Hi Everyone!

My name is Leonard1818 and I just joined a few minutes ago. My wife and I just got home from some test drives. A little background without going too in-depth:

I'm a Honda owner. I always have been. I've owned nothing but Honda cars (never an S/CUV). We currently own a 2004 Saturn Vue V6 AWD with a 250 HP Honda engine (all of the Vue V6's from 2004-2007 are Honda-powered). With that said, I know NOTHING of Nissan. I know that I used to drool over the 350/370 and the Infiniti G's... but never really went in-depth with my knowledge.

So far, we have driven the following:

2014 Rogue SL
2014 Murano (wife drove, doesn't want)
2014 Escape
2014 CR-V

We still would like to drive the Rav4 and I want to go to Subaru (wife turns up her nose). Of the 4 we've driven so far, we like best the Rogue and the CR-V. In reading briefly, I see that there was an issue with the CVT in the previous-gen rogue but they've re-designed it for this generation. It seems to me that the Rogue has MANY more features than the CR-V.

Has anyone else cross-shopped these two? What were your impressions?

I'm hesitatnt to pull the trigger on a Rogue as it's the first year of a brand new, "from the ground up" model. In addition, the 2015 CR-V's should be coming out here in 6-8 months and, from what I've read, may include the Earth Dreams Direct-injection 4 cyl from the Accord, maybe a new CVT (aslo seen in the accord), and many more tech features like what the Rogue has.

It's a tough decision to make. The most important criteria to me is (likely in this order): Safety, Reliability, Utility, Fuel Economy, Performance, Looks.

I'll add more of what I did and did not like of the two current top contenders soon. I just wanted to hear from some Nissan fans to help sell me on the Rogue and also inform me about anything worthwhile that the dealership may not be able to tell me.

Thanks!

Hi Leonard,

Best of luck in your search. I posted my review to the Nissan Rogue facebook page in November after cross shopping. I've copied it below for you.

"I test drove one today in Gadsden, AL. Most dealerships in North AL seem to be getting at least one unit over the next few days. A dealer in a much smaller city about 45 minutes away is getting 5 units by Monday.

I currently have a 2009 Honda Fit which has met my needs well. However, it is getting long in the tooth and I've been searching hard for a replacement. My preference is a compact SUV with great fuel economy. I have test driven virtually every vehicle in the class including: Ford Escape, Honda CRV, Toyota Rav4, Mazda CX5, Chevy Equinox, Hyundai Tucson & Sante Fe Sport, 2013 Rogue, Subaru Forester, and the Jeep Cherokee.

After coming from a Honda product, my first test drive was a CRV. I drive about 25-30k miles a year (mostly highway) and wanted a quiet, squishy ride. The things I must have: leather, heated seats, touch-screen infotainment system, and push-button start with keyless entry. The things I would like: navigation, panoramic moonroof, remote start, led or hid headlights, LED DRL's, lane departure warning, and forward collision warning.

I liked the ride quality of the CRV but the cabin tech felt like it had been plucked from a 2007 model. Also being a 27 year old male, I was concerned that the most common drivers of CRV's seem to be 55 year old females. 55 year old females are fine people, I'm just not one of them.

The Ford Escape had the most horrendous looking dashboard I've ever seen in a car and the cabin felt extremely cramped. The glossy gray plastic cheapened the whole interior. The sunroof cover was very flimsy and wrinkled upon touching it. Ford's MyFordTouch system is absolutely a pain to use. Overall I was very disappointed in this vehicle.

The Toyota Rav4 Limited also disappointed me. The ride quality was poor and the cabin felt cheap and flimsy. Also both fog lights (on a brand new model) had moisture in them. It didn't help that I had a know-it-all, redneck salesman that just wanted to make fun of my Honda. I wasn't bothered. I like my matchbox car Fit.

