Another repair or replace thread - 2009 Murano LE

[Sho'Nuff]

So my wife's 2009 murano LE (which has just under 100,000 miles on it) has had a lot of issues over the past 18 months. 18 months ago we had to put new tires on the car and have the front and rear brakes (pads + rotors) completely replaced, as well as the water pump. About 7 months ago the AC crapped out and took the alternator with it. Yesterday, the car started making a noise that I know very well - namely the sound of a failing power steering pump. Took it into the shop and yep . . . pump is shot. As are the power steering lines, a front wheel bearing, the front brake pads, and the rear brake rotors and pads. PLUS - the car needs some basic maintenance done - transmission flush (really should be done the CVT in this car) and drive belt service.

All in all I'm looking at a $3200 repair bill to get it all done. A little less if I go with an aftermarket power steering pump.

To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. But my wife loves the car and we own it outright. So I'm in the classic debate - repair the car and stay payment free, or ditch the car and get a new/new to us car and take on a car payment.

On the one hand I want to just say screw it and sink the repair money into the car and avoid the payment. But this is largely governed by the fact that I want to buy a boat next year and taking on a car payment would derail that for a while. On the other hand - I am sick of throwing good money after bad in this car and think it might just be time to get out of it. If we were to replace it, we would likely go with a new or lightly used Acura RDX or Honda Pilot, both of which seem to be highly reliable.

So what say you guys? Pump $3200 into the existing car (bearing in mind that I've already dumped 3000 into it over the past year and a half)? Or ditch it? Money is not really an issue here. But I hate having a car payment and usually drive my cars until they die. Unfortunately it seems that my wife's car is dying a quicker death than it should.

 

[someone16]

Those all sound like regular maintenance items to me. I guess you were kinda unlucky to have all happen in a short period of time. Once you replace them you will be good for a while. What I'm curious is you had brakes replace twice within 18 months? That sounds kind of extreme if the calipers aren't seized.

 

[lsd]

3200 for a PS pump, PS lines, wheel bearing, pads and rotors and flush????
I'd have all that done for less than $500 diy.
Take it to another shop and ask for aftermarket parts, 3200 is ridiculous.

 

[ScottFern]

Yeah, get that work quoted at a private reputable mechanic shop first to see if you can't knock that down $1000 or so.

 

[olds]

Does sound mostly like normal maintenance and $3200 is too expensive.

 

[madoka]

I'd repair and keep driving. The depreciation hit on another car would probably be that much. But I'm biased, as I love my 350,000+ mile Maxima. I have and will continue to spend whatever I need to keep her on the road, including multiple times what she is worth.

 

[Meghan54]

What I'm wondering is....how do you burn through a set of brake pads in 18 months?

And about the power steering hose(s) that are leaking. Typically it's only the high pressure hose that fails; the low pressure hose typically has no issues and rarely if ever needs replacing. (Owned a Murano and loved it, well, until a tree fell on it during a winter storm.)

 

[bruceb]

I tend to agree with the others. $3,200 is way to high and your brakes should not be shot again this early. On average a vehicle can get about 40,000 miles between brake jobs and usually the rotors get turned the first time pads are installed after the new rotors and pads went in. On your next brake job, you might need new rotors.

 

[Zivic]

that's regular maintenance IMHO, and again as others have stated, 3200 is too much to spend on those items.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

OK so I'm going to take it to another shop and see what they say re: price. Agreed that $3200 is too much.

Only thing I can't do is have the transmission flushed at some other shop - it will void the extended CVT warranty - which I would like to maintain. Thankfully that is the least expensive of all the action items listed.

Also - I agree with regard to the brakes - they are going to quickly. But apparently this is a known issue with the AWD Muranos. I don't suspect that the dealer is lying either because we had another shop tell us the brake pads were getting very worn and the rear rotors were suspect when the car was inspected a few months ago.

That being said, I'm frustrated because we seem to be putting a lot of money into this car every 6 months. This will be the third brake job in 100th miles, and the 4th time in a 2 years that we will be sinking over $1k in repairs into the car.

Also FWIW - I'm generally pragmatic with cars. I do drive a 13 year old Ford F150 around after all. And while I did buy a new car last year for myself, I bought a 4 year old Acura TSX to replace a 14 year old corolla that had close to 200th miles on it.

 

[Zivic]

OK so I'm going to take it to another shop and see what they say re: price. Agreed that $3200 is too much.

