Nissan’s five-passenger Rogue crossover SUV is the company’s top-selling vehicle and a top-seller overall in America. The Rogue outsells all of Nissan’s car models combined and it accounts for about 35% of the brand’s overall U.S. deliveries. No vehicle is more important to Nissan, and it shows. The Rogue is a refined, comfortable, practical vehicle that makes no mistakes.

The Nissan Rogue is a vehicle that checks all the boxes in America's most important and largest-volume vehicle segment. It feels roomy everywhere, and its specs show that it offers about 7% more passenger volume than the Toyota RAV4. When we drive the Rogue in its intended environment, on urban and suburban daily chores and commutes, it shines.

The Rogue is successful because Nissan pays attention to the little details that matter. If you buy the top trims you don't need a cord to connect your phone to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There is a spare tire under the cargo floor. Top trims put USB ports in back where kids can use them.

Another aspect of the Rogue is that Nissan chose neutral styling that most people will find appealing. It’s not over-modern like the new Hyundai Santa Fe. Not boxy and pretend off-roady looking like RAV4. Inside, it just looks classy. All the controls are simple to operate and use the moment you enter.

The RAV4 is heading toward being all-electrified in its coming model year. About a third of the RAV4s sold are already either hybrids or plug-in hybrids. The mileage numbers for the electrified RAV4s are significantly higher than the Rogue’s 31 MPG. The RAV4 hybrid offers 41 MPG, and the RAV4 Prime offers 94 MPGe and can travel for about 40 miles on electricity alone. The RAV4 Prime, the top trim, has 50% more power than the Rogue offers. As you can see, the competition is making things hard on Nissan.

Like the RAV4 line, Honda is now shipping about one in four CR-Vs as hybrids and plans for that to increase significantly. The CR-V and Rogue are about equal in size, and both feel roomier than most of their peers. These two match up very closely in most ways.

Mazda has not gone down the hybrid path yet, but it will soon. For now, the CX-5 offers a much sportier option for buyers. The CX-5 Turbo has about 50% more torque than the Rogue and a geared transmission. Nissan’s three-cylinder engine and CVT are not a great matchup with the up-powered vehicles in its class.

Nissan and Mitsubishi have teamed up on the Outlander and Rogue. If you want a temporary-use third row of seats or would like a plug-in hybrid-electric powertrain, check out the Outlander. Mitsubishi also offers a substantially better warranty package.

The base Nissan Rogue S with front-wheel drive starts at $30K. We tested the AWD Platinum Intelligent trim, which costs $42,535, including Shipping and handling but less dealer Doc Fees. Nissan has multiple trims between these two endpoints.

The Rogue’s new powertrain arrived in 2022, and that carried forward. 2024 brings a pretty meaningful refresh to the Rogue. The vehicle gets new front and rear fascias featuring a new interpretation of the Nissan V-motion grill. Secondary lights and badges also get some new designs. Nissan also changed up the colors and wheel designs for 2024. The upscale SL trim gets a wireless phone charger and 12.3-inch screens.

The Rogue is the type of vehicle that shines on a shopping-day test drive. This is one smooth operator. The Rogue’s powertrain is quiet, and you may not hear it at all unless you give it the full boot. Nissan must have layered on a lot of sound-deadening material, because would not expect a 3-cylinder engine to be this quiet.

The Rogue is also very comfortable on the road. Only extreme potholes will even be noticed. It rolls along like a luxury vehicle on around-town trips. One other big plus for the Rogue is that all the controls make perfect sense. The center screen is super easy to navigate, and the driver information display menus only take a moment to decode. The HVAC controls are real buttons and knobs and there is a volume knob.

Off the line, the Rogue is smooth and has a great throttle map that makes the vehicle feel light and lively. It’s spot on for normal driving in a relaxed manner. In everyday driving around the Metro West suburbs of Boston, the Rogue always felt as if it had ample power. You need not push the Rogue to give you a satisfying drive. It’s right in the Goldilocks zone.

If you feel the need to thrash your Rogue don’t expect it to match the Mazda CX-5 or RAV4 Prime. Those vehicles have more torque and power than the Rogue, and that is a plus for them. The Rogue does not like to be manhandled or driven aggressively. Why should it? If you want a quick, fast, and sporty vehicle, Nissan and Infiniti have many great ones from which to choose. This is a well-rounded vehicle, not one that is designed for stoplight sprints.

Drive like a grown-up, and the Rogue is brilliant. It is right there with the best in class for overall driving satisfaction. In terms of overall comfort and enjoyment, it reminded us of the CR-V Hybrid.

The Rogue is on the roomier side of this segment, so a tall driver has ample right knee room. Headspace is plentiful. The greenhouse is good. Not Subaru Forester great, but there are no blindspots, and the vehicle is easy to park and move around in tight spaces.

The second row seems quite big and spacious to us. That’s where the Rogue is different from the RAV4 and some other “normal-sized” crossover SUVs in this class. Our top trim Rogue Platinum also had heated rear seats, USBs for the second row, and even a digital second-row temperature control. If you summon a rideshare, be happy if you see a Rogue Platinum roll-up.

The 2024 Nissan Rogue earned the Top Safety Pick + designation from IIHS. The safety tests are being changed up a bit, so the ‘23 and ‘24 have slightly different info. They are all the same generation, so feel safe opting for a Rogue. NHTSA has scored the Roge five stars. During our testing, the Rogue did not give us any false positive alerts and the alerts in general were not annoying.

The Nissan Rogue scored midpack on the 2024 J.D. Power Dependability Study. Consumer Reports anoints the 2024 Rogue with its “Recommended” stamp of approval. However, its overall predicted reliability score is a ho-hum 44/100.

The SL and Platinum trims have a different infotainment system with many more cool features than the lower Rogue trims. If your budget allows for it, consider these Rogue trims.

Nissan covers the Rogue with a three-year/36,000-mile limited warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. This is not very special. If you want a Rogue with a much longer warranty check out the Mitsubishi Outlander. It’s a similar vehicle built in partnership with Nissan. Unlike many brands today, Nissan does not offer two or three years of included maintenance.

• Basic: 3 years / 36k miles
• Powertrain: 5 years / 60k miles
• Nissan offers extended warranties for certified pre-owned cars
• If buying used look at our best extended warranties

Shoppers interested in a used Rogue should stick to one with some time remaining on its powertrain warranty or go the Certified Pre-Owned route to get a warranty. The prior generation years of the Rogue are a solid sea of scary red on Consumer Reports’ reliability history. Model years 2021 and newer have better scores.

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