2019 Nissan Maxima and Murano: Mildest of Changes Move Them Forward

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

LOS ANGELES – If you weren’t specifically told the Nissan Maxima sedan and Nissan Murano crossover received a redesign for 2019, you’d likely not notice.

I’m not being mean – Nissan just didn’t change much with either vehicle.

The Maxima gets mild exterior changes, including a larger grille, different rear fascia (includes quad exhaust tips), different rear taillights, and new wheel designs. Inside, the changes include a new seat insert and some trim-specific appointments. Speaking of that, there are two new available option packages.

There’s also a new available paint color, rear-door alert, and revisions to the available satellite radio and available factory navigation system.

Nissan also now makes its “Safety Shield 360” suite of driver-assist/safety tech (blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, high-beam assist, and rear automatic braking) available to Maxima buyers.

The refreshed Maxima goes on sale in December.

Also going on sale in December is the updated Murano. Like the Maxima, it has a larger grille. It has changed LED headlights and taillights, new LED fog lamps, three new available paint colors, and new 18- and 20-inch wheel designs. Interior changes amount mostly to minor material and appointment updates.

Like with the Maxima, “Safety Shield 360” is now available, and the available factory nav sees revisions. Rear-door alert is now standard.

Also just like the Maxima, the Murano goes on sale in December. We’ll be driving both soon, so stay tuned for reviews.

[Images © 2018 Tim Healey/TTAC]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • APaGttH APaGttH on Nov 29, 2018

    The Maxima has become the new Ford Fusion for me. At the rental counter, "we have a Nissan Maxima...." Me inside, "YES!!!" Love to drive it, wouldn't own it. Basically looks just like an Altima and I can't get past that ticking time bomb of CVT attached to the front wheels.

  • SPPPP SPPPP on Nov 30, 2018

    Hey, that Murano would look great as a convertible, amiright?

    • Chiefmonkey Chiefmonkey on Dec 02, 2018

      Haha.I still don't know when they were thinking when they built that

  • TMA1 I guess they're not expecting big things from a 5,800 lb sports car.
  • Lichtronamo The current Accord and forthcoming Camry are heavlily revised models, not all new. GM could have probably done the same with Malibu just to stay in the space. GM (and Ford's) retreat from cars seems like a path to nowhere but shrinking marketshare that just feeds into Toyota's continual growth. It seems shocking that GM and Ford have become so small in the US (notwithstanding full-size trucks) and other markets around world.
  • Scott Read through and everyone seems to have missed the main question:Is Tim Healy an old geezer now?"Or is it just a crossover world and I'm now an old guy* tilting at windmills and yelling at clouds?"
  • ToolGuy My latest vehicle acquisition is slightly older than this one, same parent company, but has a full frame, rear-wheel drive and a longitudinally-mounted pushrod V8 gasoline engine. Almost like it was engineered and manufactured by a completely different group of people. Hmmm...
  • EBFlex Smart people
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