Murano's elegant vibe comes at relatively little cost

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- The Nissan Murano sneaks up on you.

It's a midsize crossover sport-utility vehicle now in its third generation, and it's not typically mentioned among some of the other heavyweights in that segment.

However,  passengers who stepped into my 2019 Nissan Murano Platinum AWD tester offered up high praise, with no prompting from me.

"Hey, this is really nice," said one.  "What a beautiful ride," said another.  Yet another loved the Murano on the roll: "Smoothest ride I've had in a long time."

Passenger volunteers also kept asking: How much does this "luxury" SUV cost?

Well, it's not a $60,000 vehicle.  In fact, the generously loaded tester wore a bottom line of $46,420.  The only extra-cost option in that price was a mere 245 bucks for carpeted floor mats.

And then there's this: U.S. News & World Report named the 2019 Murano the "Best 2-Row SUV for the Money."

I agree that the Murano looks and feels very much like a much more expensive sport-ute, which is probably a good reason that its buyers assume they've stolen one off the Nissan lot.  My tester looked especially elegant with a rich "Deep Blue Pearl" paint job, set off with a striking "Cashmere" interior motif. The 20-inch "Dark Hyper Silver Wheels" didn't hurt either.

The SUV's upper-end feel also was bolstered by a super-long list of safety and security features -- automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert and an intelligent forward collision warning system were among the lineup -- and an even longer list of comfort and convenience features.  This latter grouping included a Bose premium audio system, heated rear seats and a motion-activated power liftgate.

Yes, I was feeling pretty spoiled rolling down the road, like maybe someone sneaked some Nissan badges onto a Mercedes-Benz SUV.

How did it drive?  Like a dream.  There was the aforementioned smoothness, and Murano's 3.5-liter, 260-horsepower V-6 responded with authority when asked.  Handling was razor sharp in slalom runs, and I have no doubt that the Murano could hold its own on unpaved surfaces.

Heaven forbid, however, that I would do such a thing and put a scratch on that Deep Blue Pearl paint surface.

Fuel mileage was pretty good at 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.

Craving luxury for less?  This Murano deserves your attention.