The Nissan Murano Crosscabriolet may be one of the most awkwardly proportioned cars of all time, but by chopping the roof off a standard, boring Murano crossover, Nissan built something truly memorable. And since The Autopian is obsessed with memorable cars — especially noble failures — we’ve always wanted a CrossCabriolet. Now, thanks to our friends at XPEL, we have one. Here’s a first look at our beautiful Merlot-Red Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, and what we plan to do with it.
Last year we did a series of articles with our friends at XPEL, purveyors of the finest Paint Protection Film known to humankind. This series involved me having to make the huge sacrifice of 1. Having to have my 1991 Jeep YJ detailed and protected with PPF and 2. Having to take my Jeep off-roading to see how well that PPF did its job. The whole campaign was awesome, and my Jeep still looked so gorgeous that I used it in my wedding.
But this year, when it came time to brainstorm ideas, Matt, Jason, and I — along with XPEL’s team of car-nuts — all unanimously knew what had to be done. We had to get a CrossCab.
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The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet was an utter failure when it launched for the 2011 model-year. It cost almost $50,000, it weighed far more than a standard Murano, and with only two doors it just wasn’t very practical.
But 15 years later, we’re keen to give the CrossCab another chance at glory, because we believe in our hearts that — at the $9,600 price-point we picked ours up for at a dealership called “My T Motorz” in Arlington, Texas — the CrossCab might actually now be the bargain it never was when new. We’ll see.
CrossCabs are rare in the U.S., with only about 6,000 having been produced between 2011 and 2014 (by comparison, Ferrari probably sold around 20,000 458 Italias). As such, it was hard to find one in Merlot for a reasonable sum, which is why ours is a bit… rough around the edges. I’ll do a full article on its condition, but as you can see in the video above, that top is rough.
The 100,000-mile body itself has a few scratches, which is good, because our plan is to put many, many more into it. We’re going to apply XPEL PPF to half of our CrossCab, then we’re going to send it through a series of fun challenges to see how well that clear film protects our paint from the pain we’re about to inflict on this vehicle’s body panels.
Get excited — we sure as heck are — because there’s more Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet content coming than you could ever have hoped for.
There was a seafoam green one when I lived in, unsurprisingly, Florida on the coast. Go big or go home I guess.
Good promo vehicle for, well, SeaFoam
If you want to use SeaFoam as eyebleach then yeah 😛
One day years ago, coming out of a grocery store in central coast CA (a known old person location), I saw one in the same color with the top down in the parking lot. I was gobsmacked! What the hell IS that?! Being a person who loves weird cars, I looked it over and delayed going home to see if the owner came out. Sure enough, minutes later, an old couple came out, so I simply asked them if they liked it. The wife lit up and said she LOVED it. Husband looked at me, rolled his eyes, and said ‘I bought it for her.’ Nough said.
Sweet! Just make sure whomever is shipping it to you doesn’t deliver it to you by offloading it into a tree.
A while back I started seeing one of these on the way to work. It has no badging on the back, so the first time I saw it I had no idea what it was, but somehow I could sense it was a Nissan. It was the ugliest rear end I’d seen on a car since, well, the Nissan Cube. I was fascinated by the hideousness. I see it once or twice a week, and I just never get used to it.
I had almost forgotten just how sour throwing up a mini mouthful tastes. Thanks?
This might be the vehicle I most enjoy ironically. They’re silly, make no sense, and put a smile on my face every time I see one. Looking forward to more articles about this!
Still hurts the eyes, and soul to look at this turd…
So will it be eventually “gifted” to join the other shit boxes in Torch’s yard?
I don’t think this purchase will help save Nissan…
I laugh every time I see one, so appreciate the levity yall are bringing
You guys gotta name it. May I suggest “Janice” or “Dolores.”
Mulva?
Gipple.
Doris
Ophelia.
Rhonda
Scanning through the comments and haven’t seen anyone mention the savagegeese guys have covered some of this ground by buying a completely beige version of this, um, car… maybe you guys can CrossCabriolate some content? Start an ultra-exclusive club? The sky is the limit here, I think.
First the Nissaxi, now the Nissabriolet. Of all the cars you could buy, this is certainly one of them.
Neighbor had one of these about 10 years ago. Always garage kept, polished it with a diaper, etc. It looked “OK” with the top down but hideous with it up.
That’s what I’m talking about! Very excited for all things convertible-lump.
Good luck getting the parts for the top. They don’t make them, and there weren’t enough made to cannibalize.
These were made because Ghosn (the least “car guy” CEO who ruined Nissan) wanted one for his wife. It has zero redeeming qualities.
I guess it’s my dyslexia, but for some reason I always read ‘Murano’ ad ‘Demuro’. Has Doug ever reviewed one of these? Maybe you should give him the chance?
I keep forgetting that Muranos exist and read Manure, as in “why are they writing about manure on that car blog?
In this case, your misreading is more accurate.