Problems › Nissan › 2021 Murano
2021 Nissan Murano Problems & Owner Complaints
Age-normalised, this year draws ~2.7 complaints per year on the road — ranking 11 of 13 Nissan Murano years we track (1 = most complaints per year).
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What owners report
Forward Collision Avoidance is the most-reported problem area on the 2021 Nissan Murano, cited in 6 of 16 filed complaints (38%).
Electrical System is next (2 complaints, 12%), followed by Vehicle Speed Control (2), Back Over Prevention (1), Engine (1).
Across all complaints, 1 report a crash.
The most safety-critical cluster is Forward Collision Avoidance: 1 crash report(s).
Complaints by vehicle system
Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2021 Nissan Murano, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 16.
Forward Collision Avoidance 6 1 crash
“On Jan 15, 2025, my vehicle exhibited an unintended sudden acceleration event while applying the brakes to slow the vehicle. Shortly after applying the brakes, the vehicle's engine revved very high and the car launched forward despite my foot on the brake and then struck another vehicle in front of me. The automatic emergency braking did not trigger. The air bags did deploy. No significant injuries, but both cars were damaged, my Murano likely totaled. I am confident that I did not accidentally hit the gas pedal.”
NHTSA complaint #11637487, 2025 · crash
“The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Murano. The contact stated while her mother was driving at 6 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floorboard. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to come to a complete stop, after which the vehicle lost power. As a result, the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light, and the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking systems failed to activate, and the driver lightly tapped the vehicle in front. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not…”
NHTSA complaint #11582700, 2024
“The cruise will not maintain the set speed when going downhill. This does not have to be a steep hill. Any downward slope with cause the speed to increase until I hit the brake pedal. It has gotten up to 13 miles over before I hit the brake. I owned a 2018 Murano and it did not do this. I've also owned many other vehicles with cruise control and none have done this. I have taken this to Town Center Nissan more than once for this problem and they say that it they can't duplicate it and then the answer changed to it is normal when going downhill.”
NHTSA complaint #11508862, 2023
Unknown Or Other 4
“While accelerating to merge into traffic and make a left turn, the vehicle briefly hesitated, which has occurred previously. After completing the turn and straightening the vehicle, I fully released the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle continued accelerating and maintaining speed without accelerator input from me. The vehicle appeared to maintain approximately 54 mph in a 45-mph zone while I was not pressing the accelerator pedal. I applied the brakes, but the vehicle did not immediately decelerate. To regain control, I shifted the transmission into Neutral. Once the transmission was in Neu…”
NHTSA complaint #11745478, 2026
“I am reporting a safety concern involving a 2021 Nissan Murano Platinum with approximately 45,000 miles. The vehicle experienced water intrusion into the cabin due to a failure in the panoramic sunroof drainage system. A Nissan dealership diagnosed that water was leaking from the sunroof channels and that the drain hoses were contaminated and not functioning properly. As a result, water entered the interior of the vehicle, soaking the A-pillars and floorboards. There was also a musty odor, indicating that moisture remained trapped inside the vehicle for a period of time. In addition to the…”
NHTSA complaint #11725847, 2026
“I’m not sure what this problem may be but I was at the traffic light with my foot on the brake and the car just accelerated by itself which was very frightening to my and my grandkids I had to pump the brakes twice before it almost ran into the car in front of me. So the engine rises also when this happens”
NHTSA complaint #11664661, 2025
Electrical System 2
“The fuel gauge no longer works and the speedometer is inconsistent. The 2021 Murano has a digital spped read out that can be used. The main speedometer can jump around show 45 while running at 73 mph. Or showing 23 when at 33 - so it is clearly a safety issue. This is a low mileage vehicle - with about 18000 miles on it.”
NHTSA complaint #11748508, 2026
“Car stalls and dashboard goes blank or backup warning lights or other warning lights randomly coming on. I don't feel safe. My car could stall and cause accidents. 2 dealership inspected and said they could not find anything wrong.”
