good job of keeping you cool.
Of course the seats probably wouldn't feel so cool if the rest of the cabin was soaked in heat. The seat vents can only do so much. But the combination of cooled seats and the air-conditioning on its lowest setting makes for a pleasant cabin in anything but the hottest of conditions.
If they have a drawback, it's the noise. These are easily some of the nosiest ventilated seats I've heard. It's not an annoying racket, but enough to make you wonder if you left the main vents open. If you can live with that, you'll be glad to have them.
Warning: Gratuitous puppy content ahead.
A few years back, my daughters were searching for a charity to support. After some research they settled on Guide Dogs for the Blind, an organization that breeds, trains and ultimately deploys guide dogs. The pups aren't mature enough for formal guide training until they're 14 or 15 months old, and they need to learn socialization and basic obedience before they're eligible. This "puppy-raising" phase is where my daughters enter the picture.
The breeding compound is in San Rafael, California, and the fresh puppies are usually delivered to puppy-raiser families across the western U.S. via the Puppy Truck, perhaps the happiest vehicle on earth. But things would be different this time. Our newest pup was to be handed over during the finale of the Fun Day open house event at GDB headquarters.
San Rafael is 425 miles from our front door, so we'd need to bring a vehicle with enough room for the four of us, overnight luggage and doggie-related paraphernalia including a collapsible crate. It also needed to be something with a nicely-damped ride that wouldn't make our new pup puke.
Our 2015 Nissan Murano ticked all the right boxes. But how would our new canine react? After all, this hours-long trip would be its first car ride of any kind.
Guide Dogs names all of their dogs, and they never use the same name twice unless the dog has left the program. The name is always a big secret that's revealed at handover. It's a thing. All we knew is we'd be getting a female Golden Retriever with a first name beginning with the letter "F." Our guesses were all over the map.
This is Flora. She's nine weeks old.
How'd she do? Just look at that face.
She came through it like a road trip veteran. For various logistical and practical reasons, we pretty much drove straight through for 7 hours and she was into it. Most of the time she wanted to play mountain goat and stand on the center armrest, but we mostly wouldn't let her.
My wife and girls passed her around to keep her busy, and she watched Sarah's iPad intently for a while as Goat Simulator played across the screen. Don't ask. It's as ridiculous as it sounds.
We brought along a stack of faded beach towels for obvious precautionary reasons. But we needn't have bothered. Flora committed no runs, drips or errors.
Oh, right. The Nissan.
It all went well in part because the Murano's ride remained pleasingly flat and well-damped throughout, even with our somewhat full load. I was happy with the weight and feel of the steering and the chassis' inherent tendency to go arrow-straight down the road despite cross-winds, ruts and passing semis. And even though the Murano's exterior does strike me as somewhat busy and over-styled, it did manage to slice its way through the air in a more-or-less quiet fashion.
But our Murano may just have the world's most maddening cruise control. It's so awful I'll save that rant for another post. If you're on the verge of buying, all I'll say for now is our Murano has the optional adaptive cruise system. Save your money.
Flora and the girls liked the backseat's air conditioning ducts. There's a USB port back there that ties into the stereo, and Flora was only tempted to chew on Sarah's attached iPad cord once or twice.
My first impression of the cargo space is it's a bit of a reverse Tardis; it's smaller than you'd expect on the inside. But it held our weekend's-worth of stuff well enough. I'll reserve final judgment until I haul a larger load.
Would I choose it again? Absolutely. Flora seemed to like it, too.
Our recent trip to San Rafael to visit Guide Dogs for the Blind didn't just result in a new puppy. The 850-mile round trip also pushed our 2015 Nissan Murano past the 10,000-mile threshold.
This was a mostly highway run but, as ever, it's hard to completely isolate the highway miles in a given tank. In addition to the obvious endpoint stop at GDB headquarters, we also detoured off the highway and added a couple dozen city miles near Walnut Creek to visit my wife's sister and her family.
After that we hit horrible traffic and idled along for 15 minutes trying to work through a construction zone and the toll both for the double-decker San Rafael bridge.
None of these sorts of large deviations interfered with the tank of fuel we burned on the leg north from home, though. It was pretty close to a pure highway tank except for a dinner break and a potty stop or two. We refueled after 376.8 miles and added 14.214 gallons, which boiled down to 26.5 mpg — a bit shy of our Murano's 28-mpg EPA highway rating.
The first 70 miles of the next tank was where the visit to Auntie Terri's house, the bridge traffic and the visit to the GDB campus came into the picture. After that we pointed the Murano south for 300 miles or so, with a lesser version of the bridge traffic and a few extra potty stops added in to make sure our new pup didn't have a chance to have an accident.
All told, it was a 381-mile run that burned 15.33 gallons — a 24.9-mpg performance that is slightly better than the Murano's 24-mpg EPA combined rating.
As the topmost photo shows, the admittedly optimistic MPG meter hinted at a better tank to come. But I arrived home after midnight too tired to fill up. Whatever happened during those 150-something miles will get mixed in with whatever the next driver does with the Nissan.
The Murano's MPG didn't set the world on fire during this trip, but it didn't come across as a huge disappointment, either. I'm thinking there's more in the tank.
Little has changed over the last four months. Our 2015 Nissan Murano seems to have plateaued well shy of its 24-mpg EPA combined rating. Its lifetime average was 21.6 mpg at the end of April, 21.5 at the end of May and 21.6 again at the end of June. Now that July is history, the number is essentially the same: 21.7 mpg.
The very slight uptick came about because July's added mileage was helped by a northern California road trip in which the Murano duplicated its best tank of 26.5 mpg. But this was offset by a couple of lesser tanks in the teens, too. Taken in isolation, the 2,127 miles added this month came in at 22.2 mpg.
Now that the Murano has passed through 10,000 miles total, it's going to be difficult to make big changes in the lifetime average from here on out. Its 24-mpg EPA combined rating seems impossibly far away in the face of a lifetime average that so far has barely risen above its EPA city rating of 21 mpg.
Worst Fill MPG: 15.3
Best Fill MPG: 26.5 (repeated this month)
Average Lifetime MPG: 21.7 (4.6 gallons per 100 miles)
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 401 miles
Current Odometer: 10,453miles
You'll have to excuse this somewhat tired looking photo of our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano. I was tired when I took it at an unmentionable hour of the day. My child was in the backseat but you can't tell (I love privacy glass), and I may have been using the Murano as a means of inducing slumber. It's pretty good for that.
"Why are you driving the Murano so often," my better half has asked more than once.
"It has a really comfortable ride and it's quiet," I answer without thinking. "Plus, there's a ton of room for the car seat."
Of course, that's not what he signed up for when we got married. Back then, I assured him that I didn't think the ride quality of a modified WRX was too stiff, and I dutifully double-clutched any 2-1 downshifts to keep the elderly car's transmission happy. I haven't driven that Subaru in almost two years. The car hasn't changed. I've changed. Its lack of side-impact airbags for the rear seat is now something I hold against it.
Presently, the Nissan Murano is the most useful vehicle in our long-term road test fleet for mom-related activities. It's not my favorite vehicle to drive. That would be the VW GTI. But I sign out the Murano far more often and I understand why someone would buy one.
But I would buy a similarly-equipped Quest instead. I would miss having the Murano's newer-generation navigation system (which is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay), but I would gain an extra row of seats, even more polarizing Japanese-domestic-market styling and a cabin ionizer (the built-in Sharp Plasmacluster filtration system).
Here's a photo of our long-term 2012 Nissan Quest that Dan Edmunds took in Oregon. The 2015 model is just as handsome.
And while I believe there are some minor differences in the continuously variable transmission between these two vehicles, I'd get the same 260-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine that works so nicely with this CVT. Of course, the Quest is heavier and slower than our Murano. But it's also a van, and vans are infinitely cooler in my eyes, so I'd forgive it for that.