The Mazda CX5 was fun to drive but seemed a bit small. I am 6'1 and couldn't "sit behind myself" in the back seat with the front seat at a comfortable position. I also wasn't crazy about the "bubbly" and rounded off styling. The cabin tech was well done however.

The Chevy Equinox was about as exciting as white loaf bread. The dash was cluttered with a sea of buttons in what I felt was an attempt to make it look techy and expensive. I wasn't impressed. The tail lights look rental car cheap. Time for a refresh. It did have a very quiet cabin however.

The Hyundai Tucson was about as bad as the 2013 Rogue (which I really didn't care for). The interior was noisy and cheap feeling. The Sante Fe Sport's driving dynamics and cabin impressed me. Its fuel economy did not.

I drove the 2013 Rogue just to compare to others in the class. It looks like a pregnant rollerskate outside and has a miserable interior. It was way overdue for a redesign. If you like it, fine. To each his/her own.

The Subaru Forester was nice enough. It became expensive quickly with the level of tech I wanted. The styling also seems to be the most dated (even though it was recently refreshed). The ride quality did not impress on bumpy roads.

I was SHOCKED at how much I liked the new Jeep Cherokee. I've never even been remotely interested in Chrysler products, but the Cherokee threw me for a loop. The cabin surfaces felt very high quality and the infotainment system is leaps and bounds above anything else I have previously encountered. The 8.4 inch screen is a joy to use and works exceptionally well. The ride quality is probably in the top three of the vehicles I tested. While I like the exterior styling well enough, several friends I showed the car to simply loathed the styling. The Limited version I drove also had remote start standard which I liked. To get to the level with Lane Departure warning would take me to $35K easily, which is about $5k more than I want to spend. The Jeep's fuel economy was also less than desirable at 22/31.

Now to the 2014 Rogue. Based on the specs, I am interested in a Rogue SL with the premium package in Gun Metallic with Charcoal leather interior. I was able to test drive a silver SV with black cloth interior and a panoramic sunroof today. Fortunately the salesman did not ride with me and I was able to put the vehicle through its paces. Accelerating in the 20-50mph range seemed great. Accelerating in the 70-80 range (at interstate speeds) was a bit anemic, but acceptable with my driving style and needs. The panoramic sunroof was wonderful and worked quite well. The stereo head unit (the base model) was adequate though Nissan should have included a touchscreen in any vehicle over $20k. The sound quality was decent but a bit tinny. The screen (helper display) between the gauges is a easy to use and provides useful information (the Jeep system is actually a bit better). I found the seating very comfortable (perhaps the best of my test drives) and it was very easy to find a supportive setting. The interior was quiet but was not the quietest (that award goes to the Chevy or the Jeep). Still it was much quieter than my tiny Fit. The ride quality was excellent and was probably best in class. Cornering at decent speeds felt great with very little body roll or lean. Stopping felt safe and adequate at various speeds. The dash layout is simple and sleek which I LOVED. The cup holders are the only cheap looking part of the cabin that I could find. They will get dirty quickly and be impossible to keep clean (especially with the black interior model). Nissan, please throw in a removable rubber insert for the cup holders. The Divide and Hide system in the cargo area is unique if not a bit gimmicky. The cargo area did seem larger than most other vehicles in the segment (Edmunds seems to back me up) and I can see the various shelf configurations being useful in the future. The LED daytime running lights are gorgeous. They make the vehicle look like a $60k luxury vehicle until you realize it is a Nissan behind you. Well done to the design folks on that addition. The air conditioning controls were easily among the best (with the Honda CRV also being a contender) for being easy to use and effective. The doors closed with a solid "thwump" and the vehicle as a whole felt very well made. The back seat provided me with about 4 inches of extra room in front of my knees with the drivers seat fully back (IMPRESSED)! This may have been the best in terms of leg room. Headroom was also very good (much better than the Cherokee where my head touched the ceiling in the back seat). Overall I really like the exterior styling. It has a commanding presence and felt at least a couple of inches taller than the outgoing Rogue or even the Cherokee. The fuel economy nearly matches that of my Honda Fit which is a much smaller, cheaper car. I hope the car actually achieves this level of FE. The CVT didn't bother me at all. Sport mode cleverly mimics real gears, but I'm not a car nut anyway. If you hate CVT's, try the CRV.

