Oh, Damn, The 2025 Nissan Murano Is Good. Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?

You might assume from recent headlines on this very website that Nissan, being a troubled business, is in this position because it doesn’t make good cars. If you’ve had a rental Nissan Rogue, you might also have this belief. The new Rogue is, at best, a “fine” car. I just spent a week with the redesigned Nissan Murano and, much to my surprise, I liked this car. It’s good!

Let’s just level-set your expectations a bit. I said “good” and not “great,” but I also didn’t say “fine.” The harshest critique you can give a car is to say that it’s “fine.” When a car reviewer says a car is “fine” what they mean is that it’s not even interesting enough to be bad. The Murano is interesting and, while it’s not the most dynamically exciting car ever built, it covers for most of its shortcomings by making big choices and having them pay off.

Earlier today, Jason said that Nissan deserved to live because it makes cheap cars. That’s true! I’d just add that Nissan also deserves to live because the company is capable of making good cars when it decides that’s what it wants to do.

Why This Car Exists

Every car company has to make at least one, but probably multiple two-row mid-size crossovers or SUVs. It’s no coincidence that cars like the Toyota Avalon, Chevy Impala, Ford Crown Victoria, and Nissan Maxima have gone away. This is what we, as a culture, have decided we wanted.

Being a crowded market, automakers have to differentiate themselves somehow. If you’re thinking of getting a five-door, tall thing that seats roughly five people and costs around $40-$45k your choices are quite extensive. You can get a Toyota 4Runner, if you want to cosplay as a couple that hikes, or a Honda Passport if you want to cosplay as a couple that, if not actively procreating, will be procreating quite soon. There’s the Mazda CX-70 for Millennials who want to project an image of upper-middle class hipness, and the Toyota Crown Signia for… honestly, I have no idea who buys Toyota Crown Signias.

You can think of the Nissan Murano as the modern Maxima replacement, although both were sold side-by-side for many years. It’s a bigger, nicer alternative to the Nissan Rogue, or the smaller two-row option for people who don’t want a Nissan Pathfinder.

The version I got from Nissan is the Murano Platinum AWD, which is the most expensive trim. At a starting price above $50,000, it’s more competitive with vehicles like the Lincoln Nautilus and Lexus RX.

2025 Nissan Murano Platinum: The Basics

• Price: $49,600 (Price as tested $55,030 with $1,390 destination charge)
• Engine: 2.0-liter turbo inline-four
• Transmission: 9-speed automatic transmission
• Drivetrain: All-wheel drive (AWD)
• Power: 241 horsepower, 260 lb-ft of torque
• Fuel Economy: EPA-estimated 21 city, 27 highway, 23 combined
• Body Style: five-seat crossover

What Does It Look Like?

I appreciate that the Nissan Murano looks this way even if I’m sure it doesn’t appeal to me. For years, there was so much bleh in this space as automakers deemed that the safest choice was no choice at all, which is how we ended up with the 2nd and 3rd generation Toyota Highlanders, which both looked like fake cars you’d see in an insurance ad.

The Murano is not boring. It looks big. It has presence. Even in the single-tone Champagne color it gets attention. I think it’s because everything is just a little exaggerated. The belt-line is aggressively angled from the C-pillar downward towards the headlights, which makes it look like it’s ready to pounce. The hour-glass shape that connects the roof to the rear window, which is a key Murano detail, feels bigger here than on post cars. There’s a very sci-fi light setup at the front with the company’s “Crystal Cube” minimalistic headlights, with daytime running lights hidden in the grille. Why does this look familiar?

What the Murano most resembles, come to think of it, is a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 that was swallowed by Kirby. If you’ve never played a video game, Kirby is a rotund pink creature that absorbs the power and, comically, some of the resemblance of whatever it swallows. Did the Nissan get any of the capabilities of a Ferrari? No, of course not, don’t be silly. It looks like a Kirby wearing a Ferrari mask.

Also, not to be the get-it-in-the-good-color police all the time, but there’s an excellent Aurora Blue Metallic color and you can get it with a two-tone roof and it really does it for me.

What’s It Like On The Inside?

This should be the whole review. The inside of the Nissan Murano is an excellent place to be. I drive cars all the time and this is one of the more attractive and comfortable spots I’ve put my rear in a long time. It also all makes sense from a driver’s perspective.

