NHTSA Complaint #10261804 — 2007 NISSAN MURANO

IN FEBRUARY 2008 DURING AN OIL CHANGE, FLUID LEAK WAS DISCOVERED BETWEEN CVT (TRANSMISSION) AND TRANSFER CASE. ON 2/5/08 DEALER MADE FIRST ATTEMPT TO REPAIR. THEY STATED THAT SOME CVT BOLTS WERE LOOSE AND WERE TIGHTENED. VEHICLE WAS RETURN TO ME AS FIXED (MILEAGE 11303). ON 5/12/08, VEHICLE WENT BACK TO DEALER FOR SCHEDULED 15K MAINTENANCE WHERE THEY FOUND IT STILL LEAKING. NEW TRANSFER CASE WAS ORDERED AND VEHICLE WENT BACK IN FOR INSTALLATION ON 5/15/08. ON 6/10/08, DURING A 3 WEEK VACATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST POWER ON THE HIGHWAY DURING BUSY COMMUTE TRAFFIC AND MADE CLUNKING NOISES. PULLED OFF HIGHWAY AND CALLED NISSAN N.A. AND TOWED TO NISSAN DEALER IN VICTORIA. DEALER DETERMINED THAT DUE TO HUMAN ERROR, PROPELLER (DRIVE) SHAFT WAS NOT PROPERLY TIGHTENED DOWN DURING TRANSFER CASE INSTALL AND HAD FALLEN OFF THE CAR. VEHICLE REPAIRED AND EXPENSES REIMBURSED BY DEALER IN CALIFORNIA. IN MARCH 2009, OIL CHANGE AGAIN REVEALED TRANSFER CASE LEAKING. DEALER ATTEMPTED TO REPLACE TC SEAL BUT FOUND TC DAMAGED DUE TO MISSING VENT TUBE. DEALER REPLACED WITH ANOTHER TRANSFER CASE ON 3/9/09. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE COMMON WITH AWD MURANOS. I HAVE PERSISTENTLY CHECKED FOR SIGNS OF LEAKS. OTHER OWNERS HAVE NOT BEEN AS DILIGENT AND HAVE EXPERIENCE NUMEROUS FAILURES DURING OPERATION ON THE ROAD. THIS IS A DANGER AS VEHICLE WILL STALL AND FAIL ON THE ROAD. *TR