One of the most popular compact crossover SUVs available today, the Nissan Rogue, is an appealing blend of comfort and visual appeal. It’s Nissan’s top seller even over the brand’s popular sedans. While it lacks the energy some of its competition has, it’s still roomy and comfortable.

Do those who’ve bought the Nissan Rogue have any regrets? If so, what are they?

Most are happy with their Nissan Rogue

When asked if they were pleased with their Nissan Rogue on popular online discussion forums like Reddit and Quora, the responses were mostly favorable. Nissan is known for its reliability, and the Rogue offers an impressive list of standard driver-assist and tech features.

One owner on Quora said their Nissan Rogue ran like a dream and was everything that they could ask for in a vehicle.  Another Quora user explained that his son had purchased one, and his son loved it. He described the car as comfortable, fuel-efficient, and included all the latest safety features. There were no regrets at all.

Originally, his son had worried about dropping back to a vehicle with a regular four-cylinder engine and a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The worries were for naught as they found the Rogue’s performance to be perfectly fine for city and highway driving needs. They went on to explain the CVT offered a jerk-free and smooth ride.

Comments on Reddit were mostly favorable too. Users said they found the Nissan Rogue reliable and that it could get the job done.

The reviews are in

Overall, Car and Driver finds the new Nissan Rogue to be style over substance, favoring show over “engagement and refinement.”

Why? The team at Car and Driver thought the Rogue didn’t perform as well as others in its segment. For them, the vehicle was too hefty for the four-cylinder engine making it struggle in performance. They also thought it didn’t present the total package as well as rivals like Volkswagen or the Honda CR-V. 

Car and Driver did find it to have a comfortable ride with lots of space for passengers. For a family vehicle, it’ll work just fine. Nissan also made several key driver-assist features standard and added new packages to add some versatility to the popular SUV.

U.S. News, on the other hand, placed the Nissan Rogue in the top half of its compact SUV rankings. They were impressed with the Rogue’s good predicted reliability rating, an impressive list of standard safety features, and the interior room it offers. They cited the lack of power as the reason it didn’t rank higher on their list. 

U.S. News liked the Rogue’s softer interior surfaces and roomy cabin. They, too, appreciated the long list of standard safety features and tech. The predicted reliability rating was a plus for them too. Like Car and Driver, they took the Rogue to task for its slow acceleration and the failure of the CVT transmission to power the engine. They also found that the engine droned loudly at high speeds.

Potential drawbacks

Owners and critics alike agree that the Nissan Rogue is easy to drive and a great family vehicle. Some even consider it among the better small SUVs on the market.

But the general consensus is also that when it comes to performance, the Nissan Rogue isn’t impressive. As Consumer Reports points out, it’s not an engaging drive. It’s competent and has a CVT that’s better calibrated for a smoother ride that has less noise than previous models.

The Nissan Rogue is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that puts out 170 hp and is adequate for normal, daily driving. When you push it, not so much. 

Still, it handles well with good steering even if there isn’t a lot of feedback. It’s a sharp-looking SUV with a lot of great features. You are safe driving it and you can feel that even if it doesn’t have the sporty athleticism you’d like for it to have.