Unless something happens, I'll be picking up a 2014 Rogue in the future. I feel I have undertaken an exhaustive search for the right car to meet my rather specific needs and wants. I do agree that Nissan has done a miserable job of informing dealers as to model availability. My local dealer (apparently) had no idea they would even get one in today. All that said, I'm in no real hurry to purchase so time isn't of the essence. I'm looking to buy in December or January. Best of luck to anyone trying to find one. They seem to be elusive.

Based on my test drive today, my rating (which probably doesn't mean much many people) is very high. After driving nearly all of the vehicles in this segment, the 2014 Rogue is at or near the top in most of the metrics that I am concerned with. Well done Nissan, just build them quicker and let folks know they when they are coming!"

I have been cross shopping everything in the compact CUV category for the last few months and have also decided on the 2014 Rogue.

The 2013 was rubbish and at the complete bottom of my list but the 2014 is a completely different story. Yes some compact CUV's like the Forester are more capable off-road or have a turbo model and some drive better like the Mazda but had electronics from 1998...but none of them (save perhaps the Santa Fe Sport) come close to the Rogue's mix of utility, capability, style, refinement, economy and technology. I'm sold.

Getting your hands on the one you want is another story. The vehicle launched in early November and inventory is still very low especially if you want a top trim model. Nissan has also chosen to omit it from their seasonal promotions. Dealers around me also seem hesitant to part with one at or below invoice.

All good points in the above responses. Thought I'd add my two cents.

I don't mean to make light of those that had legitimate CVT issues in the first-gen Rogue, but as a former first-gen Versa owner, I also know that many CVT "issues" were the result of consumer ignorance. We put 82k miles on our Versa over 6.5 yrs with no issues. My parents put about the same mileage on an '08 Rogue as well with perfect reliability. CVTs seem to elicit love it/hate it responses; my wife loves them and I appreciate the enhanced fuel mileage over traditional automatics.

What appealed to me about the new Rogue was that it achieves class-leading efficiency with competitive cargo space with an 'old tech' powertrain - no tiny-displacement turbo gimmicks (Ford), DI or stratospheric compression ratios. All of these techniques could have future reliability issues looming. I'm not a complete engine Luddite, but when jumping in to a 'brand new' model, I appreciate the Rogue's continued use of the proven 2.5L and a revised xtronic CVT.

As the others have mentioned, the Rogue excels at many things, including technology. We appreciate the safety nannies (although they can be disabled with one button) and especially the refinement. Using my trusty RadioShack SPL meter, I measured our Rogue at 68 dBa @ 70 mph, which is impressive. The divide & hide cargo shelf solution is very useful and my expecting wife saw that as a huge selling point to help her organize baby stuff (along with the panoramic sunroof and 360° around-view camera).

I usually research and debate purchases for months, but once I saw the spec sheet and then we drove a '14 Rogue, my wife and I needed no additional cross-shopping. Reading the above takes on the competition only helps confirm how perfect the Rogue is for us. It's certainly not perfect for everyone, and it's a highly competitive segment, but Nissan has made a real winner here.

Thanks for the replies! Excellent reviews. We're somewhere between mremansam and Rockhound. We are 29/30 years old, we have a 3 year old daughter and a dog. We might have another kid and we do NOT want a minivan. The new Rogue seems to have it all... it's got the more rugged styling (in my opinion), luxury refinements and better materials, adequate power with great fuel economy and it seems more thought went into it than some of the competitors...

We will continue shopping tomorrow but we're very highly considering this, our first evern Nissan.

