Researching CUVs

[willy whanka]

I'm in the process of researching CUVs and still am in need of determining whether or not I should commit to the 09 Murano. Can I have all the pros and cons of why I should/should not buy the Murano? I know this may sound impossible to do, but please be objective. This car might become a wedding gift to me and I need all the best reasons possible to convince my parents of investing in this "hideous" car (their opinion, not mine).

THANK YOU ALL in advance!

*BTW I am leaning twds the Murano over the CX-9, CX-7, MDX/RDX and Highlander as of now.

[laurin1]

I'm in the process of researching CUVs and still am in need of determining whether or not I should commit to the 09 Murano. Can I have all the pros and cons of why I should/should not buy the Murano? I know this may sound impossible to do, but please be objective. This car might become a wedding gift to me and I need all the best reasons possible to convince my parents of investing in this "hideous" car (their opinion, not mine).

THANK YOU ALL in advance!

*BTW I am leaning twds the Murano over the CX-9, CX-7, MDX/RDX and Highlander as of now.

In my opinion, it's the best thing out there in terms of technology and convenience. The only comparison at the time I bought my 09 LE AWD, was the EX35 (same exact tech package, sans 4 way cameras) and it's just too small. The FX is going to have the same package in the 09 model. I like the look of the CX series, but not the RDX, but looks to me are not as important as the overall functionality and quality of the vehicle. The Murano is well-built, it seems. Rides great and gets decent mileage (I'm getting about 20 overall.) I am continually impressed at how smart the designers were with the features.

The Bose system sounds fantastic. I liked the Lexus CUV, but they don't make it where you can get Satellite AND iPod, only one or the other (that sounds insane to me.)

Of course, I'm a techno-nerd for a living and for fun, so I am totally sold on how much geeky crap there is on this vehicle. I love it and will probably drive it for a long time (which for me might be a couple of years.

[brainguyus]

When I decided to buy a new car this year my criteria was interior styling, comfort, gas mileage and overall cost of maintenance (the latter pretty much wiped out any German vehicles). Fortunately the car show was in town and I was able to sample all the '08/'09 models under one roof.

I'm a pretty big guy, so the Prius and similar size vehicles were out of the question. As much as I tried I just couldn't find a small car that was both comfortable and had the features I wanted. So I had to lower my mileage standards a bit and look at larger vehicles.

My choices were narrowed down to the Lincoln MKZ, Hyundai Veracruz, and the Murano.

The Veracruz was at the top of the list as far as styling, comfort and features, but the gas mileage was terrible (15mpg city for the AWD model). About the same as the 2000 Frontier I was trading. Had the gas mileage been better this is the car I would have purchased.

That left the decision between the MKZ and Murano.

The MKZ was a gorgeous car that has similar features to the Murano. Gas mileage estimates between the two were equal. (It turns out my actual gas mileage with the AWD CVT is much better than estimated...22mpg...mostly city driving!) As far as styling and comfort I rated the two about the same in styling, but the Murano had more space and was much more comfortable. In addition I've owned many Nissans over the years and the reliability has been flawless, so I decided to go with the known.

I've had this car for over a month now and I absolutely LOVE it! I can't personally think of a single reason not to buy a Murano.

Well, that was my (long winded ) thought process which led to my purchase. I hope it helps.

[martinrrrr]

Well for me, here is the decision process that I went through. After I decided that I wanted an SUV/CUV I looked at all within a certain size/footprint, then I looked at the price and the MPG and then the repair and reliability records for many years. After filtering the list to these criteria I read every car review that I could find for all vehicles that were in my database. For the money, the Murano was the winner. I have the SL with almost all of the bells and whistles and it is a very comfortable drive. The second place was a used Lexus RX 330. The one major knock against the Lexus was that any repair part would carry a premium. Why, because it's a Lexus. In other words the cost per mile for a Lexus is much more than the Murano. Besides, a good used Lexus with comparable features was as much or more than the brand new Murano. The Mazda was thirds but the reliability was not as good.

[Timmbo]

I'm in the process of researching CUVs and still am in need of determining whether or not I should commit to the 09 Murano. Can I have all the pros and cons of why I should/should not buy the Murano? I know this may sound impossible to do, but please be objective. This car might become a wedding gift to me and I need all the best reasons possible to convince my parents of investing in this "hideous" car (their opinion, not mine).

THANK YOU ALL in advance!

*BTW I am leaning twds the Murano over the CX-9, CX-7, MDX/RDX and Highlander as of now.

First off, WELCOME TO NICOclub! Glad you are here, hope you enjoy the Murano Forum!

Check out the Review/First drive I did a few months ago here:

zerothread/312931

I am picking up my loaded LE Tinted Bronze on June 11th!