Should You Buy a 2025 Nissan Murano?

The 2025 Nissan Murano, redesigned and reimagined, offers a more relaxing cabin experience and lots of features for the price. However, there’s nothing sporty about this utility vehicle—which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The midsize two-row utility vehicle segment isn’t as packed as it used to be, mainly because some players have upgraded to a three-row seating layout, while others have simply been discontinued. The 2025 Nissan Murano introduces an all-new, fourth generation that continues to offer a distinct design, but gets improvements in many areas.

Debuting for the 2003 model year, the first-gen Murano was among the first crossover vehicles on the market, based on a car-like unibody platform. It stood out for its jellybean shape, its user friendliness and its spacious interior that wasn’t limited by the presence of a ladder frame. The second and third generations copied that formula when they were introduced for the 2009 and 2015 model years, respectively.

The fourth-gen Murano rides on the same platform as before, but modified, with a slightly longer wheelbase. The crossover is slightly longer and its roofline height is about the same, but it’s notably wider. Front legroom is up, rear legroom is down, but shoulder room and hip room have both increased for greater on-board comfort. Cargo space is slightly lower, rated at 932 litres with the rear seatbacks up and 1,798 litres with the seats folded, and towing capacity remains unchanged at 680 kilograms or 1,500 pounds.

Three trim levels are offered on the 2025 Nissan Murano in Canada, including SV, SL and Platinum, all of them equipped with an all-wheel drivetrain. Under the hood lies a turbocharged 2.0L inline-four that develops 241 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, managed by a nine-speed automatic transmission.

That powertrain replaces the previous 3.5L V6 and continuously variable automatic that served up 260 horsepower and 240 pound-feet, trading smoothness and refinement for improved fuel economy, lower emissions, and the perceived reliability of a conventional transmission instead of the brand’s CVT. City/highway/combined fuel economy is rated at 10.6 / 8.6 / 9.7 L/100 km, with a notable improvement in urban driving compared to the outgoing generation and its V6 engine. During our test of the new Murano dressed up in the Platinum trim level, we managed a respectable 9.2 L/100 km.

Standard features include 20-inch alloy wheels, front and rear park sonar, a power liftgate, heated washer fluid nozzles, LED exterior lighting, an intelligent key with remote engine start, leatherette upholstery, a 10-way power driver’s seat and a 6-way power front passenger seat, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a 12.3-inch digital driver instrument panel, a 12.3-inch infotainment system touchscreen with a Google built-in interface, wireless phone charging, Active Noise Cancellation and dual-zone climate control. There’s also a slew of active safety features baked in as well, such as autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, automatic high beams, traffic sign recognition and driver distraction detection.

The SL trim level adds a 360-degree camera system with Transparent Hood View, the ProPILOT Assist 1.1 semi-autonomous driving system, a heated windshield, a power panoramic sunroof, driver’s seat position memory, heated rear outboard seats, 64-color ambient lightning and NissanConnect online services with a three-year subscription. Meanwhile, the range-topping Platinum also benefits from 21-inch alloy wheels, a hands-free power liftgate, rear-door manual sunshades, rain-sensing windshield wipers, power-folding mirrors, a power-adjustable steering column, semi-aniline leather upholstery, 12-way power front seats with ventilation and massaging, head-up display and expanded ambient lighting.

In Canada, 2025 Nissan Murano pricing ranges from $49,599 to $58,199, which includes freight and delivery charges, the $100 federal A/C tax and $621 in dealer fees. In the United States, the Murano is priced from $41,860 to $52,170.

Midsize crossover competition includes the Chevrolet Blazer, the Honda Passport, the Hyundai Santa Fe, the Kia Sorento, the Mazda CX-70, the Subaru Outback, the Toyota Crown Signia and the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. We could also throw in electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Blazer EV, the Honda Prologue, the Hyundai IONIQ 5, the Kia EV6, the Nissan Ariya, the upcoming Subaru Trailseeker, the upcoming Toyota bZ Woodland and the Volkswagen ID.4.

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Why You Should Buy a 2025 Nissan Murano

• Powertrain aside, the new Murano stepped up its luxury and refinement game. More than ever, it’s an in-betweener that offers a posh cabin and features such like massaging seats, but at a still-affordable price. There are very few signs of cost-cutting measures, as even the hood is supported by struts instead of a flimsy prop rod.
• The crossover’s blend of comfort, ride quality and interior space should please midsize segment shoppers that aren’t into the current trend of rugged-looking, active-lifestyle, off-road-oriented vehicles that, truthfully, are never taken off road.

• The Nissan Murano is user friendly, and road trips are enjoyable with plenty of storage spaces up front. Rear occupants get a good amount of legroom as well. The quiet cabin also allows conversations between front and rear passengers without needing to shout at each other.
• Switching from Nissan’s archaic infotainment interface to Google built-in is a leap forward. In addition to the more sophisticated system, there a left-side row of on-screen menu access buttons for easier use. It’s not perfect as there are no more hard buttons around the screen, but overall, the system offers a better user experience than in the old Murano.

