2018 Nissan Rogue Pros vs Cons. Should You Buy?

The Nissan Rogue is a compact crossover SUV that falls on the larger side of the segment, as compared to the Nissan Rogue Sport, which is smaller and competes with smaller compact SUVs. Its size and its upscale appointments and features make the Rogue a good option for many compact SUV shoppers. Buyers looking for a large two-row vehicle or a smaller three-row vehicle will find the 2018 Nissan Rogue to be the perfect size.

What’s New for 2018?

Nissan has gone for a very daring move for an automaker and decided to give the 2017 Rogue a mid-year upgrade, doing a full interior and exterior refresh, extending the wheelbase and adding more technology and safety features to the car, which was released as a 2017.5 Nissan Rogue. The 2018 Nissan Rogue is essentially a continuation of that product line, and remains practically identical to the 2017.5 model.

 

Top 10 Reasons to Buy a 2018 Nissan Rogue – The Pros

1. Upscale Interior

The 2018 Nissan Rogue is a very nice vehicle, with an interior that shows a lot of attention to detail and an eye for material quality. The dashboard has a clean, uncluttered feel, and the accents are placed carefully and thoughtfully. Nissan has traditionally been well-known for their nice interiors, and the current model of the Rogue easily falls under one of the nicest ones in its class.

2. Comfortable Seating

The 2018 Nissan Rogue places a lot of emphasis on driver and passenger comfort, and the seats are a clear testament to that. They are nicely sculpted, and filled with a dense foam that is ostensibly NASA-engineered. Space pedigree aside, the seats are very supportive and provide a good driving position, remaining very comfortable even after hours behind the wheel.

3. Optional Third Row

With an option for a third row with two additional seats, the Nissan Rogue is one of the smallest - and least expensive - cars that offer up to a seven passenger seating capacity. The third row does not offer as much room as the more spacious first and second rows do, but it is still fairly comfortable, especially for smaller adults or children.

4. Large Cargo Area

The 2018 Rogue features one of the largest cargo areas in the compact SUV class, both as a design choice and as a result of its larger size. This adds an additional bonus utility to the already versatile vehicle. If you need a compact with a lot of space, this one is just for you.

5. Divide-N-Hide

Divide-N-Hide is the name of Nissan’s modular cargo system. It allows you to change the height of the cargo floor, create additional shelves or storage cubbies or otherwise reshape the car’s rear area to fit the cargo you are transporting. Combined with the sheer size of the Rogue’s cargo compartment, it makes it one of the best cars for cargo transport within the compact crossover segment.

6. Premium Features

In addition to having a premium interior, the 2018 Rogue also offers a lot of standard and optional features that are more common on higher price categories of cars. It can be equipped with a surround view camera, for example, or high-end Bose speakers. These little touches easily help the Rogue feel like a much more expensive vehicle than it really is.

7. Very Efficient

The Nissan Rogue stands out in its class for its high fuel economy as well. The conventional gas-powered models of the car return 26 miles per gallon city, 33 mpg highway and 29 mpg combined with front-wheel drive and 25 mpg city, 32 mpg highway, 27 mpg combined with all-wheel drive. That easily makes the Rogue one of the most efficient compact SUVs available.

8. Hybrid Option

While the base 2018 Nissan Rogue already offers top efficiency, there is also a hybrid model to take it one step further and really make the car a great choice for efficiency and environmental enthusiasts. At 33 mpg city, 35 mpg highway and 34 mpg combined, the Nissan Rogue Hybrid offers a significant mileage boost over the both the gas-powered model and pretty much most of the Rogue’s rivals as well.

9. Good Safety Scores

The 2018 Nissan Rogue returns some solid scores from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety when it comes to crash safety testing. It earns ‘Good’ scores across the board, and accolades for its active safety systems, earning it a space as one of the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus cars.

10. Solid Value

The 2018 Nissan Rogue has a very upscale interior and offers lots of premium features, but its price is very competitive for the segment. Its starting price is well below the class average, and even with higher trims and options it remains a very competitively priced vehicle. This gives it incredible value, and a chance for buyers to get a lot of great features at a discount.

 

Reasons Not to Buy a 2018 Nissan Rogue – The Cons

1. Dated Powertrain

The Nissan Rogue has had the same combination of 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a continuously-variable automatic transmission since it first came out in 2008, and it is beginning to show its age. The engine can feel strained during acceleration, and the transmission can be very noisy as well, showing that the powertrain is in need of an upgrade.

2. Noisy

In addition to a noisy transmission, the Rogue also lets in more road noise than the quality of its interior materials would lead one to expect. Many other competitors can offer a quieter ride, which can make the Rogue feel less competitive.

3. Many Features Are SL-exclusive

The Rogue SL is the car’s highest trim line, and a lot of the key features, including active safety measures, are limited solely to that model. That does reduce the value of the lower trim lines a fair bit, especially since several rivals offer active safety equipment as either standard or optional on their whole line.

How It Stacks up to the Competition

The competition for the 2018 Nissan Rogue is mostly other larger compact crossovers, such as the Honda CR-V or the Toyota RAV4. The RAV4 has better feature availability than the Rogue, but it is more expensive in general, as well as having poorer gas mileage. The CR-V offers more standard equipment than the Rogue, but its interior is not as nice as that of the Rogue, while costing a fair bit more.

Conclusion

The 2018 Nissan Rogue sticks out among the crowded compact SUV segment with its low price, high-end looks and some great features. It is the perfect option for drivers that want a great combination of space, comfort and value. The options for a hybrid or a three-row model only expand the attractiveness of this compact SUV.