2010 Nissan Murano Review
The 2010 Nissan Murano. It's a good-looking people hauler with a great transmission but
it's not a good value and it's just not very interesting. I'm Molly Wood. Let's get inside
and check the tech.
And that's a wrap. Well, pretty close anyway. See, Nissan gave us the base model
Murano, the S, which has absolutely nothing in it in the way of interesting tech. Well,
that's not totally true. You do get a six-disc mp3 compatible CD changer. You get an aux
jack here and I do like that you have a dedicated aux button for switching your input and
then, interestingly, even though it's the most low-level trim available, you do get the
intelligent key system, which means that you can start and stop the engine with this push
button without having the key inserted here. I actually like that because I feel like putting
the key here and pressing the button is just taking two things to do one thing.
Other than that, though, not much is going on in this car. You do get all-wheel drive as a
$1,600.00 option. Interestingly, it has a locking differential. So this car basically has old-
school four-wheel drive. Now, even the gear shift is about as basic as it gets in our S
model here. You have no manual shifting at all, just your basic reverse, neutral, drive and
a low gear. You do have, though, a well-hidden overdrive button on the left side of the
shifter here and that actually works pretty well. About the only customization you're
going to be able to do in your S model is turn on or off the beep here for your radio
options.
Now, this S model actually has no options available. So, if you want to start adding tech,
because you’re a CNET viewer, you're going to have to upgrade immediately to the SL
model. That's going to kick you up into $32,000.00 range and you've got to start adding
multiple expensive packages to get all the tech you want. This was the same in the 2009
model. It does not change here. For example, the technology package is $1,500.00 but
that does not get you the Bluetooth hands free. You'll need the premium package for that.
Then you'll have to add either the premium or the leather package in order to get the iPod
and Bluetooth hands-free connection and it all gets kind of messy from there. And even
the $39,000.00 LE model does not include the standard navigation package. That'll cost
you $1,800.00 on either the SL or the LE trim and you know what? Those prices, you're
kind of creeping into Acura RDX territory and that is a real tech car.
The Murano is powered by a 3.5 liter V6, and it's made it to Nissan's almost legendary
continuously variable transmission. That thing is unbelievably good. You will not feel a
single shift. The Murano's 265 horsepower are more than enough to overtake the other
soccer moms on the road. I say that with love.
In terms of driving, the Murano offers a fairly smooth ride and super-easy handling. It's
nowhere near as rough as more truck-like SUV's like the Toyota Highlander but I did find
it a bit bouncier than expected on rough roads. Like I said, there's plenty of power,
especially in overdrive and the breaking and steering are basically non-intrusive. The
thing is, though, between the ultra-smooth transmission shifts and the dead simple point-
and-shoot steering, the Murano is so easy to drive that can you actually fall asleep. It's
downright boring until you head toward a curve.
There's quite a bit of body roll in this car and it's not confidence inspiring on a windy
road. The base Murano runs $29,650.00 with an $800.00 destination charge and a little
extra for floor and cargo mats. And like I said, a fully-loaded LE model with navigation
can get you pretty close to 40 grand before rebates. Mileage on this guy, though, not bad
for a small SUV, it’s about 18/23.
The thing about the Nissan Murano is that it looks good, it drives okay but in its base
model, it's nothing more than an overpriced rental car. I think you only buy this if you
really fall in love with it and it's just not my soul mate.
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