Our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano Platinum has rather attractive simulated wood trim in a silvery tone. Visually, it splits the difference between wood and metal. It could be either or neither. I like the color a lot.
A large band of it runs from the tops of the front door panels and across the width of the dash. It helps the Murano's dash appear lower than it really is, and from a distance, it looks good. But the various sections don't match up perfectly in our Murano tester, and now that I've seen the misalignment, it's all that see.
If you scrutinize the Murano's hood, you understand immediately why the designers wanted this band of trim in the cabin. The hood goes up from the nose of the car to provide more crush space for pedestrians who might be hit by your Nissan Murano. Then, the hood descends a couple inches to meet the top of the dash inside the crossover. Without the trim as a distraction, you might dwell on the hood's elevation changes.
This photo from our introduction on the long-term 2015 Murano captures the total view.
I certainly wouldn't advocate getting rid of this trim, but the fit of the pieces has to be pretty much perfect to achieve the desired effect. It's not easy to get the door trim to line up exactly with the dash, and that shows in our Murano.
"Want to go to Pebble Beach in the Yugo?" asked fellow Edmunds editor Josh Sadlier. I'd never been to the Concours d'Elegance and figured it would be pretty fun to go in a car that was on the opposite end of the spectrum of the cars we were going to see. Plus, the Yugo was going to be entered in the 2015 Concours d'Lemons, which promised to have its own unique gems (more on that in a later post).
"Count me in!" I said.
Despite the Yugo making it from Idaho to California, we still wanted to be on the safe side and chose our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano as a chase car.
The Murano's 39.6 cubic feet of cargo space fit weekend bags for three people, a folding picnic chair, two large banners, a small box of postcards and a small folding table. We had to fold down the rear seats to make everything fit, but that was as easy as pulling two levers in the trunk area.
The plan was for one person to drive the Yugo, while two others took the Murano. This way only one person would have to suffer from the Yugo's lack of air-conditioning, as temperatures in California's north central valley went as high as 111 degrees.
I was lucky enough to ride in the Murano (thanks for taking one for the team, Josh) and its A/C and cooled seats kept us quite comfortable through the entire trip.
The Yugo's fuel gauge was also broken and we didn't want to drive it more than about 150 miles. We fueled up the Murano at the same time, which was why we have four tanks on record for the trip.
The best tank averaged 26.7 mpg, which set an all-time record for the car. The worst tank, at 23.3 mpg, occurred on the return trip. The average for the entire trip was 24.6 mpg. This is still short of the EPA estimated 28 mpg for the highway and slightly better than the 24 mpg for combined driving.
Driving the Murano and the Yugo back-to-back was an interesting experience. The Murano was quiet, easy to drive and slightly boring. I'm not a fan of continuously variable transmissions, but the CVTs that Nissan pairs with its V6s are the only ones I wouldn't mind owning.
Contrast that experience with the Yugo's, which requires all your senses to drive, is fun to toss around, and requires you to be aware of anything that might go wrong. It's a far more involving driving experience, but not one that I would want to make into an entire trip. In this case, boring and comfortable beats exciting, noisy and hot.
Nissan found out the hard way that SUVs and convertibles don't mix well. The Murano Cross Cabriolet didn't find too many homes, so when the 2015 Nissan Murano arrived, we weren't surprised to learn that a convertible version wouldn't be forthcoming.
Instead of going the full convertible route, the latest Murano offers an optional panoramic sunroof. It stretches all the way from above the driver's head to the middle of the second row. It's huge and does a great job of giving the interior a more open feel, especially in the back seat where it's needed most.
And unlike some sunroofs that merely let in light but don't actually open, the Murano's roof slides back to open up the entire front half of the glass. On the flip side, when you don't want it open at all, there's a thick cloth cover that keeps out the light.
If there's one problem with the Murano's sunroof, it's that it only comes bundled in the $2,260 Technology package. That package also includes adaptive cruise control and an accident avoidance system, which are both great, but not exactly in the same category as a sunroof.
For those who expect backseat passengers on a regular basis, I would definitely consider it. They'll thank you for it.
The seats in our 2015 Nissan Murano are phenomenal. This really can't be understated.
Like Mark experienced awhile ago, I contended with a minor medical malady recently, one that left behind a tender incision on my lower back, held together by a bunch of stitches and carefully considered back movement. I was thankful I had the Murano for several days as the wound healed. I could always find a comfortable position. There's this sensation of being reposed slightly aloft, perhaps the "NASA-inspired" zero-gravity effect that Nissan took pains to tout in its Murano marketing.
Whatever it is, it works.
But you've already heard from others about the seats. I'm just joining the chorus. What I'm actually here to praise is the Murano's continuously variable transmission, that scourge of powertrain technology that is the bane of anyone with a driving pulse.
The Murano's CVT is excellent.
Nissan calls its CVT technology "Xtronic" and says the Xtronic control unit can determine optimal power delivery by processing more than 1,000 different shift patterns based on throttle position and vehicle speed. It also accounts for other conditions, including gradient load or high-G cornering (the latter scenario aided by a shift logic that holds rpm for swifter corner exits).
I haven't thrown the Murano into corners at high speed, so maybe the high-G shift logic works, maybe it doesn't. But I can say that the Xtronic's high-stress urban traffic shift pattern, such as it is, might make this my favorite transmission in our fleet. When this assembly of cable-and-pulleys is spun up and humming, it makes seamless, short, and fairly quiet work of gaps in traffic.
From 20 to 70 mph, the Murano slingshots with zero hesitation. You find you need to suppress the urge to be that guy and start overtaking everything in sight. More practically, the 260-hp V6/CVT combination just makes it easy to keep pace with traffic with pleasant precision. You can be that good traffic citizen you wish everyone else would be by not opening unreasonable gaps due to a lazy or indecisive transmission. You can always maintain a safe following distance, anticipate closing speeds, and discourage that driver in the next lane who's been eyeballing the narrow space between your bumper and the car ahead.
Even wooding it from a standstill, this CVT acts fast and does a good job getting the hefty Murano up to speed. It doesn't sound delightful doing it, but it's not offensive either.
We all pretty much liked the V6/CVT in our former long-term Quest, finding that CVTs tend to work best with robust engine power upstream (contrasted with our generally unflattering feeling about our former four cylinder-powered long-term Rogue). The Murano has more of that Quest flavor. I'll be driving it more often, back injury or not.
Fuel Update for August — A Busy Month But Only Small Gains
Our 2015 Nissan Murano has been a bit of a disappointment for its fuel efficiency performance. As Dan pointed out last month, we're beyond 10,000 miles and hopes are fading that we'll be able to effect any significant change in lifetime fuel economy for the remainder of the test. In August, we posted our best tank yet, but it was a minor victory that lacked long-term impact.
In August, we filled up 10 times and consumed 108 gallons of fuel. That alone made it a busy month, since we typically average six or seven fill-ups per month. The Murano's main gig last month was serving as a support vehicle for our Yugo on its run up to Monterey. Somewhere in that service, the Murano posted its best tank thus far in the long-term test: 26.7.
Admittedly, that's only an incremental gain on the previous best — 26.5 mpg — and it wasn't enough to budge the Murano's lifetime 22.0 combined MPG.
That said, those 10 tanks in August, taken in isolation, averaged 23.6 combined MPG. Now that's pretty respectable whispering distance to the official EPA number. And those were legitimate combined miles, leaning heavily highway, but with plenty of slow city cycles in among there as well.
So why hasn't more of the test gone this way and why aren't we closer to the EPA number? Not sure, only that it appears we're paying for the sins of earlier indiscretions and turning in too-frequent tanks of 16, 18 and 19 MPG.
