From the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show, Cars.com's Joe Wiesenfelder takes a look at the 2011 Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet.
Transcript
(upbeat music) <v Announcer>Cars.com auto review. (upbeat music) Hi, I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with cars.com. We're taking a look at something we've never seen before, and you probably haven't either. It's a convertible crossover.
It's the 2011 Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet. Now, if you've never been in a really large convertible, you don't know what you're missing. And you probably don't know what you're missing because there hasn't been a large convertible since the seventies. This is an entirely new definition of large convertible. Now people already think the hard top Murano is weird looking. I have to say, the convertible probably looks a little bit more weird. For one thing, it's really large. Now, even if you're accustomed to an old, large convertible, that at least was a car. This being a crossover is really high. Now there's a benefit to it being this high. It's pretty easy to get into. Now, they make it pretty easy for you to get into the back seat, 'cause there there are two powered rocker switches here to move the seat forward and tilt the back rest. And as you can see, once I'm in, here's the big advantage to having a crossover convertible as opposed to a convertible car, lots of room. Leg room, I'm not exactly hurting for room here. I'm not even raised too high. One thing I do notice that I'm not crazy about is the bathtub effect. So here I am, I'm out in a convertible, but at the same time, I feel like this side is very high. It's as high as my shoulder. Now with convertibles, oftentimes cargo spaces compromised. That does seem to be the case here. It's actually kind of shallow, and there's a bulkhead here on the side. And that's partly because there's a partition here for when the top is down. It needs to go somewhere. That's where it goes. Now, when the top is up, you move this off to the side and you get more space. But again, when you consider this is a Murano underneath it all, you expect a lot more space than this. Now the top might look really low from the outside, but again, because the wall is so high, there's more headroom than you might think. I've got plenty, though this does encroach here along the side. Now I like the idea of a big convertible 'cause there hasn't been one in a long time. Now there is. I'm not sure about the execution though. A little bit weird looking, not a whole lot of cargo space in the back. And there's another thing. The price, over $46,000. That's a lot. What are you paying for, a bigger backseat? The opportunity to have all wheel drive, not just front wheel drive, like most convertible cars have. <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog, kickingtires.net.