Only thing I can't do is have the transmission flushed at some other shop - it will void the extended CVT warranty - which I would like to maintain. Thankfully that is the least expensive of all the action items listed.

Also - I agree with regard to the brakes - they are going to quickly. But apparently this is a known issue with the AWD Muranos. I don't suspect that the dealer is lying either because we had another shop tell us the brake pads were getting very worn and the rear rotors were suspect when the car was inspected a few months ago.

That being said, I'm frustrated because we seem to be putting a lot of money into this car every 6 months. This will be the third brake job in 100th miles, and the 4th time in a 2 years that we will be sinking over $1k in repairs into the car.

Also FWIW - I'm generally pragmatic with cars. I do drive a 13 year old Ford F150 around after all. And while I did buy a new car last year for myself, I bought a 4 year old Acura TSX to replace a 14 year old corolla that had close to 200th miles on it.

if brakes are going that quickly I would look at your driving style and/or changing out to different pad. usually if there is an issue with brakes going out early it has been my experience that it has to do with the rotors being undersized and you'll get pulsating when braking rather than the pads wearing out

 

[slashbinslashbash]

$3200 / 12 months = $266 a month. Where you gonna get another car that you like as much for that payment?

This is all simply stuff that starts breaking around the 100k mile / 6-7 year point. As long as the engine and transmission are good then who cares about the accessories (PS pump, alternator, AC compressor). Yes those are all important and potentially expensive repairs, but none of them are enough to write off the car if they go bad.

 

[SearchMaster]

You know, we had a lot of problems with our '00 Maxima's brakes for quite a while. I think we replaced the OEM pads twice (total of 3 sets of pads) before 50K miles. We ended up swapping out the front calipers and never had another problem (wear went back to normal).

But, relatively speaking, brake pads and rotors are cheap and even if you're having to replace them yearly it's not a lot of time or money. I know you've indicated you're not very comfortable doing your own maintenance but brakes are about as easy as it gets. Hell I've replaced headlights that were more of a pain than brakes. Plus your wife will be amazed that not only are you brilliant in the courtroom but brilliant in the garage. I don't get that benefit because my wife was doing brakes on her car when she was 18.

The engine in the Murano should last forever and I know Nissan has put a lot of faith in their CVT, so I assume it will go a while too. You may have other niggling issues but once you get them taken care of you should get another 100K out of it.

 

[RayH]

My wife has an '06 Murano and so far other than a recall, swapping tires, wheel alignment and welding a leaking exhaust pipe, have done all the other work myself.

I think you need to find a better mechanic. The belts should have been changed when the AC and alternator were changed, just recently did it myself and the two belts together cost less than $30 from Amazon and another $30 if you replace the idler pulley. Took less than an hour to do with basic tools.

Have also done the front wheel bearings which is not much more work than a brake job. About $60 for a bearing.

If you go with genuine Nissan CVT fluid it's under $200 for 12 quarts for a full flush, 6 quarts if you just empty and refill and is about the same work as an oil change.

I haven't had problems with AC or alternator but did replace the high pressure PS hose and front control arm bushings (swap in new control arms). Fixed fuel gauge sensor, brake pads and rotors (just once), new front shocks (maintenance), new battery, replaced rusted oil pan.

Even factoring labor, $3200 sounds way too much. Not sure if even the dealer would charge that much.

Check out http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/ if you're interested in seeing what the work is like.

 

[razel]

Also have a Murano in the stable of car I take care of in my family. The thing you HAVE TO DO is routine maintenance on the CVT transmission. You should regularly change the fluid at the bolt every 20k miles which gets about 1/3 of it. It doesn't sound like anything got done at all.

I'm not saying the Murano CVT is bad. There is lots of FUD on the Internet out about it and honestly I think it's just people who don't regularly maintenance the transmission fluid which causes an issue on ANY car. By the way, there is no such thing as lifetime fluid. Nothing is perpetual, additives and regular heat/cold/condensation cycles will break down any fluid... well except pure H2O.

Since you are in the gray area, from what I can guess, it will depend on the condition of your CVT fluid.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Also have a Murano in the stable of car I take care of in my family. The thing you HAVE TO DO is routine maintenance on the CVT transmission. You should regularly change the fluid at the bolt every 20k miles which gets about 1/3 of it. It doesn't sound like anything got done at all.

