NHTSA Complaint #10462265 — 2007 NISSAN MURANO

NISSAN DEALER INFORMED ME THAT THE TRANSFER CASE SEAL IS BROKEN AND NEEDS TO BE RESEALED. ONLY NISSAN HAS SERVICED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. THIS SEEMS TO BE A NISSAN CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION (CVT)-RELATED PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS 66,000 MILES ON IT, AND THE WARRANTY ON THE CVT WAS PREVIOUSLY DOUBLED TO 120,000 MILES. THE ORIGINAL WARRANTY WAS FOR 60,000 MILES. HOWEVER, NISSAN ALLEGES THAT THE TRANSFER CASE IS UNRELATED TO THE CVT AND THEREFORE, NOT COVERED BY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. THIS SEEMS TO BE DISINGENUOUS, AT BEST. FROM POLLS AND THREADS I'VE SEEN, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS A FREQUENT PROBLEM IN MURANOS AND NISSAN IS ATTEMPTING TO PUT UP A WALL INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY. IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THE DURATION OF THE MURANO LIFE CYCLE, ACROSS THE YEARS, AND AS IS SOMEWHAT TYPICAL OF POWERTRAIN PROBLEMS, THEY DON'T MANIFEST FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND MILES. THE THREADS INDICATE THAT RESEALING THE TRANSFER CASE (FOR AN EXORBITANT $1250) ONLY STAVES OFF THE FAILURE AND THAT IT OCCURS AGAIN. THIS RECURRING PROBLEM EVENTUALLY MANIFESTS IN FAILURE OF THE CVT ITSELF. IN THAT CASE IT COSTS IN THE RANGE OF $6500 TO REPAIR. THERE SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN FLAW HERE THAT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED. IF THE CVT SEIZES UP ON THE ROAD IT COULD CERTAINLY BE A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. *JS