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Why You Shouldn’t Buy a 2025 Nissan Murano

• All previous generations of the Murano relied on a naturally aspirated V6 engine, providing power, smoothness and refinement. This new generation is equipped with the automaker’s VC-Turbo 2.0L engine, integrating complex variable-compression tech that was initially designed to improve performance when needed, and improve fuel economy under more relaxed driving conditions. Though it isn’t underpowered or a gas hog, this engine shines in neither department. At least it’s now connected to a conventional automatic transmission. And, of course, a four-cylinder engine usually isn’t as smooth as a six, and that’s the case here as well.
• The Murano’s ride comfort is generally good, but in urban driving conditions, road imperfections will be felt. It’s especially the case when turning street corners and hitting a pothole or a crevice, creating a fair amount of head toss for the vehicle’s occupants. It’s not bad, and the Murano definitely isn’t the only utility vehicle with this problem, but a little irritating at times. Also, the rear seatback angle isn’t adjustable.

• The touch sensitive climate controls on centre stack look slick. However, not having tactile buttons or dials to grasp is a driving distraction. Once again, form takes over function, and automakers should really start thinking about designing these interfaces to be easy to use in a moving vehicle.
• Specific to the Canadian market, import counter-tariffs have made U.S.-built vehicles costlier to bring into the country, which means one of two things: either the consumer ends up paying more, or the automaker simply decides to stop importing the vehicle, or bringing in fewer units. In both cases, car shoppers are penalized by higher prices, lower inventory and little to no incentives, or all of that. Concerning the Murano, Nissan is limiting the number of units it will be importing to Canada, so dealers might not have many units available in all trim levels and colors.

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Should You Buy a 2025 Nissan Murano?

The redesigned Murano offers style, smoothness and luxury at a reasonable price, even if some of its rivals are available at a lower price point. The advantage here is that the Murano boasts a long list of standard features, some of which are optional in rival crossovers. There’s also plenty of room inside and owners will appreciate the numerous storage areas to store a handbag, snacks for road trips and other stuff. The Nissan is versatile, comfortable and easy to live with. It makes no assertions of being an off-road vehicle as many of its rivals try to do, and some buyers will prefer that urban-chic style.

On the other hand, the Murano’s cargo area could be bigger, returning customers might miss the outgoing V6 engine’s refinement and sound, and as we said before, we have concerns about its availability and selection in dealerships, due to voluntary import constraints. That said, this new generation has improved in many ways, and resonates well for shoppers wanting a luxurious utility vehicle with the luxury-brand price, and that don’t feel the need to flaunt a luxury-brand emblem, either.

Specifications
	2025 Nissan Murano	2025 Chevrolet Blazer	2026 Honda Passport	2025 Hyundai Santa Fe	2025 Kia Sorento	2026 Subaru Outback
Price Range Before Options ($CAD)	$49,599 to $58,199	$47,098 to $56,798	$60,090 to $64,840	$45,448 to $57,798	$41,794 to $63,064	$43,815 to $54,115
Engines	- Turbo 2.0L I4	- Turbo 2.0L I4 - 3.6L V6	- 3.5L V6	- Turbo 1.6L I4 HEV - Turbo 2.5L I4	- 2.5L I4 - Turbo 2.5L I4 - Turbo 1.6L I4 HEV - Turbo 1.6L I4 PHEV	- 2.5L F4 - Turbo 2.4L F4
Output (hp)	241	228 to 308	285	231 to 277	191 to 281	180 to 260
Torque (lb-ft)	260	258 to 270	262	271 to 311	195 to 311	178 to 277
Combined Fuel Economy (L/100 km)	9.7	9.9 to 11.2	11.4	6.9 to 10.8	7.0 to 10.3	8.5 to 10.2
Wheelbase (mm)	2,825	2,863	2,885	2,815	2,815	2,745
Length (mm)	4,901	4,874	4,864	4,830	4,815	4,870
Width (mm)	1,981	1,948	2,019	1,900	1,900	1,880
Height (mm)	1,724	1,702	1,857	1,770 to 1,795	1,700	1,715
Headroom 1st/2nd/3rd (mm)	1,000 to 1,043 / 962 to 1,008 / -	965 to 1,011 / 935 to 980 / -	994 / 1,007 / -	1,020 to 1,045 / 1,007 to 1,030 / 958	1,024 / 994 / 935	1,020 / 1,029 / -
Legroom Front/Rear (mm)	1,124 / 922 / -	1,041 / 1,006 / -	1,043 / 1,039 / -	1,052 / 1,075 / 761	1,052 / 1,060 / 752	1,093 / 1,004 / -
Cargo Volume Behind 3rd/2nd/1st (L)	- / 932 / 1,798 /	- / 864 / 1,818	- / 1,246 / 2,356	413 / 1,148 / 2,267	357 / 1,090 to 1,274 / 2,139	- / 980 / 2,280
Max Towing Capacity (kg)	680	2,041	2,268	2,041	907	1,588