Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Stebie

I tested a Murano 3.5 v6 petrol and fell in love, its everything I would want from my next car except I find it hard to get my head round 23mpg and £490 tax.

I'd love to hear your suggestions of what I should look for

It has to be petrol and ideally an auto, I'm thinking, RAV4, Jeep Compass, Grand Vitara or maybe a Subaru Forester

I should add that I want to spend no more than about £13k

Edited by Stebie on 08/03/2014 at 14:06

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - artill

If you want Petrol and Auto you will have to get used to lowish MPG, and high road tax. But think of the tax this way, its only £210 a year more than band K, which goes down to 200g/km, and will rule out almost anything that is interesting, petrol and auto. If you keep the car 5 years you will have spent just an extra £1,000 in tax, but depreciation will have been many times that. I think we avoid the cars with high VED rates because we dont like paying tax.

It took me a long time to get my head around it. i would happily buy a car in a higher insurance group and pay hundreds a year more, but i didnt want to pay the tax, because it was tax.

As for the fuel, how far will you drive? Any larger 4x4 auto will struggle to hit 30 mpg even if diesel, and if you dont go far the saving isnt huge. Yet diesels seem to carry a much higher failure risk than petrols these days. A Petrol Nissan should be a pretty safe place to put your money in terms of reliability.

So if you like the Murano, go for it

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Ethan Edwards

You can cut your fuel bill by at least a third. Get it LPG converted or buy one already done. Just make sure it's been running a Flashlube system. I've seen converted Muranos and they look great.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Stebie

I've heard LPG on murano is not a good idea I'll investigate further, honestly the fuel doesn't bother me as much as tax and possible garage costs

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Stebie

That's a very sensible way of looking at it!

Your right about the tax. I guess the main worry is if they change the tax rates and reliability on such a large engine

Mileage is less than 100 a month on average around town with occasional 600 mile motorway trips

Comparing with a 1.6 qashqai does not help matters

Edited by Stebie on 08/03/2014 at 15:46

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - groaver

I drive a 2.4 petrol Vitara (manual).

It does ~27mpg mixed driving, mainly town though.

I can get mid 30s on a long run at around 60-65mph.

I love it for its honesty but the ride is pretty crashy on 18" alloys.

£280 to tax annually.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Sulphur Man

Find a Murano on a pre-06 reg plate and the tax will be half that.

I drove one in Philadelphia, USA, for a week back in 2006. I agree, great car. If it had hit the UK market with a decent diesel engine, it wouldve bitten a mighty hole in the SUV market.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - gordonbennet

The highest band of VED isn't just the simple matter of not liking paying tax, its the fast spiralling depreciation curve that cars in the highest band will suffer as they age which makes sensible people (those who don't want to end up with wonga as their sole lender) avoid them.

Its already noticeable that highest band cars regd before Mar 06 are easier to sell and command higher prices than those regd after.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - artill

Whilst i agree the effect of the high tax effects different cars differently, It could be argued that you are already able to buy high tax cars at a discount (because of the tax). In truth nearly all cars are worth next to nothing by the time they are 10 years old, high tax, or low tax. So it wont have much effect for long.

I for one refuse to be bullied into buying an underpowered unrefined and unreliable car just because of tax. And if the OP likes the Murano i think he should buy one

Edited by artill on 08/03/2014 at 22:15

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Stebie

Thanks for all the responses!

I think I'm convinced. I would happily consider a 2.4 vitara so why not?

Honest John recommends a rav4 but I'm not sure its in the same league of comfort and refinement.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - skidpan

I think I'm convinced. I would happily consider a 2.4 vitara so why not?

Honest John recommends a rav4 but I'm not sure its in the same league of comfort and refinement.

I think you would find a RAV4 positively luxurious compared to the Vitara which has late 19th century suspension.

A bigger engine does not make for a better car.

Try them both, then decide.

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - corax

I drove one in Philadelphia, USA, for a week back in 2006. I agree, great car. If it had hit the UK market with a decent diesel engine, it wouldve bitten a mighty hole in the SUV market.

But Nissan didn't have the best track record with the diesel Xtrail, so maybe by not offering a diesel Murano, they were saving the general public from themselves :)

Nissan Murano - What reliable/comfortable 4x4? - Happy Blue!

If you like the Murano, have a look at the Subaru Outback or Tribeca. Lovely engines! But only low 20s mpg. The Turbo Forester is smaller but no more economical in my experience (Forester XT auto 2 years and OUtback 3/0Rn 3 years).