Worst Fill MPG: 15.3
Best Fill MPG: 26.7
Average Lifetime MPG: 22.0
EPA MPG Rating: 24 combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 401
Current Odometer: 13,133
Splitting the Difference Between Service Intervals
The first service for our 2015 Nissan Murano, you might remember, wasn't exactly cheap at around $92. So we were prepared to spend another Benjamin when it came time for the next scheduled service at 10,000 miles. But the Murano proved a popular car during the summer, someone always asking if they could "just borrow it for a weekend or a short road-trip."
Before we knew it, we were overdue for a 10K service.
With 13,000 miles on the odometer, we split the difference between service intervals and took the Murano to Imperio Nissan in Irvine for its 15K service. Like the 5K and 10K intervals, the 15K service calls for an oil-and-filter change and tire rotation, while adding a cabin air filter replacement.
Other maintenance items included a new engine air filter, brake cleaning and pad inspection (8.5 mm remaining front, 6 mm remaining rear), belt check, and squirts of lube for locks and hinges. Imperio's 15K service package also included BG fuel injector treatment, parts wash, and a battery service. That raised our eyebrows a bit, but cost us nothing at the end of the day after factoring in a $32 parts and service discount.
We dropped off the Murano at 1:30 p.m. on a Monday afternoon, had lunch nearby, and picked it up an hour later. Our service manager Mark was helpful and communicative and we left with a favorable impression of the dealership and its service. We'll use Imperio again if the need arises, like when we finally persuade the boss to buy a GT-R.
Cost Breakdown: |
|
|
15K Service:
|
$166.00 |
|
(6) quarts 5W-30:
|
$13.38
|
|
washer/drain plug:
|
$0.95 |
|
oil filter:
|
$7.18
|
|
BG injector cleaner:
|
$10.28 |
|
BG parts wash:
|
$4.15
|
|
battery cleaning kit:
|
$14.20
|
|
cabin air filter:
|
$19.98
|
|
engine air filter:
|
$15.95
|
|
discount:
|
-$32.08 |
|
sales tax:
|
$6.01 |
|
Total:
|
$226.00
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A few days ago our 2015 Nissan Murano barfed up this meaningless warning on my way to work.
It's September in Southern California, the hottest time of the year in an already hot, dry climate. I'd just spent a few hours outside being reminded how hot it can be in a place that hasn't had meaningful rain in 30 or so months.
And now the Murano is reminding me that it's hot. Or that it's going to be hot 10 miles from where I was at the time.
Come on, man. Does anybody want this stuff? Sure, it can be disabled, but what does it add? A heat warning, I mean. Does that get me anything I didn't already know? Was it worth the distraction of clearing it from the navigation screen?
I don't need to know that it's going to be hot. I just don't. You know what I need to know? I need to know if Santa Monica isn't going to be there when I get to work. If there's going to be a world-changing event — a tsunami or earthquake or a zombie attack or something similar — then sure, go ahead and interrupt me with a warning. Especially if it's going to be zombies.
Otherwise, I don't need to know.
Our 2015 Nissan Murano isn't anywhere near autonomous, but it does have one piece of the puzzle — adaptive cruise control. Just set your speed and it maintains a set distance from the car ahead of you. Pretty basic stuff, but when it doesn't work well, it's more hassle than it's worth.
In this case, Nissan's "Intelligent Cruise Control" works quite well.
For one, the controls are simple. Once you hit the main switch to engage the system, setting and adjusting speed is done with the large toggle switch. It's easy and can be done without looking, which is of course the way it should be. Adjusting the following distance is done with the button just to the left of the toggle switch and that too can be done without looking down.
Once engaged, the system does a good job of maintaining the set distance without constantly slowing down and speeding up. And it doesn't get easily confused by cars moving in and out of your path. Some other systems react too quickly to changing situations and the result is more annoying than helpful. This is a system that I use regularly and would recommend to anyone.
Fuel Economy Update for September - Good MPG (for a Viper)
Our 2015 Nissan Murano plied the clogged byways of metro Los Angeles for much of September, and our fuel economy is left to tell the tale. After about 1,200 miles, we lowered our lifetime average and set a new record for gas guzzling. But hey, there's no crying in accounting, or at least that's what my wife tells me.
The new low mark stands at 14.7 mpg after 220 miles of driving on a nearly full tank. That's way off the EPA's city estimate of 21 mpg. The numbers check out though, so there's no obvious excuse or explanation other than we apparently drove around with a heavy right foot. We're also down to 21.9 mpg lifetime, from 22.0 last month.
That said, being a couple mpg below an EPA combined estimate (the Murano's is 24 mpg) is not unheard of. And at least from my experience of driving our Murano the past few days, and observing how the CVT responds to throttle inputs, there's some potential for more efficient fuel economy if you want to work for it. I'll need to drive our Murano around more before I really know, though. Stay tuned.
Worst Fill MPG: 14.7
Best Fill MPG: 26.7
Average Lifetime MPG: 21.9
EPA MPG Rating: 24 combined (21 City/28 Highway)
Best Range: 401
Current Odometer: 14,225
Mediocre Visibility Makes "Around View" a Necessity
Nissan introduced its 360-degree surround-view camera system ("Around View") about eight years ago in the Infiniti EX35 and has gradually added it to other Nissan/Infiniti models since. The redesigned 2015 Nissan Murano includes it as part of the SL trim level and, just as on other vehicles, it's a handy feature for parking in tight spaces.
The system displays a virtual top-down look of the Murano by stitching together views of four different cameras (one for each side of the vehicle). With it, you can easily see how close you are to other cars, curbs, parking space lines or potential hazards. (This Nissan video explains it well.) The latest Around View system also incorporates motion detection (another Murano-specific video here, at about the 25-second mark).
We've had other Nissan products with the system, most recently our 2014 Nissan Rogue. The Murano's forward and rearward visibility is mediocre, so Around View can really help you out for parking. The only drawback I've noticed so far is that image clarity drops considerably in the dark.
Pleasant Suburban Shuttle Keeps It Real
It's a good thing Nissan doesn't use me in its promotional spots. Otherwise you'd get videos of "Brent Takes His Family to Target" and "Brent Drives to the Gym While Listening to NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" instead of promos full of considerably better-looking young couples going to clubs.
But hey, I'm just keeping it real. And truth be told, the 2015 Nissan Murano is pretty good for my bland, domesticated life.
I've tried coming up with one adjective to describe our Murano and the best I've got is "pleasant." This may seem like faint praise, but this is a crossover SUV/wagon we're talking about. Excitement is not in the design vocabulary. Yet the Murano is comfortable and easy to drive. Its V6 provides quick acceleration when I need it and looks suitably classy parked in my driveway. It's not a truly prestigious luxury vehicle, but nor is it just affordable bargain transportation.
I like driving our Murano. It's the middle ground for the middle class.
If you go by the spec sheets, so-called midsize crossover SUVs like our 2015 Nissan Murano don't typically offer substantial cargo-hauling capacity gains over popular compact crossovers. For example, the Murano is rated at 39.6 cubic feet of space behind the second row and 69.9 cubic feet available with the rear seats folded flat.
The Murano's compact stablemate, the Rogue, checks in at 39.3 behind its second row and 70 cubic feet total.
"Why bother going midsize?" you might ask.
It's a fair question. But I learned there are some subtle differences.
For stuff you might throw in the back on a daily basis, our Murano fares well. The above picture shows its cargo hold with some luggage-type items. Here is another picture with a typical load of reusable grocery bags.
Out of curiosity, I went back looking at our 2014 Nissan Rogue (a vehicle we praised for its cargo-carrying abilities) and found a picture I took with some luggage. Here it is again:
Given the nearly identical cargo specs, I figured I'd end up with a similar layout. But here is our Murano with the same suitcases and laptop bag.
You can see that there are a few more inches to work with. The Murano's greater width also allowed me to lay both suitcases flat, which I wasn't able to do in the Rogue. Based on the photos, I'd say the Murano provides a bit more horizontal loading length than the Rogue, too.