It seems like most has already been said. However I have never owned a Nissan before and have had 2 hondas. Our first Accord was no more reliable than the Chevy Impala we had before it, actually more problems considering the engine misfire/spark plug burning issue that kept coming up. The reason I bought another Accord.... excelent resale. Don't get me wrong we liked the car a lot as well.

I had been leaning on my local dealers to let me know as soon as the Rogue came in, I ended up purchasing purchasing the 2nd one they got (the first was having paperwork done when we got there). Before this I had read an article about the CVT problems, and that Nissan was putting pressure on the suplier to fix the issues. A guy I work with has 270K miles on his nissan (original motor and manual tranny) and have known others that had good things to say. I almost always buy an extended warranty also, so I wasn't that worried about it. I hope to keep this rogue 10 years 200K miles wit minimal problems. 2 more days and I've had it a month.... I've got 2050 miles on it.

As for between the CR-V and the Rogue... I drove the CR-V as well...I liked the idea that iwas a honda.... the interior was a little plain.... but the biggest problem was I needed about 1-2 inches more of seat travel on the front seat to be comfortable. If I remember correctly you said you have a car seat and maybe another in the future. I don't have kids, however with the 'stadium' rear seating in the Rogue, it seems like it might be a little easier on the back getting kids in and out all the time.

As far as price, I was able to get $1100 off MSRP, I would expect it to be pretty tight for a little while.

We are also going through the same ordeal. The local dealership here do not have the White SV black interior with premium package we want and they do not know when they are to get one. Maybe this month.

I used to have a 1988 Pathfinder SE and i had that for 18 years at 270k on it. Got into an accident and the insurance wrote it off due to its age. I might still have her if i had not an accident. I took her off roading too with no problems.
Replacement for this was a Lexus rx 300, got a taste of luxury suv. I got into an accident and lost her too.

Looked at all the other CUV/SUV selections out there and the 2013 rav4 was on top of the list but it had something missing in it that i was still not satisfied. Then early November when Nissan announced the release of the 2014 Rogue but dealerships here dont have them yet. Then that thanksgiving weekend one of the dealership called and they just got an SL come in so we went to see and fell in love with it.

What we like about the 2014 Rogue
The Rogue has nicer interior both layout and material a close feel to the lexus. Nissan could use some accent color tones specially in the black interior, the beige one seems better cause you have black / beige two tone. It has ac vent at the back passenger area, good for summer heat here. The seats are much more comfortable. The premium package has more features. The cargo space works perfectly for my needs. The rear passenger door opens at about 90 degrees which is helpful for getting in and out specially for my mother, also ideal for carseats. The led driving lights are also a touch higher than the competition.

Nissan has a contender in this segment. Now if they can tell us when ours would show up.

I think we've driven everything and it's down to the Rogue and the Rav4.

The Rav4 has EVERYTHING we want and then some, but there's just something about it that is not as appealing as the Rogue. We will likely pick up the Rogue overnight here soon for an extended test drive.

A quick question (hopefully I can garner some more attention to this thread):

Does anyone purchase the extended warranty? If so, what are the purchasing options? I know for Hondas and the HondaCare warranty, you can buy from any Honda dealership. I've bought two from dealerships other than where I buy the car. So when the dealer who sells me the car offers me the extended warranty for $1300, I smile and decline and go buy the same thing from Sacucci or Hyannis honda over the phone for $850.

Is there anything like this for Nissan?

Leonard1818 wrote:A quick question (hopefully I can garner some more attention to this thread):

Does anyone purchase the extended warranty? If so, what are the purchasing options? I know for Hondas and the HondaCare warranty, you can buy from any Honda dealership. I've bought two from dealerships other than where I buy the car. So when the dealer who sells me the car offers me the extended warranty for $1300, I smile and decline and go buy the same thing from Sacucci or Hyannis honda over the phone for $850.

Is there anything like this for Nissan?