NHTSA complaint #11474283, 2021
Vehicle Speed Control 2
“While accelerating to merge into traffic and make a left turn, the vehicle briefly hesitated, which has occurred previously. After completing the turn and straightening the vehicle, I fully released the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle continued accelerating and maintaining speed without accelerator input from me. The vehicle appeared to maintain approximately 54 mph in a 45-mph zone while I was not pressing the accelerator pedal. I applied the brakes, but the vehicle did not immediately decelerate. To regain control, I shifted the transmission into Neutral. Once the transmission was in Neu…”
NHTSA complaint #11745478, 2026
“A specific cruise control feature of the 2021 Nissan Murano, in my opinion, is dangerous to operate and may or may have already caused a serious injury/accident. I have brought this concern to the people at the Dealership in Tucson, AZ on several occasions. I have also contact the Nissan North America Consumer Affairs Office in Franklin, TN. Both of these parties have told me the cruise control system is working properly. So what is my concern? The last four cars that I have owned had cruise control systems. Two of the cars were Nissan Muranos. A 2010 Nissan Murano and a 2014 Nissan Muran…”
NHTSA complaint #11430521, 2021
Back Over Prevention 1
“Back up system sensors alarms when nothing is behind vehicle and sometimes does not alarm when there is something behind me. I bought the car 5/31/2023 the problem started right away, I took my car to the dealership for repair on 6/7/2023 for the first time. They were unable to reproduce the issue, I have had my car at the dealership 6 times since, they have seen and videoed my car giving false warning lights and sounds like something is behind me even though nothing is behind me. They have replaced all 4 backup sensors and most recently the left blindside warning sensor and tail light, I stil…”
NHTSA complaint #11546487, 2023
Engine 1 1 crash
“On Jan 15, 2025, my vehicle exhibited an unintended sudden acceleration event while applying the brakes to slow the vehicle. Shortly after applying the brakes, the vehicle's engine revved very high and the car launched forward despite my foot on the brake and then struck another vehicle in front of me. The automatic emergency braking did not trigger. The air bags did deploy. No significant injuries, but both cars were damaged, my Murano likely totaled. I am confident that I did not accidentally hit the gas pedal.”
NHTSA complaint #11637487, 2025 · crash
Exterior Lighting 1
“The component of the vehicle is the passenger headlight. The vehicle is available for inspection at any time.I was unable to see at night clearly with the use of only one headlight because the other headlight went out. At the time that the headlight went out I was on a 2 Lane Rd. with no street lights and it became very dark and difficult to see.The defect has been confirmed at a Nissan dealership on September 23. The dealership found separation of the assembly, causing the condensation in the passenger side headlight causing it not to work. The vehicle has not been inspected by any other ent…”
NHTSA complaint #11616501, 2024
Seat Belts 1
“The driver side rear seat belt buckle does not engage, the red button on buckle does not pop up”
NHTSA complaint #11666395, 2025
Structure 1 1 crash
“On Jan 15, 2025, my vehicle exhibited an unintended sudden acceleration event while applying the brakes to slow the vehicle. Shortly after applying the brakes, the vehicle's engine revved very high and the car launched forward despite my foot on the brake and then struck another vehicle in front of me. The automatic emergency braking did not trigger. The air bags did deploy. No significant injuries, but both cars were damaged, my Murano likely totaled. I am confident that I did not accidentally hit the gas pedal.”
NHTSA complaint #11637487, 2025 · crash
Visibility 1
“The contact rented a 2021 Nissan Murano. The contact stated that after entering the vehicle, the rear windshield suddenly shattered. The contact indicated that during the failure, no object had struck the windshield to cause it to shatter. The manufacturer was notified but vehicle was a rental and would not discuss the defect. Also, Pennsylvania State Attorney but manufacturer declined to engage about the damage to the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not determined. The approximate failure mileage was 11,000.”
NHTSA complaint #11460107, 2022
How we read this (methodology)
How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2021 Nissan Murano draws about 2.7 complaints per year on the road, ranking 11 of 13 among the Nissan Murano model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).
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Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.