In another test, I also had some big boxes I needed to haul with the Murano recently. It didn't go quite as well.
The Murano's rear glass is sloped for sleeker styling, inhibiting vertical loads. To be fair, I don't think the Rogue would have held that white box either, but my suspicion (since we don't have a Rogue around anymore to test out) is that it has a bit more top end space since its profile is slightly boxier. The Rogue also has its nifty available cargo dividing system, which the Murano lacks.
Overall, I'd call it a tie. And going back to my original question, yes, there are some valid reasons for getting a Murano — upscale interior, standard V6 and comfy backseat, among them. But thinking you're getting dramatically better cargo-carrying capacity than a popular compact shouldn't be one of them.
Erin Riches wrote an earlier update about our 2015 Nissan Murano's misaligned interior trim. In that update, she also pointed out the Murano's unusual hood shape, which angles down right near the base of the windshield.
Now I've discovered another potential downside to that angle besides aesthetics: Sun reflections.
The above picture shows what I encountered during a recent highway drive when I was headed in a south-easterly direction in the late morning. Sun reflecting off shiny interior bits can happen in a lot of cars, but having hot spots dead ahead in my field of view was particularly irksome. A bit later in the drive, I also had sunlight reflecting into my eyes from the center stack's gloss black trim and, to a lesser extent, the silver trim.
As is always the case with sun reflections, I must issue a "your results will vary" caveat. You could own a Murano for years and, because of your typical drive time and direction, never encounter what I'm describing here. Nonetheless, I felt it deserved a call-out.
While driving for road tests and ratings lately, I've noticed that many cars have very light steering effort. On a winding road I like a decent amount of effort, while in parking lots I want it feather-light. Our 2015 Nissan Murano doesn't quite get this.
The Murano, for example, requires an 87-point turn to back into my new apartment's carport. I swear one day I'm going to Austin Powers myself between the walls. All this "scoot forward a foot, spin the wheel, back up a foot, spin the wheel" stuff highlights how heavy the steering effort is in our long-term Murano. It might actually be the heaviest I've encountered in a few years.
On the plus side, the Around View camera system allows me to get within an inch of an obstacle. Without it, I'd probably need a full afternoon to park.
As the photo above demonstrates, it's hard to photograph a minor flaw in our 2015 Nissan Murano's interior trim. In person, it's really not that big of a deal, but once seen, it's hard to ignore since it's dead-center in the dash.
The piano black trim element surrounding the climate controls in the center stack bows outwards from the center. There are also a few small scratches that are visible in the image. I tried to push it in a little, thinking that maybe a little fastener wasn't catching, but it doesn't feel like it. Perhaps it'll be checked out if it goes in for service before it leaves our fleet. Otherwise, the interior is holding up quite well.
Most people don't need to haul long cargo on a daily basis. And for those that do, pickup trucks exist. But if a truck doesn't fit your lifestyle or, say, your garage, the 2015 Nissan Murano just might.
For me, the Murano fits perfectly. It'll swallow a 10-foot surfboard whole, with room to spare for a rear passenger and other board meeting essentials. Sure, there are other alternatives to transporting longer items, like strapping said items to a roof-mounted rack, but nothing is as secure as keeping your valuables in cabin, under lock and key.
The other feature that proves more convenient in practice than in theory is the quick release and power-upright feature of the Murano's split rear bench.
This saves both time and hassle, which adds up quick if it's something you're dealing with regularly. Call me lazy, but having to open to a rear door — which 9 out of 10 times is locked — to lift a seatback into place is something I won't miss.
Let's cut right to the chase: the 2015 Nissan Murano is not easy to park, and I'm not even talking about backing it in. For the most part, the big mirrors and multi-view parking camera make up for the enormous rear-quarter blind spot.
No, just going in the old-fashioned way is a pain.
The dash is tall and the hood rises to a peak even higher than that, then cascades down out of sight, completely eliminating the possibility of knowing where that highly-styled shnoz ends. The Murano is also quite wide and that nebulous forward visibility makes it feel even wider. Add to this the oddly heavy low-speed steering effort and there you have my conclusion: not easy to park.
Now, please take that visibility-related complaint with the caveat that it's almost entirely the result of the Murano's styling which, as I postulate, would be the primary reason someone would buy a Murano instead of another midsize SUV. If you like the way it looks, you'll put up with the compromised visibility, just as a Mercedes CLS buyer puts up with diminished rear seat room or a Range Rover Evoque buyer puts up with a trunk about as big as that of a midsize sedan.
So the Murano isn't easy to park, but whether that's a problem is up to you to decide.
It was time to escape from L.A. for a week or so with some co-workers, an opportunity to unplug and enjoy the wilderness. Before setting out, I expected a large dog for a passenger, quite a bit of gear and perhaps some off-road capabilities. A last-minute change of plans had me switching out of one of our long-term pickups for the 2015 Nissan Murano, but my traveling companions assured me that one of their personal vehicles would get us where we wanted to go while we parked the Murano.
After just a few hours on the road, I was glad I switched into the Murano. The comfortable ventilated seats were fatigue-free and the smooth ride made the miles tick by without any struggle. Fritz the dog took to the rear seats without issue as well and the Orvis dog seat cover protected the Murano's leather and also served as a bit of a catch hammock when heavier braking was needed.
We drove the Murano onto some dirt roads, but nothing remotely challenging. On one quick trip into town for provisions, the SUV performed impressively on some winding mountain passes. Drama was heightened during this nighttime drive, but the car remained predictable and composed.
At the end of the week, we logged 1,174 miles and the humans, dogs and Murano all returned no worse for the wear.
Fuel Economy Update for October — Plenty of Miles Help Boost Combined MPG
We added 2,415 miles to the odometer of our 2015 Nissan Murano in October, consuming 97.43 gallons of 87-octane go juice in the process and achieving 24.7 combined mpg for the month — slightly better than the EPA rating. All of the October miles helped nudge the Murano's lifetime up 0.3 mpg, to 22.2 mpg.
These results are still less than the truck's EPA combined rating of 24 mpg, but on the brighter side, we observed a new best fill of 28.0 mpg during a rainy return drive home along the Eastern Sierras. We got this result with the Nissan carrying one passenger, a cargo hold full of luggage and a 65-pound dog asleep in the backseat.
Worst Fill MPG: 14.6
Best Fill MPG: 28.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 22.2
EPA MPG Rating: 24 combined (21 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 401
Current Odometer: 16,797
I'm a sucker for little details, and one of the things I appreciate most about the 2015 Nissan Murano's cabin is the white stitching against the Nissan's dark leather. It's sporty, yet still classy compared to the bright-colored stitching you often find in cars targeted at younger shoppers.
This kind of attention to detail is just one plus on the Murano's long list of positive attributes.
Every year, Edmunds editors attend a driving school to refresh our reflexes and keep our insurance guys happy. It's a fun day out of the office, but requires that we drive to a racetrack in a desert about an hour-and-a-half north of our offices. I opted to take our 2015 Nissan Murano for the round-trip.
What better than a cushy crossover loaded with effort-eradicating electronics to cover the distance?
With lane-departure aids and active cruise control, which regulate your lane position and the distance between you and a leading car, the amount of driver attention required to keep the car on the road can be irresponsibly small. Even as these systems improve with developing technology, I like to maintain a level of vigilance, even if just hovering a foot over a pedal in case the system behaves unexpectedly.
While in active cruise control mode, when a lead vehicle leaves the lane, your car will accelerate to the maximum set speed. When this occurs in the Murano, it's at a painfully lethargic pace. If the Murano didn't have 260 horsepower at its disposal, I might attribute this response to a power deficit. Instead, I'm guessing it's tuned for fuel economy.