You can also purchase Nissan's extended warranty post-purchase - I don't think it is dealer specific, either (Nissan's is called Security+Plus). I purchased the extended warranty at purchase on our then-new '07 Versa, as I was timid about CVTs - then Nissan voluntarily extended all warranties to 100k miles. We did not opt for any extended warranty on our new Rogue.

Not to derail your intent, but I think there's typically a good financial argument against purchasing an extended warranty...but at a low enough cost it's probably good peace of mind for folks who intend to keep their vehicle longer than average.

Rockhound2.0 wrote:

Leonard1818 wrote:A quick question (hopefully I can garner some more attention to this thread):

Does anyone purchase the extended warranty? If so, what are the purchasing options? I know for Hondas and the HondaCare warranty, you can buy from any Honda dealership. I've bought two from dealerships other than where I buy the car. So when the dealer who sells me the car offers me the extended warranty for $1300, I smile and decline and go buy the same thing from Sacucci or Hyannis honda over the phone for $850.

Is there anything like this for Nissan?

You can also purchase Nissan's extended warranty post-purchase - I don't think it is dealer specific, either (Nissan's is called Security+Plus). I purchased the extended warranty at purchase on our then-new '07 Versa, as I was timid about CVTs - then Nissan voluntarily extended all warranties to 100k miles. We did not opt for any extended warranty on our new Rogue.

Not to derail your intent, but I think there's typically a good financial argument against purchasing an extended warranty...but at a low enough cost it's probably good peace of mind for folks who intend to keep their vehicle longer than average.

Thanks for your post. So it sounds like I can buy a warranty maybe within the firs XXXX miles? I think with Honda, you can buy them within the first 3,000 miles or something (a new-car warranty that is).

I noticed that Nissan's powertrain warrranty is better than most which can be seen as a good or bad thing. I'm not 100% sure I'd buy an extended warranty though I always seem to have gotten one on my other vehicles. I just know nothing of Nissan in terms of reliability and I'm VERY nervous about the CVT transmisison since I don't have any experinece with them and the '14 rogue has a "new" (upgraded?) one.

It is my understanding that you can purchase a Nissan extended warranty until the day your factory warranty expires, either by mileage or time limit. Not sure how this impacts the purchase price.

Rockhound2.0 wrote:It is my understanding that you can purchase a Nissan extended warranty until the day your factory warranty expires, either by mileage or time limit. Not sure how this impacts the purchase price.

That's good to know. I'll have to inquire at the dealership before purchase. Thanks for your input!

I purchased the extended warranty.... I have on the last 4 cars I have purchased. None of them have paid for themselves. Each time it has ended up being within about $300 of what I paid. I drive about 20-22K a year and the thought of coming up with a major cost out of pocket while I'm still paying for the thing is not appealing. That being said you would probably be fine without one, like I said mine has never paid for itself. The closest was still about $50 from paying for itself.

JLD94 wrote:I purchased the extended warranty.... I have on the last 4 cars I have purchased. None of them have paid for themselves. Each time it has ended up being within about $300 of what I paid. I drive about 20-22K a year and the thought of coming up with a major cost out of pocket while I'm still paying for the thing is not appealing. That being said you would probably be fine without one, like I said mine has never paid for itself. The closest was still about $50 from paying for itself.

Yeah, that's my thing... I don't want to have to pay for a major repair while I'm still paying for the vehicle. I hope to put enough of a payment down that I will have it paid off in 3-4 years.

Hi all. First post here.

Leonard1818 wrote:I think we've driven everything and it's down to the Rogue and the Rav4.

The Rav4 has EVERYTHING we want and then some, but there's just something about it that is not as appealing as the Rogue. We will likely pick up the Rogue overnight here soon for an extended test drive.

Had Altima in 90s and Lexus IS300 for the past 10 years - both cars were absolutely trouble free. So, I'm down to those 2 as well - 2014 Rogue and 2013/2014 RAV4. Why do you guys say something was either not appealing or missing? What is it, ride quality, handling in general, steering, etc? Thanks.

SM05 wrote:Hi all. First post here.