Every trim of a Murano gets a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment display, and both are super high quality, clear to see, and close enough to reach if you need to make an adjustment. In Platinum trim there’s a useful and bright heads-up display. The dashboard itself is finished in something called “Murano Glass,” named after the Venetian glassworks that gave the name to the car, in case you were curious what Murano means.

Every surface feels nice and soft and, while there’s some piano black around the cupholder, most of the materials seem resistant to smudging. The steering wheel is Megan Thee Stallion thicc and I super dig it. The semi-aniline leather seats are not too soft, not too firm. I even like the soft brown and caramel colors inside, which Nissan says was inspired by the “inimitable light quality of golden hour experienced along the California coast.” Ok, hilariously, the last time I experienced golden hour along the California coast was road-tripping the Pontiac Aztek back from Pebble and, you know what, sure. It feels close enough.

There’s an ambient LED strip that wraps around the interior and the cupholder area and you can adjust it to your mood which, in my case, was a warm orange color. My daughter camped out in the back seat, as usual, and declared it to be extremely comfortable.  My biggest complaint is that I don’t love the touch-capacitive buttons for the climate controls, but they were quick and beat the hell out of buttons on the screen.

 

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I think, purely judged by the interior, the Murano in Platinum trim is as nice as the newer cars from Mercedes and pleasingly less busy. It’s worth mentioning that, aside from the ventilated seats, a lot of this is available on the cheaper models in the low $40k range. I’d love to drive the cheapest Murano to compare.

How Does It Drive?

Remember when I said it was a good car, but not a great car? Nissan has replaced its old and gutless V6 [Writer’s note: The VQ35 wasn’t that bad — TH] with a new and still mostly gutless turbo inline-four, though at least this time the CVT has been ditched for an honest nine-speed automatic transmission.

In 1st gear, at low speeds, the car isn’t entirely sure what it wants to do if you engage in light throttle tip-in. It’s basically that John Travolta GIF from Pulp Fiction where he’s uncertain about where to go:

After 1st and with more aggressive foot-play it’ll move, but I think the heft-to-power ratio is not in the Murano’s favor. By comparison, a Honda Passport has 280 horsepower. Most cars in this class have more power, actually, so don’t expect that “Sport” mode is going to provide actual sportiness, unless that sport is disc golf. Steering feel is, uh, it’s fine.

There’s one specific on-ramp I like to test out cars on as you get a tight left-hander followed by a tight right-hander slightly off camber. The Murano, to its credit, kept relatively flat. The lack of power here was likely a benefit as I think more power would overwhelm the suspension.

Actually, you know what, if you’re buying a Murano you probably don’t want the power and you definitely don’t need it. At some point, we as a country have to decide how much power we should give to people who seem entirely ambivalent about exercising said power responsibly. In the case of the Murano, that would probably mean shaving off about 10 horsepower. For Altima drivers, 200 horsepower.

This is especially true because the bulbous nose of the Muarno makes it hard to see over the front, even for a person like me with a long torso. It’s just not a great view, though you get used to it eventually.

Nissan lacks a good hybrid system for the United States, though the company says one is coming. In this case it would help a lot as the 23 MPG combined EPA rating is pretty sad, although it bests the Passport. The Mazda CX-70, which is much quicker and drives much better, gets 25 MPG in mild-hybrid non-PHEV trim.

The Murano comes with ProPILOT Assist 1.1 with steering assist and sensor-assisted Cruise Control. It works reasonably well on the highway, though isn’t as good as what you’d get on a BlueCruise-equipped Lincoln or SuperCruise GM product.

This with a hybrid system would be better, like most cars.

What’s The Punctum Of The 2025 Nissan Murano Platinum

There’s a small button on the steering wheel for the driver’s right thumb and, unlike controls on most steering wheels, it’s actually oriented to the direction your thumb naturally goes. This is a smart choice. It’s not like Nissan has a ton of money right now to invest in powertrains or anything else. The only way it’s going to get by is through making the most of what it has.

I think the Murano is close to the best Nissan can do right now and it’s encouraging that the best Nissan can do is still good. This isn’t the car I’d necessarily pick first in this class, but it’s not the car I’d pick last. Everything about this feels nicer, better, and more thoughtful than, say, the Volkswagen Atlas.

If you’re an enthusiast, you’re probably going to get the CX-70/CX-90 or, maybe, find a little extra change for a nicely appointed Ford Bronco. That’s ok. This car probably isn’t for you, but it might be for a friend who doesn’t want to wait three months for a Highlander.