As speed increases, the Murano's CVT is able to gradually decrease the transmission gear size or ratio to keep engine speed low. With cruise control calling the shots, it feels like you're accelerating uphill, in 6th gear. And if you're someone who likes to keep the flow of traffic moving at a diplomatic pace when the road slug lets you by, your haste of action is critical.
My idea of setting the cruise control to an aggressively high limit of 90 mph (see photo) had no effect on the Murano's sense of urgency to close the gap from 55 mph. Having to press the accelerator once in a while is really not a big deal, but it illustrates the complexity of tuning an autonomous function just right.
Back in September, our 2015 Nissan Murano provided me with an excessive heat alert during the hottest time of the year in an already hot climate. It made me laugh and I jabbed at it here for sharing the relatively worthless warning.
It's November now. You know, winter. In SoCal the normal days dip into the low 70s and nights might drop to 45. Brrr.
So I was thrilled when the Murano spat forth this nonsense about a hard freeze watch 10 miles from our Santa Monica office. First, it didn't freeze anywhere near there. Hasn't in quite a while. Even Sandstone Peak in the nearby Santa Monica Mountains, at a breath-stealing 3,111 feet, hasn't seen genuine freezing temps since last February.
Not to mention that it's 37 miles from where the warning was issued. Big Bear City, in the San Bernardino Mountains, is finally dropping below freezing at night, but it's 141 miles away.
Bottom line? This isn't critical information. It isn't even pertinent to the region where I'm driving. More careful programming of the system is in order.
In a rare moment of Edmunds editorial carpooling, editors Josh Jacquot, Dan Frio and I piled into the 2015 Nissan Murano for a dreaded mid-afternoon drive from Santa Monica down to Orange County.
As Josh and I got in up front, I immediately looked to empty my personal effects somewhere. With both console cupholders being used by (you guessed it) cups, there was precious other space to put things.
My immediate question: "Where's the front bin?"
"Yeah, that's one of the Murano's few faults," Josh agreed.
While Josh settled in for an afternoon snooze home, I sat in the driver's seat looking for some place to put my wallet, cell phone, Edmunds employee badge, Edmunds parking garage card, house keys, key fob and sunglasses. Sure, the Murano has that tiny slot with USB and aux-in ports aft of the shifter, but as just recently mentioned, it's tiny.
The above photo is a reenactment of the events that took place. And highlights the surprising amount of clutter I carry with me everywhere I go.
There's also the center armrest bin, which is admittedly huge. But it's so deep that it's not all that convenient, because stuff gets lost down there in the depths.
The lack of a proper lidded front storage cubby (and it doesn't even need to have a lid) to just shove all your stuff as you get in the car is a bit annoying, and an oversight by Nissan. Still, it's definitely not a deal-breaker for me.
Will the Bike Fit?
In my apparently never-ending "Will the Bike Fit" saga, this week we're going to put the 2015 Nissan Murano to the test.
Ah yes, but we've upped the stakes. It's no longer just a question of whether the bike will simply fit. Instead, it's changed to: Will it fit with all wheels on?
Heck yeah, you bet it will. My size medium 29er hardtail, dubbed "The Miami Device" thanks to its shockingly turquoise paint scheme, fit in the new, larger Murano pretty easily. The new car has 69.9 cubic-feet of max cargo room versus the previous Murano's 64.5 cu.-ft.
Next up: I'll try to fit my road bike into the 2015 Dodge Viper, with all-wheels-on.
What's this, a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel? In a Murano?
Yes. Our 2015 Nissan Murano offers this unexpected little luxury feature on the Platinum trim, a small incentive to upgrade from the SL. This is actually one of those features that you don't appreciate until you have it. If you're the owner and primary driver of the car, you might just set and forget it. Maybe engage it once in awhile if a car wash or restaurant valet needed to adjust it.
But if you share your Murano with other drivers and the steering wheel position moves around often, you'll appreciate this feature.
No fumbling under the column to release a lever, find the optimal steering position, then hold the column steady while you lock the lever back in place. Hopefully you got it comfortable enough that you don't have to adjust it once out on the road. In the Murano, the whole process is motorized and quick. If we need to dial in a few millimeters of comfort once out on the road, it's as easy as pressing the knob in the right direction.
We might file this under our specific occupational hazards, but anyone who rents cars often will also understand. A complementary feature is that the steering column position can be stored in one of two driver memory settings, along with seating and side mirror positions. If there's any criticism to level at this feature, it's that the motor is a little loud. No damped, E-Class subtlety here.
This Platinum trim level, which comes in just below $40,000, also adds a heating element to the steering wheel, as well as LED headlights, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats and 20-inch wheels (we also added the lone option available for the Platinum trim, the Technology package, which added the panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, forward collision alert, and $2,260 to the sticker price.)
The on-demand cam in our 2015 Nissan Murano is a personal favorite creature comfort. I'm surprised more automakers don't offer it. There's not much to it really, but it beats the standard rearview cam that only comes on when you engage reverse. That's because Nissan's Around View Monitor is more than a basic rearview cam.
Press the "camera" button on the infotainment center and the Murano displays a 360-degree birds-eye view of the Murano and its immediate surroundings on half of the screen, and your choice of front-, rear-, or front side-view (shows what's around the front passenger-side wheel) in the other half.
Four cameras — one front, one rear, one on each side — form the top-down composite image. I've found this plenty handy in our office garage, trying to nudge the Murano as close to the wall or lead car as possible in our tight tandem parking spaces. It's simply a handy feature to use with the mirrors when slotting alongside a curb or pulling into or out of a tight driveway.
Our Around View Monitor also has Moving Object Detection — basically a front-, rear- and side-cross-traffic alert system.
Unfortunately, the on-demand view is locked out at speeds above 6 mph, so you'll never see that possum disappear under the undercarriage and come out the other end. Just as well, really.
In soccer, you're always trying for a soft touch. Receiving a pass, you try to dissipate the ball's velocity by making a cradle with the inside of your foot. Football wide receivers and running backs are likewise taught to bring the ball in softly with their hands and forearms and disperse the energy of that 50-mph leather rocket.
Mike Monticello is an arbiter of the soft touch. Gruff on the outside, the man is all marshmallow inside. He likes his cars to have soft landing pads for arms, elbows and knees. I have to believe the 2015 Nissan Murano interior is fully Monti-approved.
Look how squishy that door armrest is. That's almost some memory foam action right there. You can adapt to hard plastic armrests, but it's no fun, especially when you're covering miles. This is one of those details that helps the Murano make an impression. Nice stitching, too.
Another nice detail: knee cushioning. Again, you adapt without it. But it's like good wine. Once you've tasted it, you remember it and suddenly the bar is a little higher. This is another detail that makes the Murano feel a little richer than it is. At $42k, you would hope your SUV can deliver these little luxury touches, but automakers are all over the map on this creature comfort.
Still nice to know you can get this kind of quality on a Nissan and not need to pay the Infiniti premium for it.
Fuel Economy Update for November: Lifetime Creeps Up
It's been a busy couple of months for our 2015 Nissan Murano. In October, we drove it about 2,400 miles. In November, about 2,600. The latter included a couple of long-distance runs to destinations in Northern California and Palm Springs.
That's a pretty good showing given that we're on the verge of 20,000 miles. It's also a testament to how well the Murano does as a long-distance runner. Its creature comforts are many and the cabin such an easy place to sit while burning miles that we'll hit our target and then some by the time the Murano leaves at the end of January.
In November, we averaged 22.9 mpg over nine fills and 110 gallons of fuel. That's a tad higher than the current average lifetime, which crept up two-tenths of a gallon from October.
Worst Fill MPG: 14.6
Best Fill MPG: 28.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 22.4
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 448.4
Current Odometer: 19,194
There's a lot to like about our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano. Its heated front seats, however, don't make the list.
