Hey guys. I'm having a hard time making a decision. Here is the deal. I have a 300zx twin turbo with upgrades and I won't drive it in the winter so I need a winter driver or daily driver. Here is the problem. I have a problem with fast cars and I at least need something to beable to smoke those stupid little civics with a fart can but I can't decide what I want to get. Here are the positives and negitives and the questions I have about both. I will be looking at 2003s.
Altima 3.5Plus-Great Power and simple intake, exhaust and headers will give great gains.-People won't expect it to be fast.-Lower insurance.-Wife wants me to get this.-Manual Transmission
Negitive-Find myself looking up turbo kits and I'm afraid I will decide to drop a turbo in the thing and it will no longer be a winter driver.-Poor traction with added power.
Murano 3.5Plus-Great family car when we decide to have kids.-Even less people would expect this to be fast.-AWD-Decent power and fairly light weight.-Fairly quick to start and could do intake, exhaust, headers.-Can't make it extremely fast because of transmission which is both good and bad for what I want lol.
Negitives-Automatic transmission and I have heard they don't last real long with added power so intake and exhaust might hurt it and turbos are out of the question. Question-could they put a manual transmission in it if the CVT went out?-Would take quite a bit just to catch up to the altimas performance
Bascly I love the power and potential of the Altima I'm just afraid I might turn it into a machine and I love the way the murano looks and it would probably limit my upgrades but I'm worried about having to get a new transmission.What do you guys think? Thanks
Murano or Altima
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brainguyus
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Re: Murano or Altima (vikesfankevin)
Sounds like no matter what you're going to add a few mods and end up occasionally beating the car.
I have an '09 Murano, so I don't know too much about the '03's. I have heard that the CVT is weak for this model year but I'd take that with a grain of salt and do a little more research. If you adhere to your reason for buying the car the AWD for a would serve the purpose as a winter car better than the Altima FWD.
I have an '09 Murano, so I don't know too much about the '03's. I have heard that the CVT is weak for this model year but I'd take that with a grain of salt and do a little more research. If you adhere to your reason for buying the car the AWD for a would serve the purpose as a winter car better than the Altima FWD.
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Desert Rat
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Re: Murano or Altima (brainguyus)
You're not going to win a lot of races with the Murano. It's not that fast. If you want something that's roomy with AWD confidence, it's the right vehicle, but if you want to win the stoplight gran prix, get the Altima.
Since you have the Z already, not sure what the point is of having another fast car. I'm content with two slow trucks, a Murano, and my Z28. Of course I also have a bike to move around on as well.
Since you have the Z already, not sure what the point is of having another fast car. I'm content with two slow trucks, a Murano, and my Z28. Of course I also have a bike to move around on as well.
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kerrton
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Re: Murano or Altima (Desert Rat)
This is a no brainer argument for me, go for the Altima, the 03 Murano CVT is something to definately avoid.
The current Nissan CVT's have been compeltely redesigned since 2003, so that tells you that the 03 CVT is not a good design. Of course you could get lucky and get years of good use out of the 03 Murano, but based on the fact that you're going to drive it hard some or all of the time, I'd strongly recommend staying away from the 2003 Murano because of the weak CVT. Just look over the 2003 CVT problems thread to get an idea of the problems a lot of people are having, not saying everyone will have them but if you do have problems, it is NOT possible to retrofit a manual transmission, and it is NOT possible to repair/rebuild, it must be replaced with a brand new unit that will cost around $5000. The Murano is a great vehicle, but stay away from the 2003 year unless you feel lucky or you don't plan to keep the vehicle for very long, however it's already 6 years old so you could be getting into prime time for CVT problems.
On the other hand the Altima is a sweet vehicle with tons of aftermarket options, and great reliabiilty ratings, manual transmission is much more reliable and cheaper to fix if you do have problems, I'd highly recommend it.
The current Nissan CVT's have been compeltely redesigned since 2003, so that tells you that the 03 CVT is not a good design. Of course you could get lucky and get years of good use out of the 03 Murano, but based on the fact that you're going to drive it hard some or all of the time, I'd strongly recommend staying away from the 2003 Murano because of the weak CVT. Just look over the 2003 CVT problems thread to get an idea of the problems a lot of people are having, not saying everyone will have them but if you do have problems, it is NOT possible to retrofit a manual transmission, and it is NOT possible to repair/rebuild, it must be replaced with a brand new unit that will cost around $5000. The Murano is a great vehicle, but stay away from the 2003 year unless you feel lucky or you don't plan to keep the vehicle for very long, however it's already 6 years old so you could be getting into prime time for CVT problems.
On the other hand the Altima is a sweet vehicle with tons of aftermarket options, and great reliabiilty ratings, manual transmission is much more reliable and cheaper to fix if you do have problems, I'd highly recommend it.
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vikesfankevin
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Re: Murano or Altima (vikesfankevin)
Thanks guys. I think I will go for the Altima for sure unless I have the money for a new murano. Money is a big factor too
Re: Murano or Altima (vikesfankevin)
The Murano is a slouch…I’ve never driven an Altima, but would assume that it is more capable of meeting your needs than the Murano. The CVT, although it works as it is designed, take A LOT of getting used to. Personally I hate it, but it is bearable.