2007 Nissan Murano
50,000 miles
CVT Automatic AWD
Made in Japan
My mom is looking to sell her 2007 Nissan Murano and purchase a new SUV. Even though her Murano is 2007, it only has 50k miles on it because she only drives short distances to work and to the store. I think it's in pretty good shape, she always keeps up with maintenance and I think she should keep it....but since it's such an old vehicle she thinks it's better to buy another vehicle now before she gets too old to work and can't afford one later on. I'm also worried about the Nissan CVT transmission as well as it being AWD, I'm worried about that system breaking down pretty soon since it's so old. It is made in Japan though...would you keep or sell?
The Toyotas she's interested in are made in Turkey or Mexico and the Honda, made in Mexico only. I've seen many videos of Scotty warning to stay away from vehicles made in Mexico and I can vouch for that because I literally had everything on my old 2003 VW Jetta fall apart, including the plastic dipstick tube that dry rotted every year and sent plastic bits into the oil drain pan. So even though they're Toyotas and Hondas, I'm still worried about the quality because of this.
She wants a small SUV and is looking at:
A 2022 Toyota CH-R
They are pretty hard to find right now in my area in North Carolina, there are some used ones but they are selling for just as much as MSRP on a new one. The thing is though the new ones in my area are marked up so high with dealer add ons and things so it's unfortunate. Also these are made in Turkey, I'm not sure what Turkey's reputation is on building cars. This is the one she's most interested in.
2023 Toyota Corolla Cross
More available and is probably Toyota's replacement for the CH-R. The LE base model version is made in Mexico while the upper trims are made in US and Canada.
A 2023 Honda HR-V
Seems pretty nice! 2.0L NA Engine with no turbo! But according to the research I did, all the ones for the North American market are made in Mexico so I'm concerned about build quality.
I'm also looking at used options here and I know you can't trust the Carfax but some of the service records I've seen, some of the vehicles went 20k miles before the next oil change so I really don't want to shop around used since I don't know any reliable mechanics in my area and all the used priced vehicles are pretty much near or exceeding new car prices even to this day. If you have any other small reliable SUV suggestions under 25k please feel free to suggest. Thanks for any advices and inputs and for reading this long!
I would get rid of the Murano.
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See excellent post by @Dan on which to get: spoiler alert (go with the Toyota Corolla Cross or CH-R)
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https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/postid/257294/
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Nowadays, despite being made in Mexico/Turkey, you can’t do any better for a small SUV (in terms of reliability) than those Toyotas. Keep in mind, too, no one has a crystal ball to guess how long the modern Toyotas will actually last. I just know in general they have slid and their peak reliability was sometime ago, unfortunately.
Yeah, my mom really likes the CH-R so I'm trying to find one that isn't marked up 10k past the MSRP or a used one that isn't 50k+ miles being sold at new MSRP {black}:pray: I wish they didn't kill the CH-R line so fast, they look a lot cooler than the Corolla Cross!
Posted by: @civicdriver_
(...) looking to sell her 2007 Nissan Murano and purchase a new SUV. Even though her Murano is 2007, it only has 50k miles on it
I think that's a good idea, these Nissans aren't known for quality and she might get a lot for it because of the low millage.
A 2022 Toyota CH-R
Good quality, but it's already an outgoing model - consider the Corolla Cross.
I'm trying to find one that isn't marked up 10k past the MSRP
Yeah I wouldn't pay anything past MSRP on an outgoing model, as it's only 3k lower than the base RAV4 anyway and that's a better car.
Toyota's replacement for the CH-R
The replacement for the CH-R, will be the 2024 CH-R.
https://youtu.be/CJLmXY1zR_g?t=49
The person who designed it needs to See-HR, It looks like a really bad render of the Prius in SUV form.
2023 Toyota Corolla Cross
Great car, especially considering it has a launch gear in its CVT on the petrol.
I wouldn't bother with the hybrid on this one, it only although it's slightly higher performance it only offers 5 mpg more - so probably not worth it (as it adds a large battery that's going to age and need replacement when the car's 12-15 years old)
A 2023 Honda HR-V
That's not a 'real' HR-V, that's actually a Chinese market car - the GAC-Honda ZR-V.
(GAC being a Chinese car marker, making brands such as the "Trumpchi", "Aion", "Hycan", "GAC", etc.)
They did also bring it over to the JDM market, but no word on reliability.
Basically Honda does the same thing as VW, decided to dump Chinese market designs onto the US market.
No one can really say if these creation for the Chinese market will be any good.
It sounds like too much of a gamble at this point - it might end up being alright.
I misspoke, the LE version of the Corolla Cross is actually made in the US. Most of the Vin#'s I looked at started with 7 or 7M
Latest generation HR-V or Corolla Cross.
For the HR-V, I much prefer the trim with the 2.0 K-Series non-turbo engine.
Just following up, thank you for all the responses. My mom ended up going with a 2023 Honda HRV LX with the 2.0L NA Engine, no turbo. This was due to getting a better deal on it over the Corolla Cross. The auto stop/start issues Toyota was having with the Corolla Cross was also a factor, where there is no auto stop/start on the Honda HRV. The base model of the Corolla Cross also did not have a back windshield wiper. Thanks for everyone's insight and responses, Thank you Dan as well for such a detailed response as well.
Congratulations on your mom’s new car. Keep us updated in how it runs!
What about a Toyota 4runer? All good things about them have been heard. They are also still made in Japan. But probably is too big.
Corolla Cross. A family member bought one and she absolutely loves it.