Leonard1818 wrote:I think we've driven everything and it's down to the Rogue and the Rav4.

The Rav4 has EVERYTHING we want and then some, but there's just something about it that is not as appealing as the Rogue. We will likely pick up the Rogue overnight here soon for an extended test drive.

Had Altima in 90s and Lexus IS300 for the past 10 years - both cars were absolutely trouble free. So, I'm down to those 2 as well - 2014 Rogue and 2013/2014 RAV4. Why do you guys say something was either not appealing or missing? What is it, ride quality, handling in general, steering, etc? Thanks.

Well, see, that's what's hard. The Rav4 has meets our ever-changing criteria list but there was just "something" about it, we can't quite put our finger on...

Exterior-wise, we really like the looks of the Rogue better than the Rav. My wife said she likes the look of the Rav4. I'm really anti-plastic so that front end is just cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap looking on the Rav. I'd ONLY take a Rav in black to help blend some of the hideous plastic. The Rogue, we could be a bit more flexible with color options.

Inside, the Rav has a nice interior. I don't like the fake carbon fiber but I can look past that. It has nice materials on the inside including a leather dash trim that is nice. A little storage cubby in front of the passenger (if I recall), and other niceties and amenities. It just feels more like a mini-truck on the inside. That's not bad, it's just got an underlying "utility" feel to it. The Rogue on the other hand feels more refined. It too has decent materials on the inside. It reminds me less of a utility vehicle and more of a luxury vehicle. I don't quite know how to explain it. Perhaps it's the simplicity of the interior and the materials used. One of those "the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" things...

Drivetrain -- the Rav4 seems to have a better drivetrain on paper. Traditional automatic with 6 speeds, Smaller, reliable Toyota motor... sounds good. Our driving with the Rav was a lot different than that of the Rogue so it's hard to compare. In the Rav, we did highway and stop-and-go. In the Rogue, we did mostly highway (our first test drive, we were tuned into wind/road noise, and performance of a 4-cyl. If either of those were too unbearable, we were in the wrong segment). We intend to get the Rogue for an extended test drive once the weather breaks so my wife can see how she likes it for it's daily-duties.

As mentioned somewhere -- I felt like the Rav4 needed a couple seconds and would downshift two gears in order to give you a bit more umph and then would rocket away... I don't necessarily love that. Both vehicles drove and handled well. Hopefully we stop getting snowed on so we can go out and do some more test driving of each.

Thanks for your comments. I plan on checking both out later this month at the local auto show. I suspect I know which way my wife's gonna lean (Rogue ). I'm still 50/50 as I think in general I trust Toyota more than Nissan. We plan on test driving both back-to-back in early February. Wind and engine noise, car responsiveness, seats comfort and interior quality is what we gonna concentrate on mainly.

SM05 wrote:Thanks for your comments. I plan on checking both out later this month at the local auto show. I suspect I know which way my wife's gonna lean (Rogue ). I'm still 50/50 as I think in general I trust Toyota more than Nissan. We plan on test driving both back-to-back in early February. Wind and engine noise, car responsiveness, seats comfort and interior quality is what we gonna concentrate on mainly.

be sure to keep posting up on here what your thoughts are once you see/drive them both. We probably won't be buying anything for another x or xx weeks!

Leonard1818 wrote:

SM05 wrote:Thanks for your comments. I plan on checking both out later this month at the local auto show. I suspect I know which way my wife's gonna lean (Rogue ). I'm still 50/50 as I think in general I trust Toyota more than Nissan. We plan on test driving both back-to-back in early February. Wind and engine noise, car responsiveness, seats comfort and interior quality is what we gonna concentrate on mainly.

be sure to keep posting up on here what your thoughts are once you see/drive them both. We probably won't be buying anything for another x or xx weeks!

Will do.

We have looked and had the 13rav4 on top of our list, the front plastic snout bothered me, looks unfinished. We like white cars and this will not look good.

