2011 Nissan Murano

While driving car several times on the highway, when accelerating all power went out from the CVT transmission (like running out of gas), rendering the car without power on the highway. This was and continues to be a big concern as we were left on a high speed road with no power to move the car. This has occurred several times and we have been fortunate to be in the right hand lane to get off the main road and not cause an accident. This condition is known by Nissan and other repair facilities as the Infiniti dealer in Orlando, Fla conducted a diagnostic test and noted the car needed a transmission replacement at approximately 88,000 miles. This replacement was for $12,220 dollars, which was far more than the car was worth and with a car that should have many more miles left to operate and maintained very well. As this is a major safety issue, one of several with this car, we are submitting another incident report indicating our concern with this car, which there are many (rear subframe rusting, rear passenger door locks). The car got towed approximately 200 miles to our local mechanic who knew of these issues, but after a few days of test driving could not duplicate the issue on local roads. We still operate the car on local roads below highway speeds, but are concerned that at any point power will be lost. Even selling the car is an ethical dilemma for us as we know of several safety issues submitted to the NHTSA and Nissan has not issued any recalls or corrections to this year vehicle. Someone from the NHTSA should take action with Nissan to recall this vehicle for safety issues! As with other incidents, we have all the documentation from these events.

Transmission failure. Car has been losing power, slowly getting worse with episodes of near stalling when stepping on gas from a stop. No engine warning lights . When pulling out in heavy traffic, car would nearly stall. Scary and dangerous. I finally took car to Nissan dealer where I purchased the car and they immediately diagnosed transmission failure. At that point, I had 143,209 miles after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment.

The contact's daughter owns a 2011 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that after entering the vehicle, she noticed that the front passenger’s side seat back had completely lowered down and was lying flat. The contact stated that the seat back could not be raised or moved. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

This is a follow up to my first submission to include the pictures of the defective subframe we had to replace and the cost for the replacement for a new OEM subframe on this 2011 Nissan Murano SUV. As indicated in my first submission on 1/25/2023 for this car, two repair facilities (Nissan or Fort Lauderdale, Fla and Autobahn of Fort Lauderdale, Fla) inspected and wrote quotes to replace the defective rear subframe. Several mechanics we personally talked to told us this will be a safety problem if the rear subframe was not replaced soon - "just don't drive on the highway until replaced". After the Nissan and our local repair shop indicated this, we got the repair on 3/13/2023 at our local garage. My safety concern is that this is a low mileage car for its age (< 87K) that was garaged and bought new by us. It was maintained very well and all repair mechanics noted this as well. We also heard that rear subframe issues are increasingly become more common with Nissan vehicles with cars produced in years similar to ours. Subframes, which are major suspension and safety components, should not be this deteriorated at this point in their car's life. I have included pictures of the old subframe replaced on 3/13/2023 as well as the cost for the repair of our vehicle. Please look in detail at these digital pics and one can see the erosion of the metal is significant and we are very fortunate to not have had an accident. I don't believe the old subframe is still around for inspection as we did not know the NHTSA needed them until now, but I am sure one could interview this repair shop and get plenty of information on these car's subframes from this era of car manufacture. Plus the pictures are very telling of the problems associated with these cars. The only warning we had when driving was a thumping noise in the left rear section of the car. I did write to Nissan North America (Case # 48133943), but like with the NHTSA no response to date from either group.

Rear sub frame rusted through on passenger side. Allows irregular motion of wheel and bumping of detached parts. Causes vehicle float when brake is applied. Unsafe to drive confirmed by independent and dealership technicians. Braking at medium or high speed could cause severe float, loss of control, accident, further damage. I am not driving the vehicle. Ii is a low-miles, well-maintained vehicle. No accident occurred. I noticed it early and got the diagnosis.

We experienced a noise in the rear suspension area of the vehicle while driving, which prompted us to take the car to a Nissan repair facility for an inspection. We were informed the rear subframe components were rusted and needed replacing. We bought this car new in 2011 and it has under 85,000 miles. The car was garaged for most of its life and now needs several thousand dollars of rear subframe suspension parts and labor to make it safe to drive. Just a year year earlier we had to replace the front lower control arms also at the cost of several thousand dollars. These suspension component parts should not fail this early in the life of this Nissan Murano SUV, especially a car that has less than 85,000 miles, that was properly maintained and in excellent condition. As this is a safety issue we are wondering why Nissan or the Federal government has not recalled or at least agreed to repair this issue for owners of this vehicle. There have been many Technical Service Bulletins issued on this defect for many years (since 2007 onward), but no response. I guess for the government and Nissan to acknowledge a safety issue with this car in todays marketplace, it appears a crash, fire, injury or death must occur for someone to take action.

2011 Nissan Murano, transmission issues. This is the second time I have had to report this problem, please also refer to my first complaint #11474221 on this vehicle for the same problem. When at a stop, and pushing the gas pedal to move forward, there is a hesitation or two before the vehicle moves forward. This is a big problem when trying to enter a highway, after a stop sign. With giving enough distance to merge, having the hesitation issue has almost caused an accident. This hesitation occurs in town driving and hi-way. The dealership Crown Nissan (Greensboro, NC) diagnosis indicated that the transmission was failing and needed to be replaced. Our local Nissan shop ordered a new transmission directly from Nissan, and installed into our car, by mechanics that were trained by Nissan. Received Murano back with replaced new transmission, and within two days it was hesitating again. The vehicle was taken to the dealership and it was confirmed that the ‘new’ transmission that was installed, was defective and when driving, also had the hesitation issue. A 2nd new transmission was ordered from Nissan, installed by Nissan trained mechanics, and delivered two weeks later. We received our Murano back on Oct.12, 2022 and when driving it there was a slight hesitation, but then started to buck very hard… I’m surprised that I don’t have whiplash. The 2nd new transmission installed is a ‘lemon’ as it is worse than the original AND the 1st new replacement, by bucking as well as the hesitation. Our Nissan Murano appears to be unfixable, as the company keeps sending transmissions that have serious flaws and will eventually hurt or kill someone. Where do we go from here, especially since we have paid off the loan a year ago.

The car was taken for inspection in Pennsylvania and the rear subframe has mostly rotted away where it connects to the frame. Had the subframe broken through it could have caused serious injury. It was confirmed by an independent inspection station. There are recalls on other murano model years so it is possible this year is also a problem that has not been exposed yet. The problem is evident on both sides of the vehicle.