Nissan Murano vs Honda Passport: which is more reliable?
The Nissan Murano is clearly ahead of the Honda Passport on the federal record: 79/100 against 66/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Nissan Murano
- 15 model years scored
- 1,074 owner complaints on record
- about 8 complaints per year on the road
- 24 recall campaigns, 18 safety-critical
- best year 2021 (94/100) · worst 2015 (37/100)
Honda Passport
- 7 model years scored
- 653 owner complaints on record
- about 22 complaints per year on the road
- 37 recall campaigns, 17 safety-critical
- best year 2024 (88/100) · worst 2019 (30/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Murano against Passport
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Nissan Murano
- Unknown Or Other — 214 complaints
- Power Train — 201 complaints
- Service Brakes — 124 complaints
Honda Passport
- Electrical System — 168 complaints
- Forward Collision Avoidance — 166 complaints
- Engine — 121 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Murano's complaints concentrate in Unknown Or Other, the Passport's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Nissan Murano — avoid: 2015.
Honda Passport — avoid: 2019.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Nissan Murano prices at about $40,800 and a Honda Passport at about $40,800 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 23.0 against 21.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Nissan Murano or the Honda Passport more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Nissan Murano scores 79/100 against the Honda Passport's 66/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Nissan Murano carries about 8 complaints per year on the road against 22 for the Honda Passport.
Which Nissan Murano and Honda Passport years should I avoid?
Nissan Murano: 2015. Honda Passport: 2019. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Nissan Murano and the Honda Passport?
The largest complaint group on the Nissan Murano is Unknown Or Other (214 complaints); on the Honda Passport it is Electrical System (168).
Is the Nissan Murano or the Honda Passport cheaper to own?
A recent used Nissan Murano prices at about $40,800 and a Honda Passport at about $40,800, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.