A little over two months ago I purchased a Nissan Rogue SL All Wheel Drive (AWD) with leather and tech package. So basically this is a fully loader Nissan Rogue there is really no features that it is missing. I have put off writing up an article on the truck for a couple of reasons. The first being I want to make sure I had driven the car enough make a really educated review and also I wanted to have some pictures in the review where it was clean and not covered in snow.
This week I was finally able to get some decent pictures of my Rogue, see below and I am almost at eight thousand KM driven. The Rogue is a cross over vehicle meaning basically it is a cross between a car and an SUV / Truck. So it looks like a large car or a really small SUV. It main competition in the market is the Toyota RAV 4 and Honda CRV. The Nissan Rogue basically looks like a mini Nissan Murano which basically what it is.
As I have mentioned in previous posts I did test drive a lot of different cars before I settled on the Rogue. The main reason for this when I purchased my previous car, a Mazda 3 GT Sedan I did not test drive many other cards. I drove the Mazda 3 and I liked and ordered one. I felt that maybe if I drove more cars especially in the winter I maybe would have passed on the Mazda 3 and gone with a car I was more happier with.
Anyway I choose the Rogue over its main competitors the Honda CRV and Toyota Rav4 for several reasons. I liked the CRV but I felt it was little too plain, it was not flashy like the rogue is. I did like the Toyota Rav4 a lot when I drove it but again the Nissan Rogue was better looking and it was also significantly more then the Nissan Rogue was. Also at the time Toyota had comparatively high interest rates n the Rav4, something like six percent compared to Nissan’s three percent. Another reason I choose the Rogue was Heather was the most comfortable driving it of really all the cars that I drove, which is important I guess.
So as I mentioned I have put almost eight thousand kilometers on my Rogue and I am still loving the car. I picked it up in February so I had for some very significant snow storms. The Rogue performed great in the harsh winter what we had this year in south western Ontario. The all wheel drive kicked in as needed and I felt safe at all times, if I still my Mazda 3 I would have missed a lot meetings this year because it was horrible in the snow.
My Nissan Rogue SL has a 4 liter engine in it, but it still has guts and the power to get you out of trouble when you need it. The Rogue has a CVT transmission which gives it an extremely smooth ride, rather then a traditional transmission where you can feel the gears changing. The CVT and the smaller engine give the Rogue some pretty amazing fuel economy. It has a 60 liter tank and I am averaging about 600 – 650 KM per tank with that being am mix of city and highway driving. The second week I had the rogue I had to take to go on a longer trip, all freeway and I got closer to 800 KM on that tank of gas. This is in comparison to my Mazda 3 GT that I use to get 400 KM on a 50 liter tank.
One of the features that I wanted in my next car was a blue tooth package, I make a lot of client calls when I am driving and the police in Ontario are getting more and more militant about people using cell phones while driving. So I got the tech package in my Rogue and the blue tooth package works flawlessly. I have had several people comment that I actually sound better when I have them on hands free and driving then when I am using my Blackberry 8300 normally. The tech package also comes with XM satellite radio, which to be honest I have not used and probably I never will. I just don’t see the need for it, but I had to take it if wanted the blue tooth package.
My Rogue is black and I think it looks pretty flashy I have had a lot of people comment on the looks of the car. I did tint the drives and passengers windows, why the rear windows are tinted and front are not I am not sure. I also got the package which is black with red dots on it. The picture of this leather in the brochure does not do in justice, it really does look smart. I am finding that Rogue has a lot of usable cargo space or at least more then enough for me. My Mazda 3 had a large truck but it was odd shaped so much of it was not accessible.
I really do like my Rogue but there are some things that are annoying me. The first is that it does have a large blind spot which is fine if you know it is there. But if you do not know about it cars and even medium trucks can disappear into it. This is something they should look at fixing in later models.
My other major annoyance with the car is the small trip computer, it is small round display between the tachometer and speedometer. There is a lot room on the center dash board where they could have put a larger display. This is lack of a larger display also means that there is no navigation option for the Rogue in Canada. Not a big deal for me, I would never pay what most manufacturers want for a build in unit but it would be nice feature.
This leads me to a general annoyance about the auto industry in general. You can often get features on cars slated for American market but you can not get them for the Canadian market. For example in the states you can get Zeon head lights on the Rogue but not in Canada, why?
I have been extremely happy with my purchased of my fully load Nissan Rogue SL, there have been just some minor issues that I have run into. The fact that I like the Rogue says a lot about the handling. Historically I hated driving large cars and SUV’s they feel like you are driving a boat. But the Rogue really does feel and drive like a normal car but larger and more powerful like an SUV while still remain excellent fuel economy. I would strongly recommend anyone looking for a new vehicle at least drive the Rogue, you will not regret it.