I'm not saying the Murano CVT is bad. There is lots of FUD on the Internet out about it and honestly I think it's just people who don't regularly maintenance the transmission fluid which causes an issue on ANY car. By the way, there is no such thing as lifetime fluid. Nothing is perpetual, additives and regular heat/cold/condensation cycles will break down any fluid... well except pure H2O.

Since you are in the gray area, from what I can guess, it will depend on the condition of your CVT fluid.

CVT fluid has been changed regularly. None of the stuff that has gone wrong with the car has been drivetrain related.

FWIW - I had a recommended local shop quote the work over the phone - 50% of the price the dealer was quoting.

Yeah - I'm going there.

 

[bruceb]

You have to take into account a typical dealer labor rate is $100 to $125 per hour ... and of course, they will mark up the cost of the parts by about 10% to 20% .. this is how they make their profits. An independent mechanic may still mark up the parts cost, but his labor would be more like $60 to $80 per hour

 

[lsd]

OEM nissan parts are insanely expensive for no reason. Having owned 5 nissans I know this well.
ie:
OEM power steering pump $606.60
Rockauto reman pump $91.79 after core fee
An independant shop will markup the price but it's still far less than oem nissan.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

So I ended up grabbing the Murano from the dealership yesterday. When I picked up the car they gave me a written estimate of the work they said needs to be done. Apparently I misunderstood the tech about the power steering, as the quote said nothing about the power steering pump. Apparently two of the seals in the power steering rack are leaking, so the dealer is recommending replacement of the whole rack.

After doing some research my understanding is that leaky seals are not a death sentence for a power steering rack, and that the rack can be rebuilt with new seals. Going to see what a different mechanic says. In the meantime, I'm off to buy some power steering stop leak.

 

[Insomniator]

Just never go to a dealer. Its crazy that anyone still does. Dealer is automatically 2-3x the price, and thats assuming they aren't BS'ing you in the first place about what you need.

What is weird is that you'd think dealers would want to make you think their cars are reliable and cheap to fix, but I guess they'd rather convince people that they need brand new cars.

 

[SearchMaster]

Just never go to a dealer. Its crazy that anyone still does. Dealer is automatically 2-3x the price, and thats assuming they aren't BS'ing you in the first place about what you need.

What is weird is that you'd think dealers would want to make you think their cars are reliable and cheap to fix, but I guess they'd rather convince people that they need brand new cars.

They make more money from the service department than they do from selling you a new car. They don't sell enough cars to keep the doors open.

 

[lsd]

Oh I'm sure they'd want you to replace the entire $1600 rack rather than $16 in seals
http://www.courtesyparts.com/auto-p...e/steering-cat/steering-gear-and-linkage-scat

Have noticed a leak yourself? it should be very obvious with puddles on the floor.
If it truly does need a rack autozone sells it for $500 or less than $400 from rockauto. Use those figures for a baseline when getting a quote from an independent shop.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

In the meantime, I'm off to buy some power steering stop leak.

I wouldn't. Just replace the fluid as it reduces until you can get a proper mechanic to replace the seals.

The snake oil stop leak stuff is usually a good way to ensure you will need a new rack sooner.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I paid about $16k for my truck and paid around $2k taxes on it. Consider sales tax on the cost of a new car too...not to mention the depreciation hit.

It sucks because 2009 is a pretty new vehicle. Good to see you've found another shop...service departments at dealerships are known for ripping people off. It's why I usually use the DIY videos on youtube to fix most issues. Either I jump in and fix issues after work or take time off to do it...most dealerships would leave me in a waiting room anyhow or dealing with a vehicle dropoff/pickup hassle anyway that would also consume time and more money... More importantly, I trust myself to fix issues more than a mechanic that I don't know.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Oh I'm sure they'd want you to replace the entire $1600 rack rather than $16 in seals
http://www.courtesyparts.com/auto-p...e/steering-cat/steering-gear-and-linkage-scat

Have noticed a leak yourself? it should be very obvious with puddles on the floor.
If it truly does need a rack autozone sells it for $500 or less than $400 from rockauto. Use those figures for a baseline when getting a quote from an independent shop.

Yeah - they were recommending replacing the entire rack. Those parts plus labor were the major part of the quote I received from the dealer. I'm going to take the car to the other shop soon and see if they can rebuild the rack with new seals.

Puddles on the floor? As in on the inside of the vehicle? If so - then no.

I have not seen obvious signs of a leak under the vehicle - though I know there is one somewhere because I could feel the issue in the steering wheel and the fluid was very low at that time.