The Nissan Murano marked the brand’s entry into the US crossover market back in 2002 and it borrowed the third-gen Nissan Maxima’s FF_L platform. The crossover has always given stiff competition to its rivals from other Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota and Subaru in terms of comfort and reliability, and the slightly updated 2011 Murano makes things even better. The latest version of the SUV has seen zero recalls to date along with facing only 126 complaints, which is a decent number when compared to the 53,626 units of the SUV sold. Most of the complainants faced problems with the SUVs' powertrain and brakes, where the main issues were failures. The Nissan Murano rivals the Mazda CX-9, the Hyundai Santa Fe, and the Ford Edge.
Nissan Murano user complaints and problems
Powertrain problems
- Sudden power loss: Some cases of sudden power loss have been reported against the 2021 Nissan Murano. While driving, the powertrains lost the ability to accelerate and the owners had to coast the vehicles to safety.
- Cracked engine mounts: A single case of cracked engine mounts was reported. The complainant reported that four engine mounts were cracked and required replacement.
- Transmission failure: A lot of cases of transmission failures occurred with the 2011 Nissan Murano. The CVT units of the affected vehicles failed prematurely. The symptoms were sudden loss of acceleration, engine stalling, transmission slipping, and laggy acceleration in an intermittent manner. In some cases, the transmissions failed completely and were replaced.
Safety problems
- Non-deployment of airbags: During the event of crashes, the airbags of the affected vehicles failed to deploy completely. As a result, the owners and the occupants suffered injuries. One owner had to undergo back surgery due to the seriousness of the injuries as well.
- Brake failure: Besides the airbag issues, several owners complained about brake failures with their vehicles too. While driving, the brakes failed suddenly and the brake pedals went all the way to the floor in most cases. Surprisingly, there has been no recall regarding the braking issues as well.
Miscellaneous problems
- Shattering sunroof: Some cases have been reported mentioning this issue. The sunroofs of the affected vehicles shattered suddenly and there were no external impacts found after the occurrences.
- Door lock actuator failure: The door lock actuators of some 2011 Nissan Murano units failed randomly. As a result, the owners were unable to open the doors in some cases while entering or exiting the vehicles.
2011 Nissan Murano recalls
The 2011 Nissan Murano hasn’t faced any recalls yet.
Should you buy a used Nissan Murano?
The Nissan Murano offers a great package at appealing price tags, fully capable to fight it out with its peers. However, it lacks in terms of cargo capacity which might be a dealbreaker for the shoppers prioritizing trunk space. In terms of reliability, the SUV is a solid option in its class but there have been some issues with the CVT of some units and Nissan’s CVTs don't have a good name in the market either. Other than the transmission issues, the brake failures also pose a significant threat in terms of safety. While getting a used model of the Murano, do check out the transmission and brake problems on the particular model.