It must be hard to screw up heated seats in 2015, especially in a $40,000-plus crossover where bun warmers have become as ubiquitous as the seat itself. Yet the folks at Nissan have managed to botch the job.
Well, more specifically they managed to botch half the job. The left half.
Incredibly the Murano's heated driver's seat completely ignores the left side of the occupant's body. Crank it up and it cooks your right side, nearly to the point of pain, with an intense hot spot under your right thigh. Meanwhile your left side is literally left out in the cold.
And the lopsided heat distribution is a problem on any of the seat's three levels of intensity.
Really? Questionable heated seats in this day and age, at this price point? Makes you wonder.
Our typical goal for our long-term test vehicles is to amass 20,000 miles in the course of a year. Some cars seem to easily meet the target while other, less-loved models struggle. While I wouldn't describe our 2015 Nissan Murano as "loved" necessarily, it's definitely been popular, and that definitely suggests success.
Our Murano has clicked off 20k after just 10 months in the fleet.
Pleasingly, the Murano has earned plenty of favorable commentary from our staff during that time. We've had nice things to say about its upscale cabin design, comfortable seating, decent cargo space and smooth V6/CVT combo. It's been trouble-free, too, with only dealer visits for scheduled service so far.
I'll be adding even more miles to our Murano over the holidays with a family road trip. It looks like I'll need to get it in for its 20,000-mile service as well.
That's Mike Magrath in our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano with both hands together on the wheel. It's generally frowned upon to drive like this, but in some rare instances in the Nissan, it's necessary.
This was shot (poorly) as we ran the Murano through a tight slalom course. Past the first cone, the power steering was working fine. At the second cone, effort builds significantly. By the third cone, it actually feels like the wheel is fighting against you.
Okay, fine, so most people will never run a Murano through a slalom, but I have encountered this issue in a more common scenario: multiple-point turns.
In my narrow carport area, I need to back cars into a space and that means five- to seven-point turns. If I want to do this in any reasonable timeframe, that means I'm spinning the wheel back and forth very quickly. The Murano simply doesn't want any part of this.
The effort is as strong or even stronger than a car without power steering when you outrun the unit's ability. The only fix seems to be to turn it slower — much slower. If it were a problem common to other cars, it wouldn't warrant a post, but the Murano is the only car that I've experienced thus far that suffers from this.
At least if I needed to swerve out of the way of something on the road and swerve back into my lane, I'm confident there'd be enough time to get the power steering back. If not, that'd be a huge problem.
Nissan Connect Touchscreen Interface Works Well
Our 2015 Nissan Murano is the loaded-up Platinum trim level, which means it comes standard with the 8-inch "Nissan Connect" touchscreen. I've been driving our Murano for about a week straight now and have a few observations on how well this touchscreen's interface works.
For automotive touchscreens, an 8-inch display is a pretty healthy size. Most range from 5 to 8 inches, so this one's on the upper end. In theory, the additional real estate allows the interface designers to create a less cluttered and easier-to-use interface.
Similar to Chrysler's UConnect and Ford's latest Sync 3, the main menu buttons are placed in a row along the bottom of the screen. To the left of the screen on the dashboard console stack are physical buttons for Menu (the home screen), Map and Audio. The touchscreen does not interface with the climate control system.
The screen's graphics and resolution are pretty crisp, and the touchscreen responds quickly to your inputs. It supports smartphone-like inputs. So, for instance, you can swipe across to see additional menu screens, hold your finger down to pan the map screen (navigation comes standard with this system), or swipe down or up to scroll through digital music lists. Response times are quick, for the most part.
You also get full voice command functionality with this system. I've tested it out a few times for selecting and playing music files. It takes a little longer than Sync to get what you want (more confirmation hoops to jump through), but overall its voice recognition capability seems solid.
Other things I like: Bluetooth phone pairing is painless, the satellite radio presets are a full block of 18 channels (you can scan through all 18 instead of going six at a time) and the digital music interface, while a little slow at times, gives you a multiple ways of accessing and selecting files.
Oddly, the main aspect missing with this Nissan Connect interface is being able to "connect" up any sort of useful smartphone app. Right now there is no integration for Pandora, internet radio or other common smartphone apps. This would be "Nissan Connect with Mobile Apps," which isn't available on this system. It is offered on other Nissan touchscreen systems, but nonetheless it's a curious omission on what would seem to be a flagship touchscreen. Nissan has promised upgrades, so presumably at some point this system will have it.
Overall, though, our Murano's touchscreen is one of the better ones on the market. It looks sharp and it's easy to use.
Over Christmas break, I schlepped my wife and two small children to visit my in-laws for a week-long vacation. I'd originally hoped to secure the Honda Pilot or Kia Sedona in our fleet since I hadn't yet driven either, and I figured the extra space and seating could be useful. Alas, neither was available, but my fallback vehicle, the 2015 Nissan Murano, was, so I signed it out for my 800-mile family road trip.
As my two young children are a little older now (ages four and eight), they thankfully don't require nearly as much travel-oriented accessorizing as they once did. Still, with presents, baked goods and the typical vacation luggage, we packed the Murano's 39.6-cubic feet luggage area pretty full.
That capacity is similar to what you get from popular compact crossovers like the Nissan Rogue and Honda CR-V. The Murano does provide more rear seat space and some extra width compared to those vehicles, but I still needed to pack some overflow items on the second-row middle seat, between the kids, and in the foot well areas. With everything loaded up, the Murano was near capacity, but not to the point of anyone being uncomfortable.
Indeed, comfort is one of the Murano's better qualities. It rode smoothly and remained quiet on the highway. Front seat comfort was excellent (further helped out by the thickly-padded armrests) and my children had plenty of legroom. As Editor Mike Monticello observed recently, the lack of a front bin meant my wife and I had to fight over the front cupholders for both water bottles and personal items. But the big center armrest bin proved useful for holding items like snacks. For smartphone charging, we used both of the Murano's USB ports.
I also grew to like our Murano's V6/CVT combo even more. Acceleration for highway passing and the like was respectable (we previously timed 0-60 mph acceleration at 7.5 seconds) and the powertrain's overall smoothness was much appreciated. Especially on hills or long mountain grades, the CVT dialed in just the right rpm to hold a steady and confident speed.
Fuel economy for the trip tallied up at 24.2 mpg. There was some city driving mixed in with the trip, and California holiday highway traffic tends to move along briskly, so achieving what is essentially the EPA combined rating (24 mpg), despite a high percentage of highway miles, seems reasonable to me.
Overall, the Murano was a solid road-tripping companion.
As noted in our previous update, our 2015 Nissan Murano sailed past 20,000 miles recently. That meant it was due for scheduled maintenance. I looked up the recommended 20,000-mile service in the owner's manual, then booked an appointment at Stadium Nissan in Orange, California.
The required service included an oil and filter change, replacement of the engine air filter, a tire rotation and a brake fluid change. Peter, my service advisor at Stadium Nissan, was friendly. While we chit-chatted, I learned that he and his wife, who is six months pregnant, just bought a new Nisssan Murano as well. Congrats to them. I think they made a solid choice for a family vehicle.
The service took about two hours and then I was on my way.
Remember that you can write and read reviews of dealers on Edmunds.com.
Labor: $96.76
Parts: $72.24
Total Invoice: $174.78 (with tax)
Fuel Economy Update for December — MPG Trends Up
December was another popular month for our 2015 Nissan Murano. We drove it about 2,000 miles, cresting 20,000 miles along the way. Many of those miles were on the highway, and that contributed to maintaining the fuel economy upswing we've seen the past few months.
For December 2015, we averaged 23.4 mpg. That's a bit better than November (22.9 mpg) and it helped push our lifetime mpg up another tenth to 22.5 mpg. Our long-term Murano test is nearing its end so what we have here is pretty close to our final fuel economy.
