I think it is time to replace the 2 older vehicles I drive.  My wife gets a new Acura from her work every 3 years so she is set.  I have been driving the same 2 vehicles for years now.  A 2002 Taurus with 150K miles and starting to have problems and a 98 Expedition with 150K miles that is also starting to give me problems.  So with my wife working for a very large dealer with different brand dealerships in 3 states, we get good deals on used vehicles.  They have a 2006 Murano with 65K miles.  Our price would be around $9K.  I love the Murano, but I have read about several major problems that occur and have also seen several that have well over 100K miles on them.  So I am not sure whether I am interested or not.

I like the looks of it but after repairing two Nissans (both daughters have one), I wouldn't touch one with a 10ft pole.  Weird things break on them.  I'm spoiled with Toyotas... 

And yet Toyota is the one with all the recalls, including the 1,000,000 recall announced this morning on my local news.

I had a Murano Leased 2005 -2008  NO issues at all with vehicle. only thing that is remotely  different about it is the CVT tranny
it takes some getting used to stepping down on GO pedal  and car kinda oozes  forward. Car is NOT slow  but you dont get the kickdown like most any other non  CVT auto out there...  I was very happy with car and would have bought it off lease but I had to take over my daughters Honda Civic lease..... changing the   CVT fluid is triple the price of regular ATF....  I had also owned an 85 Maxima with stick  had problems with gear box and dumped it NIssan refused to replace it. car would pop out of second into Neutral under load... factory rep couldnt reproduce it and would NOT ride with me driving to see it happen......   and 91 Q45 leased that had tranny blow but replaced under warranty at about 45K miles...

And yet Toyota is the one with all the recalls, including the 1,000,000 recall announced this morning on my local news.

Still, I know what breaks on thems and when.  The Nissans on the hand...  I actually like the stylings of the Nissan vehicles but I wouldn't buy one based on past track records.  Same with Kia.  Nice styling, good engine/transmissions, but a piece of carp underneath.

Give me a Toyota with a recall....whoa, wait a minute.  I have one of those.  My Prius just got one about the steering column.  But what the heck, after a quarter million miles, something has to go wrong.

You like Nissan styling? Before or after cocktail hour?

So repairing the Nissan is an issue but repairing the Toyota is not? 

Personally I think they all sell good vehicles. I have a Nissan Frontier that is still under warranty for a couple more years. No problems yet except for the battery. Oh wait, not true. I have something funky going on with my gauges. The tachometer needle and the cruise control indicator both turn off and on with great frequency. The Slip indicator comes on and turns off periodically. BUT OTHER THAN THAT... no problems.

I will get in in probably sometime in the spring to be looked at.

So repairing the Nissan is an issue but repairing the Toyota is not? 

Yep..

You like Nissan styling? Before or after cocktail hour?

There are not many car companies that don't produce something that looks nice.

I think this one looks nice:

I'm not a Nissan fan from personal experience. There are lots of them on the road though so I guess they are doing something right. We do the Toyota thing at my house.

 

So repairing the Nissan is an issue but repairing the Toyota is not? 

Personally I think they all sell good vehicles. I have a Nissan Frontier that is still under warranty for a couple more years. No problems yet except for the battery. Oh wait, not true. I have something funky going on with my gauges. The tachometer needle and the cruise control indicator both turn off and on with great frequency. The Slip indicator comes on and turns off periodically. BUT OTHER THAN THAT... no problems.

I will get in in probably sometime in the spring to be looked at.

Just proves what Jim says is right.   As long as I own a car, it will be nothing but a Subaru in my garage.

Just proves what Jim says is right.    

Of course, he is.

Thanks for everyone's comments.  My decision to buy a new vehicle was made yesterday after my Expedition died on me on the highway coming to work at 4:30 AM.  I finally got it going enough to make it to work a few miles from where it happened.  Called the wife who works at a very large dealership nearby my work.  She sent me the list of used vehicles, I picked a few out and asked her to call a salesguy or 2 (several different brands combined in their dealership) and tell them I would be over in an hour.  3 hours later, I was driving away in my new to me Acura MDX.  Has 80K miles, but was bought and maintained by her dealership.  So I have all the service records.  Timing belt, water pump, and all that just done.  All the recomended services done.  New tires with about 7000 miles on them.  Transmission software kit upgrade already done.  Not a scratch on it.  My price ended up being just over $12K with an extended platinum warranty.  I think I did ok.

Nice call on the MDX, I have a 2006 with 54K on it and all the options ... love the ride.

That MDX is just starting to get broken in, great choice and congrats.

Good move now get ride of the other car as well . Enjoy the MDX

Be real smart with your money and save as much as you can. We are in for a rough time over the next 4 -6 years .