New here! "Upgrade" to a Titan?

[jammadave]

Hi guys:

Current owner of an awesome 2004 Murano, bought in March of this year. Traded in a 2003 Dodge Ram because I needed the covered cargo room and better mileage. Didn't really know about the Titan at the time, though I had seen the Armada plenty.

Well, now that 7 months and 11,000 miles have gone by, I'm really missing the size and comfort of the larger vehicle. Would I be nuts to trade the Mo in on a Titan? (not that the murano isn't comfortable, it's the nicest car I've ever owned, but truck owners know what i'm talking about) - The Titan's flip-up rear seats mean covered cargo room when needed, and the bed means I can haul pinball machines and mulch and all else I usually end up lugging around. I had to rent a Uhaul for a hundred bucks just to take a bigscreen TV to a relative's house. Not cool. Although the Murano *has* fit a pinball machine with ease, with the rear seats folded.

Thanks to my truck being paid off when I traded it, and my cash down, I only financed $14k of the Mo - it's an SE, fully loaded with everything but Nav, AWD, and VDC. So I'd be hoping to come out with about the same monthly payment as I have now, which is about $300.

Specific questions:
- Is the engine/trans as smooth as the VQ/CVT to drive?
- Is the head unit easy enough to replace, that I can go get my own XM-ready HU instead of using the Aux? And is replacing/modding the plastic facing easy enough?
- Is the bed storage compartment big enough for a whole slew of auto "stuff"? incl. tire iron, jumpers, emergency equipment, etc?
- I have an aftermarket Nav system (Garmin 2620) - what's the grille behind the "indented tray" in the top center - a speaker or an air vent? I'd probably want to put the Garmin right there, but not if it'll harm anything. "in" the tray would mean running the cord out the front and down the face of the stereo, not a good thing.

My girlfriend LOVES the heated seats in the Murano, but thinks leather in a pickup is a little weird. I think the leather is great, except in summer when my back ends up sweating like crazy because of it. LE owners, how's leather/heated treating' ya?

Sorry for the LONG post - just trying to decide.

BTW - I notice a member here named TriKKy - that's so funny, my license plate is "TRIKKY". A tribute to the Run DMC song and my favorite modern-era video game that is its namesake.

[bestatchess]

engine/trans are great, IMHO

head unit is easy to replace, although with factory NAV & DVD you will have problems integrating with any aftermarket head unit. The RF speakers,amp& sub all suck. A double din replacement central dash cover is available for aftermarket head unit installs. I don't know if anybody has successfully integrated rear audio controls with an aftermarket HU

the bed side storage compartment is pretty small, difficult to get re-latched, and mine is not waterproof/dust proof, so anything I put in there gets covered with dust.

leather heated seats are o.k., but cold on cold mornings. I use sheepskin seat covers which are very comfortable

the top center dash grill is a speaker, at least on RF. I have seen photos on this forum of aftermarket GPS installs where they run the cord internally, not down over the front of the face of the stereo.