2003 Nissan Murano problems
NHTSA has received 1,050 complaints about the 2003 Nissan Murano, and 22% of them involve electrical system. After that come transmission (16%) and engine (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,050 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 18 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 72,000 miles 892 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 132 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 114 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 102 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 153 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 153 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 120 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 63 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 32 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 17 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Among the 892 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 72,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 33,000 miles (180 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 18 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 9 injuries reported; 1 death reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 90% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Nissan Murano with enough data (550 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On friday august 1, 2008 I was involved in a three-car motor vehicle accident. My car was struck from behind by another vehicle while I was in the process of stopping at a red light. My vehicle subsequently struck a stopped small truck that was ahead of me. There was front head-on collision as well as rear vehicle damage. My vehicle was a 2003 nissan murano. The only individual in my murano was myself. The unoccupied passenger side airbag deployed but my driver-side airbag did not deploy.
Vehicle in front her rollback and hit the grill, no damage was done to the vehicle upon inspection. 1/4 miles on the road notice the vehicle was on fire. Dealer was notified and diagnosis the radiator was broke. Please provide further information. Ph
I was driving on the highway going about 65 MPH on a sunny day (I.e., the raod was dry) when the car, on its own, started veering into the right hand lane. I attempted to straighten the car by very gently the steering wheel to the left, but it was as if I had no control over the steering wheel at all. The car skidded across 4 lanes of traffic and into a series of 360-degree turns. Eventually, the car stopped turning, facing south in a northbound lane.
Transfer case for AWD failure 2nd time in 26,000 miles (1st 8,000 miles, 2nd 26,000 miles). In both cases gringing poping niose and locked up viechele had to be towed in to dealership. There was no indication of a problem prior to failure.
Driving came to a stop at a light car died. Restarted it, drove home. Car wouldn't start, replaced the fuel pump. Vehicle started was driving got on the freeway had no acceleration control, loud knocking noise all of a sudden, turned around went back home and before I got to my front door the radiator exploded! The whole top of it cracked open.