Nissan’s first convertible crossover would, unsurprisingly, be its last.
In the case of the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, it’s easy to play armchair quarterback. After all, who was asking for drop-top crossover?
What was the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet?
CrossCabriolet Use Case
But we can see a use case, perhaps as rental vehicles in vacation areas (think Tampa), or for seniors living out their golden years in a gated community in Arizona or Florida. And, who’s to say that regular commuters would mind dropping the top after work on a nice day?
Anyway, Nissan saw the potential, and brought to market a folding-top version of its stylish Murano midsize crossover. The rest, as they say, is history. Let’s review that history…
Convertible Crossover
Nissan marketed the Murano CrossCabriolet as “the world’s first all-wheel-drive crossover convertible.” While their early products were really trucks and not crossovers, we think the folks at Jeep might find the claim dubious.
Murano Roots
Offered between 2011 and 2014, the CrossCab was a 2-door rework of the 2nd-generation Murano. Conventional Muranos came only with 4-doors.
Prices and Production
Prices began at $44,000, which was high relative to the hardtop Murano. And whether or not we could see a use case for the drop-top Murano, the buying public could not. During the vehicle’s four-year production run, just 6000 were produced, many of which were sold with the aid of massive cash incentives. Sales peaked at about 3700 units in 2012, and fell off after that.
Review
In our own testing, Consumer Guide found the CrossCabriolet to suffer from fairly pronounced body flex and quake over rough road surfaces, though the 260-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 provided plenty of smooth power.
Automatic Top
Roof operation was fully automatic, and the cabin nicely designed and upscale feeling.
Rarity
Today the CrossCabriolet is a rarity with a small but cultish following. Ideal parade cars, clean examples can be found for as little as $10,000, though sales as high as $15,000 have been reported.
CG Says:
Of all the industry’s best-remembered failures, we find the CrossCabriolet to be more of a failed experiment than a true crash-and-burn event. The marketing mistake that was Edsel, now that was epic. But the CrossCabriolet? Nissan’s convertible crossover is best remembered as a mild market miscalculation, like Clear Pepsi, or McDonald’s pizza.
Per Nissan, “The Murano CrossCabriolet provides a unique, all-season perspective on driving as the world’s first all-wheel drive crossover convertible.” Sadly, buyers didn’t seem to need all that perspective.
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Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet Pictures
(Click below for enlarged images)
