We will be replacing my wife's 1998 Honda CR-V soon with something similar.  On top of her list is the Nissan Murano with the Land Rover Freelander as distant second and the new Honda CR-V last.  She liked her CR-V a lot and has provided reliable service but she wants something a little different.

Anybody have any experience this the Murano?  
Anybody hear anything good/bad/ugly about this car?

Her first choice (she even like this color)


Her second choice


Her last choice

I want one, can't afford it though.

Worse than any option in your thread title, Nissan is a FRENCH owned company.

That Nissan Murano is fugly!  Looks like a modified AMC Gremlin!

No shit?
Since when?

I agree but she wan't around when Gremlin came out and she doesn't even know what AMC is.  Hey, she gonna drive it, not me.

We were looking at them, but got a 2003 leftover Infiniti FX35, which is much more fun to drive and has a better warranty and much nicer interior.  Check em out, your Infiniti dealership might have a leftover from 2003, where you can save $7000 like we did from sticker.

Thanks a lot yobo, now I feel OLD!

Don't feel old.
I used to deliver pizza in a Gremlin.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.  Did I say I think it's ugly?

My brother-in-law got a new top of the line Santa Fe last month.  It looks nice and the interior looks like a $40,000 car but I'm not sure about the longterm durability and reliability.  My wife drives about 24,000 miles a year and we like to keep our cars for about 5 or 6 years so long term reliability is important.  

I think the Murano is pretty cool looking. The interior is really nice. Definately the best looking of the choices you have listed.

My boss has one. Yeah, it's funny looking, but I've rode in it, drove it, even rode in the back seat, it's got tons of room, lots of power, runs like a top. The ride in the back is a little stiff, but not too bad. I've rode several hundred miles in it on business trips, very comfortable, very ergonomic.

Dude from CR-V to Murano?  A huge jump isnt it? If you can afford it go for it.  

LT youre alive!

Yeah but during that same time she went from being an accounting clerk to CPA... huge change in income :D:  

Here's a decent site...

[url]www.nissanforums.com[/url]

Ive never been able to figure out why people want to buy new rigs so often... Just so they can drive something differnt.
I ca understand buying a new car if your needs change or the one you have is unreliable and is going to fall apart because it has a million miles on it.
But do some people really enjoy getting screwed on a regular basis and/or paying payments all the time? Because I dont care what rebate you get they dont let em walk away without them getting a profit and if you dont reserch it it will most likely be a rather large profit.

And onto the murano it looks really ugly How about that new VW SUV the tourag(sp) or what the hell if her income has really increased how bout ya look at the Porche SUV.

I just hate the damn name. One of those goofy sounding car names...sounds like a retarded italian kid...

" yeah - dat little jimmy whatzhizazz- dat kid's a freaking morono!!!"

like I wouldnt buy anything whose name stands for Kill In Action.  

All three are friggin ugly.

Is the Chrysler Pacifica any less expensive?  Looks like the Murano.

Source: Renault
March 29, 1999

Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault, and Yoshikazu Hanawa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motor Co., jointly announced a partnership agreement between Renault and Nissan. The agreement, signed on March 27, 1999, will create the fourth largest automaker in the world.

Renault will make a major contribution to reduce Nissan's indebtedness, estimated at more than 2 trillion yen (US$16.7 billion). Renault is going to invest 605 billion yen (approximately 4.7 billion euros / FRF 31 billion / US$ 5.1 billion), by taking a 36.8% equity stake (and corresponding voting rights) in Nissan Motor Co., by means of a reserved capital increase at Y 400 per share, and a 22.5% stake in Nissan Diesel. Nissan Motor will keep an identical equity participation to that of Renault in Nissan Diesel.

Nissan has the option of taking a stake in Renault's share capital at a later date.

A mutual agreement should allow Renault to purchase Nissan's European financial subsidiaries, for a total of approximately 294 million euros (FRF 1.9 billion / Y 38 billion / US$ 320 million).

In order to strengthen Nissan's management and ensure the return to profit for the year ending March 31, 2001, Carlos Ghosn, currently Executive Vice President of Renault, will be appointed Chief Operating Officer of Nissan. All the Executive Vice Presidents of the company will report to him. In addition, two executives from Renault are appointed to the Board of Directors of Nissan: Patrick Pélata, currently Senior Vice President, Vehicle Development of Renault, is appointed Executive Vice President, Product Planning and Strategy of Nissan. Thierry Moulonguet, currently Vice President, Capital Expenditure Controller of Renault, is appointed Managing Director, Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Nissan.

It also has been decided to propose the appointment of Yoshikazu Hanawa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nissan Motor Co., to the Renault Board of Directors.

Nissan Motor Co, founded in 1933, is the number-two automaker in Japan. In the fiscal year ended March 1998, Nissan recorded operating revenues of 6,564.6 billion yen (50.9 billion euros / FRF 334 billion / US$ 55.5 billion). In fiscal year ended March 1998, Nissan produced 2,754,598 vehicles, consisting of 2,264,388 passenger cars and 490,210 light commercial vehicles, and held a 20.4% market share in Japan.

Nissan has business operations in a range of fields, including aerospace, industrial machinery, marine products and its core automotive operations. The company manufactures and assembles vehicles at 22 overseas companies in 18 countries. Nissan has R&D centres in Japan, the USA and Europe.

Renault, established in 1898, had revenues of 37.2 billion euros (FRF 243.9 billion / Y 4,794 billion / US$ 40.6 billion) in 1998. In 1998, Renault produced 2,283,265 vehicles, including 1,942,733 passenger cars, 254,662 light commercial vehicles and 85,870 trucks and buses.

Renault was nationalized in 1945 and privatized in 1996. Its share capital is owned 55.8% by private shareholders and 44.2% by the French State.

[b]In the commercial vehicles sector, the Renault V.I. group includes Mack Trucks, which covers 13% of the U.S. market.[/b] Renault V.I. is the third largest group in the world for vehicles over 16 tons.

We looked at a Murano and it's a neat car. Big motor, roomy, weird transmission, and has one hell of a blind spot to the rear. WE just couldnt swing the deal at the time being too upside down on our trade in. Ended up with a Mazda Tribute and saved about 10k in the process.

If your never going off road why spend all that money on a Land Rover Freelander?

More than anything else, I want my wife to have reliable car.  She drives out to meet clients often and I want to make sure she does not have car problems in some bad area or on a quite road somewhere.  I on the otherhand drive my car until wheels fall off. I just got a new truck and I'll endup driving that thing for next 200,000 miles (about 8 years).

Her decision to get a SUV/Wagon style car is because she likes being higher up while driving so she can see around her (a safty feature).  Also, she can use the extra space to haul her files/documents sround