Nissan Recalls 2024 Murano Over Detaching Glass Panels

Coming to a dealership near you in late 2024 for the 2025 model year, the fourth-generation Murano has been spied with Ariya-inspired styling and similar hard points to the current generation. The 3.5-liter V6 likely carries over, and hearsay suggests the Pathfinder's nine-speed auto instead of the 2024 model's detestable continuously variable tranny. A range-extended powertrain à la the Qashqai e-Power is possible but unlikely for the US market.

In the meantime, however, Nissan has issued a quality-related safety recall affecting a handful of 2024 models. According to documents published on the NHTSA's website, an assembly plant worker inadvertently loaded the incorrect primer for the quarter glass assembly during a production shift change on October 11 last year. The subsequent yard audit revealed that 72 vehicles were produced with the incorrect primer on both the right and left quarter glass panels. Said vehicles were repaired.

Nissan's US division also initiated a quality hold at dealerships nationwide, identifying 14 potentially affected vehicles produced for the 2024 model year at the Japanese automaker's Smyrna Assembly Plant in Tennessee. Of the grand total, eight were repaired. The remaining six were delivered, which is why the recall population comprises six units.

The report attached below lists production dates ranging from October 11, 2023 to October 12, 2023. The incorrect primer may lead to the separation of the right and left quarter glass from the vehicle while driving, resulting in a road hazard for other vehicles. Prior to separation, the driver may notice an increase in wind noise and/or a rattle noise.

The quarter glass panels bear part numbers 83300 5AA0A for the passenger side and 83301 5AA0A for the driver side. Nissan hasn't received any warranty claims or worse related to said condition. Dealers have already been instructed to replace the quarter glass panels at no charge whatsoever to affected customers. The replacement takes around three hours to complete. Owner notifications will be mailed via first-class mail on or about March 1.

The switch from 2023 to 2024 occurred in September 2023, and the biggest change over the 2023 model year is Nissan discontinuing the S FWD trim level in favor of the better-equipped SV FWD. Otherwise said, the 2024 Nissan Murano is $3,760 pricier than its predecessor. Customers are further presented with the Midnight Edition FWD, SL FWD, Platinum FWD, SV AWD, Midnight Edition AWD, SL AWD, and $47,900 Platinum AWD.

The most affordable Murano with all-wheel drive is $39,890 (excluding the $1,335 destination freight charge). As mentioned earlier, a continuously variable transmission will have to make do. The Murano's free-breathing V6 drinks regular to the tune of 20 miles to the gallon in the city and 28 on the highway for a combined 23 mpg (10.2 l/100 km) for both the front- and all-wheel-drive versions.

Rated at 260 horsepower and 240 pound-feet (325 Nm), the Murano's engine isn't as punchy as that of the Pathfinder. In the family-sized crossover, the VQ35 develops 284 horsepower and 259 pound-feet (351 Nm). The main upgrades over the VQ35DE in the Murano are direct injection (NEO-Di in Nissan vernacular) and electronically controlled continuously variable valve timing (eVTC).

In terms of sales, the Murano improved 3.5 percent in 2023 as opposed to 2022. Nissan delivered 31,137 units in the United States last year, whereas Pathfinder deliveries improved 23.9 percent to 71,710 units. The best-selling Nissan in this part of the world, however, is the Rogue (271,458).