At 22.5 mpg, we're still below the EPA's combined driving estimate of 24 mpg. But most of our long-term test cars end up a bit shy of their respective combined estimates so I'm not surprised here. The way I see it, our Murano's got a solid powertrain that will get you fuel economy in the low/mid 20s, depending on your driving conditions and style. If this was my Murano, I'd be satisfied with that.
Worst Fill MPG: 14.6
Best Fill MPG: 28.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 22.5
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 448.4 miles
Current Odometer: 21,412 miles
I've spent a lot of time with our 2015 Nissan Murano recently. It's proved to be a comfortable and stylish family cruiser. This comes at the expense of some sport, though. Previous-generation Muranos were known for above-average handling.
Having enthusiastically guided our Murano around a few turns recently, this new third-gen Murano didn't do much for me. But it's not a wobbly mess, either.
We didn't have much nice to say in our official track test, noting it "feels more like a minivan or tall SUV" in the slalom test. Ouch. Within urban confines, the word "competent" mostly comes to my mind. The suspension tuning is soft, which results in noticeable lean when going around a turn. But it seems well-mannered enough within its own modest limits. Get frisky and the stability control system cuts in before anything remotely dangerous can happen.
The Murano might feel livelier were it not for a couple additional limiting factors. As James noted previously, it's hard to park and see out of because of that tall hood. And then there's the steering, which Mark observed as being quite slow. It feels a bit wide and bulky at times, too.
Here's the thing, though. I don't think any mainstream midsize crossover SUV is going to inspire backroad wanderlust in me. Maybe the new Ford Edge Sport would a little, with its turbo V6 and sport-tuned suspension.
But the Jeep Grand Cherokee? Kia Sorento? Hyundai Santa Fe Sport? Nope, nope and nope. This class is all about comfort and refinement now. Dial up some smooth jazz on your media player/phone and relax on your way to the office.
When it comes to our 2015 Nissan Murano, my criticisms are few and far between. Dan Frio beat me to the punch when he extolled the plushness of the Murano's cabin. There are many luxury brands that haven't executed soft touch half as well as Nissan has here.
Comfort is a big reason I choose the Murano for many of my longer drives, and like Ed Hellwig, I find that the adaptive cruise control is a real boon in slow, soul-sucking traffic (not so much on the open road, however).
But there are a couple of holes in the Murano's long game, and they're related to the electronics.
Connecting a smart phone via USB cable affords you control of your media through the Murano's touch screen. This keeps your phone out of your hand and frees you of temptation to read text messages or check how many people have 'liked' the video you posted of that levitating Bonsai tree.
The first issue I have with this system is the short window of time you get to make a music selection. Linger too long on an artist or podcast list and the system will take you back to the home screen pictured above, requiring you to dig through the menu layers all over again. Let me linger, damn it!
The second issue is more of a system glitch that happens when you're too enthusiastic with your song requests. Communication between the audio system and phone gets jumbled and you're presented with the lovely screen below:
Often the Screen of Contempt, as I like to call it, requires you to make a clean break in order to rebuild relations. You acknowledge you're sorry, disconnect and reconnect the smartphone cable, and then wait for the system to come around. Occasionally the SOC will pop up mid-song/podcast, unprovoked, which is a larger inconvenience than it sounds.
A workaround for this is to use the Bluetooth audio connection instead. But then you're left thumbing your phone's music controls and draining its battery juice instead of running off the Murano's energy supply.
The last issue has thankfully only occurred once so far, but has the potential to create a fair amount of annoyance. As Riswick pointed out in an earlier post, our Murano is not the easiest vehicle to judge spatially, so the Around View monitor system is something you often rely on to keep paint on the fenders.
It may be difficult to see, but the driver's side camera has gone dark. I tried shifting in and out of reverse and even restarted the car, but was unsuccessful in convincing this camera to wake up. The camera worked the next time I called on its services, which saved us a trip to the dealer. But if this becomes a common occurrence, it's likely to cause some fits among the staff.
Murano, you're still OK by me.
It's that time of year, when little girls in green are peddling their Thin Mint and Trefoil boxes, both door-to-door and in front of stores.
Like most wares, these cookies must pass through a giant warehouse prior to point-of-sale distribution. This year, one of my fellow Girl Scout Moms volunteered to pick up the bulk of our troop's 90 cases of cookies in her 2014 Toyota Sienna. As our long-term 2015 Kia Sedona was already in service elsewhere, who was I to argue?
Ultimately, only 19 cases were relegated to the cargo hold in our 2015 Nissan Murano — all of which my daughter will be busting her behind this week to unload on our very generous family, friends and neighbors.
Frontal Collision Mitigation Could Be Worth the Cost
I saw an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report a couple days ago about the effectiveness of frontal collision warning and mitigation systems. According to the IIHS study, having a frontal collision warning system on a vehicle can reduce the likelihood of a front-end crash (i.e., the driver rear-ends somebody) by 23 percent.
If the vehicle has frontal collision warning and a mitigation system with automatic braking, the likelihood of a frontal collision drops by about 40 percent on average, the IIHS says.
Our 2015 Nissan Murano happens to have both systems.
We've got a Murano Platinum. On that top trim level (and the one below the SL trim) Nissan offers the Technology package, which includes the panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control (which we haven't been terribly fond of) and the forward collision warning and mitigation system. That package has an MSRP of $2,260.
Unrelated to the report, the IIHS has also tested the Murano's forward collision warning/mitigation system and gave it a "Superior" score.
So is the package's cost worth it? I suppose that's going to depend on the individual Murano buyer. But it seems to me there's greater chance for driver distraction than ever before (smartphones, touchscreen interfaces) and if the system saves you from getting into an accident or even a little fender-bender just once during the time you own the car, you could probably say that the Technology package is worth the cost.
Here's a Nissan video of the system. I haven't experienced our Murano's collision mitigation system (thankfully!) but I do like the way the system is tuned overall for balance. It gives you a warning for a real imminent collision without going overboard on every single possible situation.
Fuel Economy Update for January — More of the Same
Our long-term 2015 Nissan Murano traveled just shy of 2,000 miles in January, our last full month with the crossover, but we saw no change in any of our overall numbers. A few came close, however.
January's best tank was 27.8 mpg, the second-best overall average in our year with the car, although the 244 miles of range was nowhere near the top. We did achieve a noteworthy range of 382.9 miles on a single tank in January, definitely one of the best that we've seen, but again, not record-breaking.
We're still a little below the combined EPA rating of 24 mpg but slightly above the city rating of 21 mpg. This is pretty typical for Edmunds' long-term vehicles as our Southern California location skews things towards the city rating.
Worst Fill MPG: 14.6
Best Fill MPG: 28.0
Average Lifetime MPG: 22.5
EPA MPG Rating: 24 Combined (21 city/28 highway)
Best Range: 448.4 miles
Current Odometer: 23,388 miles
Wrap-Up
What We Got
The Nissan Murano midsize crossover is now in its third generation, and although it's not the largest Nissan SUV, the company has made it clear that it considers the Murano its style and technology showcase.
In order to sample all that the Murano offers, our test vehicle was the top-tier Platinum trim with front-wheel drive. The Platinum model includes most of the things you would expect from a high trim package. This means LED headlights, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, leather throughout, 20-inch wheels, navigation and a back-up camera.
We added the $2,260 Technology package, the only option available on the Platinum. This adds a panoramic roof, adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning with active braking. All in, our tester rang up at $42,145.