More Pictures Below
Like the marks on the Bumper? Some idiot parked my brail.
{ 17 } Comments
Not a truck!
It is a truck like thing, not a car but not a truck. I prefer Truck then Crossover.
I have a question about your Mazda 3 in the winter, as I am humming and haaing about whether to go for a Rogue (where the trip controls are difficult to get to) or a Mazda 3 GT, for its fuel economy.
However, you stated that it was difficult to drive in the winter/snow.
Did you use winter tires, or the summer-only rated tires?
This information would greatly help in my decision.
Many thanks!
Jeannie R
Hi Jeannie,
I never put Winter tires on my Mazda 3 instead I put a good pair of All Season tires on it. I have two friends who have Mazda 3’s they both put snows on their’s and they still have considerable issues with the car in the winter.
Jim
I too checked out the CRV and RAV4 before deciding on the Rogue. Will pick up the identical one to yours later this week. Honda just seems to have the “take it at our price, or leave it” attitude and the RAV4 has that ugly wheel hanging off the back. Too bad the North American makers don’t produce a vehicle which can compete in this group with similar features. Currently looking forward to cutting down on my gas consumption when I turn in the Buick.
Hi Gary I am sure you will be really happy with your Rogue especally when you compare the gas consumption. I want from a Mazda 3 to my Rogue and I noticed a huge differance. I was getting 400KM on average in my Mazda 3 GT, with 50 litre tank, wiht my Rogue I am getting 650-700 KM per tank on 60 Litre tank.
Hi Jim,
We just recently purchased the 2008 FWD Rogue SL, it’s black like yours. Got $2000 back in tax rebated to boot. We are very happy with it and dont miss our 2006 Mazda 3 GT. That car sucked in the winter and we don’t get that harsh of winters here in BC. It was like deja vu reading your article. Thanks for posting.
Hi Jim,
Can you comment on the heater and A/C?
I too had a Mazda 3 and it was exactly like you said: just not a good car for winter conditions.
The Heater and AC in Rogue is great, the heated seats on Rogue are really nice.
As for my Mazda 3, the AC was ok but the heater was horrible it took forever for the car to heat up. To make it worse I had leather so it made for some really cold commutes to work at times.
thanks for your reply Jim, my experience is exactly the same re: the mazda with leather seat; heater good for floridians.
I just wonder if I should wait for the 2009 model or just go ahead with the 2008.
I loved my Rogue too and have been pleased with the gas mileage but I am a little concerned about the transmission. I noticed a gurgling sound when I started to gear down and reported it to Nissan. They are replacing it! I had less than 15,000 km on the car. They are still trying to determine the problem and can’t guarantee that I won’t have the same problem with the new one.
Wow that is interesting I just had my Rogue in for the it 24k KM check and I commented on a gurgling noice also. They told me the same thing, that hte noice is caused by the transmission, but they also do not konw how to resolve it.
Another noise I noticed was during the summer at high speeds, freeway was a squeeking sound. I recorded it on my phone and took it into a dealership and they where never able to find what caused the sound.
I’m really pleased with the Rogue that I purchased. I agree with all of your comments Jim. Well writtten.
Hello!
I’m from montreal and I have a rogue with 16K on the clock. I notice the same noise and I’m prety sure that it comes from the Transmission. I will report it to nissan on my next oil change…
Cheers
Driss
I went to look at one on the weekend. It is the right size for what I want. The blind spot problem and now reports of transmission problems kind of makes me wonder if it would be a good purchase. What is the warranty on these? I guess they haven’t perfected the CVT. Do you think this is a long term vehicle? How long do you think it would last you?
Can you also comment on the visibility from the rear window?
Hi TJ I believe the standard warranty is 3 year 80,000 and 100k 5 years on the power train. This is just off the top of my head though.
For me I have my doubts it will be a long term vehicle, for a couple of reasons. One being I put a lot ok KM on my cars and I must have a reliable car. So one they are to get to 100k or so I tend flip for a new model, the auto industry loves me. I am also a bit of car snob and I like having a new car and I am very reluctant to keep cars that are off warranty.
The transmission is issue I would chock up to it being a first generation vehicle; there are always problems with them. Maybe get a 2009 rather then a 2008?
As for the visibility from the rear view window the Rogue is not an easy truck to backup. That is where the blink spot is, I know some people who have added back up camera’s to them to solve the problem. I have just got use to backing it up so it is not all the big of an issue for em.
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