Has There Been A Transmission Recall For The Nissan Rogue?

Nissan might’ve been responsible for popularizing CVT transmissions, all the way back in 1992, but through the 2000s and 2010s, their CVTs were more widely known for their unreliability. If anything, they’ve become a joke for how poorly and unreliable gearboxes can be. But, given how problematic they are, has there been a transmission recall for the Nissan Rogue?

They stutter when you accelerate, respond to inputs slowly, overheat to a crisp, and are loud, before ultimately failing entirely… That’s basically the entire lifecycle of a Nissan CVT. For owners, this meant thousands of dollars in transmission repairs, rebuilds, and complete replacements. As a result, Nissan did offer some reimbursements and extended warranties.

Unfortunately, if you owned a Nissan Rogue – which is no less impacted by these transmission issues – no recall has been issued by Nissan to date. It’s peculiar, since a few other Nissan models, like the Sentra, did get a recall notice for the transmission. If you do own a Nissan Rogue and you’re experiencing CVT issues, here’s a more in-depth explainer…

Having understood the complaints filed by past and present owners, Nissan did offer some solutions. As we’ll discuss more later, Nissan’s offered extended warranties, and reimbursements, and even lost a class-action lawsuit. However, they have thus far refused to issue a mass recall on defective Nissan CVTs for the Rogue. So far, we’ve yet to see a proper recall notice.

Has The Nissan Rogue Been Recalled For Transmission Problems?

In fact, these issues with Nissan’s CVT transmissions have been around for over 15 years. In the case of the Nissan Rogue, CVT-related issues began to appear as early as 2008. And, they’ve yet to be met with a thorough or permanent repair. It’s been assumed that the design faults with Nissan’s CVTs, at least in the earlier years, need too much work to be fixed.

Essentially, it required a substantial redesign, and for Nissan, this would, of course, be rather costly. Recently, the vast majority of recalls that relate to the Nissan Rogue aren’t so that Nissan would finally solve the deficiencies, unreliability, and lackluster performance of their CVTs. However, they were for other systemic problems; some of these more serious than others.

Most of these recalls relate to various engine, electrical, electronic, and safety system issues. For example, this could be recall notices for fragile wiring harnesses, airbags that fail to deploy, or the tire pressure monitoring system not working right, among many others. Meanwhile, the ever-unreliable CVT hasn’t been recalled once… Except in 2015.

The 2015 model year Nissan Rogue was the only one to get a recall notice for the transmission. However, it wasn’t for the CVT itself, rather, there was an issue with the gear selector. It might be possible for them to shift out of Park without depressing the brake pedals first. This could result in rollaway collisions. Therefore, recall 15V775000 was issued to fix this.

Did Nissan Offer An Extended Warranty For Their CVT Transmissions?

As mentioned earlier, unfortunately, owners of a Nissan Rogue with their unreliable CVT transmission weren’t offered a recall notice to fix them for good. In other words, of all the recalls for the Nissan Rogue, not a single one was to fix the CVT gearbox. However, Nissan did offer a warranty extension to help cover it. And, to provide some protection for owners.

Alas, the coverage for this extended powertrain/transmission warranty is very limited. In essence, it doubled the prior powertrain warranty coverage. Before, it covered 5 years or 60,000 miles (whichever came first). After the warranty extension program, it’ll now cover 10 years to 120,000 miles. Among other Nissans, the Rogue was among those that qualified.

However, it was only offered to owners of the 2008, 2009, and 2010 model years. This warranty essentially covers the cost associated with CVT repairs, whole CVT replacements, and replacing individual parts within a CVT. It tallies the total amount required to get it working again, including a reimbursement program. So, call your Nissan dealer to see if you qualify.

Was There A Class Action Lawsuit For Nissan’s CVT Transmission?

While no recalls were ever issued, and that warranty extension is pretty limited, there is some good news and reprieve for Nissan owners. Recently, Nissan settled a class action lawsuit surrounding its unreliable CVTs, with a total payout of $277.7 million. Nissan had denied all claims that they’ve failed to act upon fixing and resolving issues with their defective CVTs.

Nevertheless, they’ve agreed to settle all claims, anyway. This lawsuit will encompass Nissan Rogues from the 2014 to 2018 model years. It also includes other models such as the Nissan Pathfinder (2015 to 2018) and Infiniti QX60 (2015 to 2018). This lawsuit is more than just a settlement, as it also opened up other avenues for owners to claim from Nissan.

For reference, here are some of the benefits that you’ll get as a member of this class-action lawsuit:

1. Further Powertrain Warranty Extension

For the Nissan Rogue, the original powertrain warranty covered 60,000 miles or 60 months (whichever comes first). Now, it’s been extended by 24 months and 24,000 miles, totaling 84 months or 84,000 miles. This new extended warranty deal will cover the entire CVT transmission assembly. It includes the valve body, torque converter, and transmission control module.

2. Reimbursement For CVT Repair Costs

Prior to the aforementioned extended warranty, owners and lessees would have to cover all costs related to fixing up the CVTs. If so, these out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed. If the repairs were done at a Nissan dealership, the full repair bill would be repaid. Should those repairs be done elsewhere, Nissan will now reimburse you up to $5,000, accordingly.

3. Voucher For Leasing Or Buying A New Car

Should you prefer not to accept the aforementioned reimbursement (or aren’t able to), you could accept a voucher, instead. Nissan would offer you a $1,000 voucher for purchasing or leasing a new car. However, you’ll have to use this voucher within 9 months of the class action lawsuit’s settlement date. While not a huge amount, it’s better than nothing, I guess.

Whether or not this is better (or worse) than a full recall, is debatable. What isn’t debatable, however, is just how unreliable Nissan’s CVT transmissions are. Thankfully, this has improved a lot in the past few years, but back in the 2000s and 2010s, it made headlines. If you’re ever thinking of buying a used Nissan from this period, here are some CVT problems to be wary of…

What Are The Most Common Problems With Nissan’s CVT?

1. Stuttering While Accelerating – Low-speed driving is especially problematic with some Nissan CVTs, like the one in the Rogue. Owners have noted how their CVTs would shudder at lower speeds. And, there are scenarios where CVT-equipped Nissans would outright stall in the middle of the road.
2. Poor Response With Shifts – Unlike traditional autos, CVTs don’t have to pause during gear changes. Or, “hunt” for the right gears. It could shift relatively smoothly and progressively. Yet, Nissan’s CVTs are known to be rather slow with gear changes when it comes to responding to your inputs.
3. Loud Whines – CVTs are usually louder during operation than conventional gearboxes. It’s by design, but not so with Nissan. Their CVTs are known to whine loudly, more so than others. This is usually more noticeable in a hotter climate, such as driving for long distances during the summer.
4. Overheating – The key reason for the poor reliability of Nissan’s CVTs lies with the cooling. Apparently, Nissan’s cooling system for the CVT is insufficient to actually keep it cooled. As such, it doesn’t take a lot to overheat your Nissan’s CVT. At that point, it’ll show symptoms like shaking and shuddering.
5. Transmission Failure – Worse, Nissan’s CVTs tend to fail at fairly low mileage. Generally, a gearbox doesn’t fail outright until it reaches six-figure mileage, at least. On the other hand, quite a few CVT-powered Nissan owners have documented how theirs had failed after just 60,000 miles.