Over 12 months and 23,388 miles, here's what we found:
Performance
"From 20-70 mph, the Murano slingshots with zero hesitation. You need to suppress the urge to be that guy and start overtaking everything in sight. More practically, the 260-horsepower V6/CVT combination makes it easy to keep pace with traffic with pleasant precision." — Dan Frio
"I think our Murano gives you a nice balance of comfort and composure. It is not borderline-sporty like the first-generation Murano (I never drove the second-generation version). But it'll go around a challenging highway interchange without going limp, while the ride is comfortable and serene to an extent that any parent will appreciate." — Erin Riches
MPG
"At 22.5 mpg, we're still below the EPA's combined driving estimate of 24 mpg. But most of our long-term test cars end up a bit shy of their respective combined estimates, so I'm not surprised here. The way I see it, our Murano's got a solid powertrain that will get you fuel economy in the low/mid 20s, depending on your driving conditions and style. If this was my Murano, I'd be satisfied with that." — Brent Romans
"The new low mark stands at 14.7 mpg after 220 miles of driving on a nearly full tank. That's way off the EPA's city estimate of 21 mpg. The numbers check out, though, so there's no obvious excuse or explanation other than we apparently drove around with a heavy right foot. We're also down to 21.9 mpg lifetime, from 22.0 last month." — Brent Romans
Comfort
"If you live in a place that gets hot more than a few weeks out of the year, the ventilated seats in the 2015 Nissan Murano deserve consideration. During a toasty weekend here in Southern California — the first official weekend of summer — I used them constantly. After a while, I realized that I barely needed the normal air-conditioning most of the time. Turns out, having air blowing right onto your backside does a surprisingly good job of keeping you cool." — Ed Hellwig
"Here's the thing. The seats really are comfortable, which became immediately apparent on the drive. At least in regard to my back, the difference between the Jaguar and Murano seats was as dramatic as being waterboarded or floating in a sun-drenched pool, with beautiful maidens gently cooling me with freshly cut palm fronds. OK, maybe the pain meds just kicked in." — Mark Takahashi
Cargo Space
"For me, the Murano fits perfectly. It'll swallow a 10-foot surfboard whole, with room to spare for a rear passenger and other board meeting essentials. Sure, there are other alternatives to transporting longer items, like strapping said items to a roof-mounted rack, but nothing is as secure as keeping your valuables in cabin, under lock and key." — Jonathan Elfalan
"To its credit, the Nissan was spacious. The spec sheet claims 39.6 cubic feet in cargo area, but other specs actually make using that space more practical. When open at its lowest point, the hatch was 73 inches from the ground, lessening the chances of my 74-inch frame hitting it. The load floor sits a reasonable 31 inches high, limiting lower back strain for awkward items like strollers. Load floor dimensions are 43 inches wide at the wheelwells, increasing slightly in front of them, and 35 inches deep. As an unexpected bonus, rear headrests extend nearly to the roof. This meant I could pack softer items up top without fear of them falling into the passenger area." — Mike Schmidt
Interior
"The piano black trim element surrounding the climate controls in the center stack bows outward from the center. There are also a few small scratches that are visible in the image. I tried to push it in a little, thinking that maybe a little fastener wasn't catching, but it doesn't feel like it. Perhaps it'll be checked out if it goes in for service before it leaves our fleet. Otherwise, the interior is holding up quite well." — Mark Takahashi
"Instead of going the full convertible route, the latest Murano offers an optional panoramic sunroof. It stretches all the way from above the driver's head to the middle of the second row. It's huge and does a great job of giving the interior a more open feel, especially in the backseat where it's needed most." — Ed Hellwig
Audio and Technology
"It may be difficult to see, but the driver's side camera has gone dark. I tried shifting in and out of Reverse and even restarted the car, but was unsuccessful in convincing this camera to wake up. The camera worked the next time I called on its services, which saved us a trip to the dealer. But if this becomes a common occurrence, it's likely to cause some fits among the staff." — Jonathan Elfalan
"What would you say is the most frequently used steering wheel control? Perhaps I don't make many Bluetooth phone calls, perhaps I don't fiddle with the trip computer that much, and perhaps I'm loath to use voice controls. However, I am constantly changing stereo volume. In the 2015 Nissan Murano, however, the steering wheel volume control is not on the easily reachable wheel spoke. Instead, it's considerably lower and not comfortable to reach. Why is it all the way down there?" — James Riswick
Maintenance
"The total came to $91.38, steep for this kind of minor service. If I had shopped around a bit, I may have found a different dealer offering service specials. Cerritos Nissan had a $34.95 oil change special, and Stokes Tire Service rotates SUV tires for $25. Instead I paid extra for one-stop convenience." — Cameron Rogers
"The first service for our 2015 Nissan Murano, you might remember, wasn't exactly cheap at around $92. So we were prepared to spend another Benjamin when it came time for the next scheduled service at 10,000 miles. But the Murano proved a popular car during the summer, someone always asking if they could 'just borrow it for a weekend or a short road trip.' Before we knew it, we were overdue for a 10K service." — Dan Frio
Miscellaneous
"The dash is tall and the hood rises to a peak even higher than that, then cascades down out of sight, completely eliminating the possibility of knowing where that highly styled shnoz ends. The Murano is also quite wide, and that nebulous forward visibility makes it feel even wider. Add to this the oddly heavy low-speed steering effort and there you have my conclusion: not easy to park." — James Riswick
"While driving for road tests and ratings lately, I've noticed that many cars have very light steering effort. On a winding road I like a decent amount of effort, while in parking lots I want it feather-light. Our 2015 Nissan Murano doesn't quite get this. The Murano, for example, requires an 87-point turn to back into my new apartment's carport. I swear one day I'm going to Austin Powers myself between the walls. All this 'scoot forward a foot, spin the wheel, back up a foot, spin the wheel' stuff highlights how heavy the steering effort is in our long-term Murano. It might actually be the heaviest I've encountered in a few years." — Mark Takahashi
Maintenance & Repairs
Regular Maintenance:
The Murano calls for service every 5,000 miles. Given that we topped the 20,000-mile mark, this meant four scheduled dealer visits that ended up costing $634.76. Fortunately the Murano never had to visit the dealer outside of its regular service intervals.
Service Campaigns:
None.
Fuel Economy and Resale Value
Observed Fuel Economy:
EPA fuel economy estimates for the Murano were 24 mpg combined (21 city/28 highway). We averaged 22.5 mpg over 12 months and 23,388 miles. Our best tank matched the highway estimate at 28 mpg, while the worst was an abysmal 14.7 mpg. The best range we achieved was 448.4 miles.
Resale and Depreciation:
Our Murano had an as-test MSRP of $42,145. After 12 months and 23,388 miles the Edmunds TMV® Calculator valued our tester at $31,302, based on a private-party sale. That's 26 percent depreciation, less than our 2014 Nissan Rogue, but more than our 2014 Acura MDX.
Summing Up
Pros:
Great seats that are comfortable for the long haul; flexible cargo space makes it feel bigger than its numbers suggest; strong V6 means you're never short on passing power; overall mileage number was close to its EPA rating; no problems in the first 23,000 miles.
Cons:
Steering is heavy and the turning circle is wide; dashboard controls aren't always intuitive; rearward visibility is hampered by large roof pillars.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to two-row midsize crossovers, they don't get much more practical or comfortable than the Nissan Murano. It's fast when you need it to be, swallows passengers and cargo with ease and will deliver reasonable mileage if you drive it conservatively. Heavy steering and a few odd controls are the only drawbacks to this otherwise reliable and enjoyable crossover.
| Total Body Repair Costs: | None |
| Total Routine Maintenance Costs: | $634.76 (over 12 months) |
| Additional Maintenance Costs: | None |
| Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Non-Warranty Repairs: | None |
| Scheduled Dealer Visits: | 4 |
| Unscheduled Dealer Visits: | None |
| Days Out of Service: | None |
| Breakdowns Stranding Driver: | None |
| Best Fuel Economy: | 28.0 mpg |
| Worst Fuel Economy: | 14.7 mpg |
| Average Fuel Economy: | 22.5 mpg |
| True Market Value at service end: | $31,302 (private-party sale) |
| Depreciation: | $10,845 (26% of original MSRP) |
| Final Odometer Reading: | 23,388 miles |
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.