2009 Nissan Murano: She Said, She Said

Nissan may have found two new advocates for its recently redesigned Murano. Beth and Amanda discuss living with it daily in the city and on a weekend road trip, along with their surprising love — or lack thereof — of the SUV/crossover segment as a whole. Yes, you read that right.

Beth: The Nissan Murano is great at what it does. It’s a midsize crossover with five seats and a generous cargo area, just the right amount of power, a comfortable ride and enough amenities to be practical without crossing the line into indulgent. If I had a couple of small children, an interest in antiques or the need to make frequent home-improvement-store runs, I’m fairly sure I’d be head-over-heels in love with it. For a single girl who lives in the city, though, it just strikes me as too much car.

Amanda: I can always count on the two of us having opposing views on the SUVs we drive. I didn’t think the Murano was too big at all. If anything, I was surprised by how much more compact it was from what I pictured. We often get cars I fall in love with (like the adorable Volvo C30), but that I can’t ever see myself buying because they don’t ultimately suit my needs or budget. The Murano, however, is a car I could actually picture myself buying whenever my ’99 Ford Explorer calls it quits. I really don’t have much to complain about with this car. And don’t underestimate the fun that can be had at Home Depot on a Saturday morning!

Nissan Offering Zero Percent Financing on Five Models

Nissan has been offering cash back on its models sporadically for a while now, but the company has yet to really ramp up its financing offers the way some other companies have. That will change in November. Starting Nov. 4, Nissan will offer customers 0% financing for 36 months on its most popular models: the Rogue, Murano, Altima, Sentra and Versa hatchback. The offer ends Nov. 30.

What does that mean for buyers? Let’s take a Versa hatchback with a price of $16,210. Using our financing calculator, the difference in monthly payments between the current average financing rate for new cars, 6.6%, and a 0.0% one is about $40 a month – from $436.16 to $394.72 on a 36-month deal with $2,000 down for a total savings of $1,492. Obviously, the more expensive the car, the more 0% adds to the bottom line.

Nissan is also offering $199 per month lease deals on Rogue and Altima.

Check out a full list of current incentives on our Cars.com Incentives page.

Reader Review of the Week: 2009 Nissan Murano

Today's reviewer is an ex-minivan owner who wanted a solid crossover to replace the old standard family-lugger. After test driving several vehicles, the driver settled on Nissan's Murano SL. The reviewer points to the overall strengths of the vehicle, but also notes a few details Nissan could improve upon. After you read this driver's take, check out what our expert reviewers had to say. Also, you can post your own review here.

Video: 2009 Nissan Murano

Senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder reviewed the new Nissan Murano a few weeks ago, but now he gets the new crossover in front of the camera for this video. The rundown shows off the Murano’s features, including a slightly odd cover for the rear cargo area and power-raising rear seats. Very nifty.

Video: 2009 Nissan Murano
2009 Nissan Murano Expert Review

Season Recap: The Best SUVs

We’ve already recapped our favorite efficient cars and hybrids, but what about the SUVs? Even with sky-high gas prices, new SUVs of all sizes are coming to market. This year brought some of the best interiors and fuel efficiency yet in this segment, but what glorified station wagon took our staff’s hearts?

Joe Wiesenfelder: 2009 Volvo XC60
Put simply, there were some impressive redesigns this year, but I have to go with an all-new entry — especially when it's a smaller alternative to an existing SUV: The XC60 is a handsome vehicle with a high-quality interior and all the safety features you could possibly want. It isn't too small in practical terms compared to the XC90, but it is smaller. These days, smaller is better.

Nissan Murano Earns Top Safety Pick

The redesigned 2009 Nissan Murano has earned a Top Safety Pick rating among 10 midsize SUVs crash-tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Murano was the only SUV to get a Top Safety Pick honor by scoring Good in all three crash tests. (Results in front, side and rear crash tests by IIHS are rated as Good, Acceptable, Marginal or Poor.) The 2008 Mazda CX-7 and Mazda CX-9, as well as the 2008 Mitsubishi Endeavor, fell short of the Top Safety Pick rating, IIHS says, because head-rest protection in rear crash tests was rated Marginal in the Mazdas and Poor in the Mitsubishi.

Though many would classify the Murano, CX-7 and CX-9 as crossovers, IIHS classifies them as SUVs.

 

Recall Alert: 2009 Nissan Murano, 2008 Infiniti EX35

Two major new products from Nissan are being recalled due to a software glitch that could cause passenger airbags to fail during a crash.

The recall affects 11,511 2009 Nissan Muranos, which went on sale just this month, and 4,854 2008 Infiniti EX35s, which went on sale in late 2007. Nissan will reprogram the software to fix the problem; it should be an easy fix to a potentially dangerous problem.

First-year models often have growing pains with problems like this, but sometimes news of a recall can sway potential buyers of a new model.

Owners can contact Infiniti at 1-800-662-6200 and Nissan at 1-800-647-7261 for more information.

Nissan Recalls Murano, Infiniti SUVs for Airbag (Bloomberg)

2009 Nissan Murano Pricing Announced

Nissan announced pricing for the 2009 Murano today, and it starts at $26,330. That gets you a two-wheel-drive Murano S with a V-6 and continuously variable automatic transmission. All-wheel drive runs $1,600, and the top-of-the-line Murano LE AWD costs $35,910. For S and SE trims, 2009 prices dropped $1,500 versus the 2007 Murano (Nissan didn’t offer an ’08). The 2009 S loses a handful of minor features, like a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, versus last year’s S, but it’s still pretty well-equipped; standard features include dual-zone climate control, push-button start and all the usual power accessories. For the $1,500 saved, we won’t mind reaching a little farther to adjust the radio. A full pricing breakdown is below.

• Murano S 2WD: $26,330
• Murano SL 2WD: $27,880
• Murano S AWD: $27,930
• Murano SL AWD: $29,480
• Murano LE AWD: $35,910

Destination charge: $745

Major options for the SL and LE include a dual-panel moonroof ($1,170), navigation system ($1,850) and DVD player ($1,600). Expect a loaded Murano LE to run just over $40,000.

Joe Wiesenfelder reviews the 2009 Murano (Cars.com)

Cars.com Reviews the 2009 Nissan Murano

It may not have a price yet, but that didn’t stop Cars.com senior editor Joe Wiesenfelder from reviewing the all-new 2009 Nissan Murano. The redesigned SUV is due out next month and won rave reviews from our editors under the lights of the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Joe gives a thorough review of the Murano to see if it stands up as well on the road.

2009 Nissan Murano Expert Review

L.A. Auto Show Ultimate Production Winner: 2009 Nissan Murano

Yesterday, Mike Hanley, David Thomas and Joe Wiesenfelder rated all the production and concept cars on display at the L.A. auto show, which runs through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center (and yes, it’s open on Thanksgiving). We named a lot of winners and losers, but in the end there was just one vehicle that really wowed us in every way: the Nissan Murano.