On another note, i have heard from 13rav4 owners about the NAV screen being in a bad angle that it becomes impossible to read during day time when sunlight hits the screen. I was unable to confirm this since it was cloudy when we test drove the rav. The wife wants a NAV package.

Question for current 14 rogue owners, do we have the same issue of the nav screen being difficult to read during day time driving.

I never went as far as to check this out for myself, however I read in a review of the new RAV4 that you were not able to use the blue tooth features while driving, unless you had the limited....seemed very odd...and of course car reviews get it wrong all the time, but that is something I would check into for sure when checking out the RAV4. I would hate to not be able to use the hand free feature while driving.

The other thing I had noticed was at an auto show I was at, as I was sitting in the RAV4 I noticed a lot of little scrapes on the console and dash area, it seemed like it was easily scuffed. And while I don't usually have a problem with getting scuffs or anything like that, I still didn't want something that was easily scratched up. When it came right down to it, the only reason I found myself wanting a RAV4 was because it was a Toyota, and that wasn't enough for me.

lionhead wrote:On another note, i have heard from 13rav4 owners about the NAV screen being in a bad angle that it becomes impossible to read during day time when sunlight hits the screen. I was unable to confirm this since it was cloudy when we test drove the rav. The wife wants a NAV package.

Question for current 14 rogue owners, do we have the same issue of the nav screen being difficult to read during day time driving.

I've read that about RAV4 and after comparing pics/videos Rogue vs. RAV4 I don't expect Rogue to have a similar problem. Rogue seems to have better console design, which would do a good job shielding display from the sun. It's really a poor design on Toyota's side. I'll double check both in person later this month.

To the benefit of others, I've been researching both cars for a few months now and here's what I collected based on my own priorities and preferences:

2014 RAV4 (Limited)
Pros:
* long term reliability
* 2nd year gen
* impression of more reactive AWD
* paddle shifters
Cons:
* supposed harsher suspension
* some missing tech features, front collision detection for instance
* "fake" leather interior
* possible hesitation when using paddle sifters
* questionable console design
* poorly angled display causing bad glare
* lower ground clearance

2014 Rogue (SL)
Pros:
* abundance of tech features, including all kinds of collision detection
* more refined and quality interior (+leather)
* ground clearance
Cons:
* 1st year gen
* long term reliability concerns
* CVT
* no paddle shifters (could be substituted with hill ascent/descent and drive override features though)

HTH.

excellent replies! Lionhead, your post summed up my thoughts on the looks of the Rav. I hate the plastic.

SM05, your list is good. I'm not too hung up on ground clearance, more if it's easy to get into and out of... but I like your list so far.

Thanks, good observations. Re-arranged my list slightly in actual priorities order. Yep, ground clearance is a notable difference as I plan on taking car to the mountains, but not a deal breaker.

lionhead wrote:On another note, i have heard from 13rav4 owners about the NAV screen being in a bad angle that it becomes impossible to read during day time when sunlight hits the screen. I was unable to confirm this since it was cloudy when we test drove the rav. The wife wants a NAV package.

When I test drove the Rav4, that was the first thing I noticed. While sitting in the lot with the salesman in the car, I noticed that I couldn't read the GPS/Radio screen at all since it was sunny that day. When I took it for a test drive, I drove a country block (1 mile in all directions) and at every angle of the sun, could not read the display. The salesman said that it was common for people to buy aftermarket GPS' that stick to the windshield... (WTF?!) That by itself took the Rav4 off of my short list as I depend on GPS.

I have a friend with a 2013 Rav4 (and he loves it by the way) and he confirmed that his GPS is unreadable in the daytime if it's sunny.

-Mc

McHale wrote:

lionhead wrote:On another note, i have heard from 13rav4 owners about the NAV screen being in a bad angle that it becomes impossible to read during day time when sunlight hits the screen. I was unable to confirm this since it was cloudy when we test drove the rav. The wife wants a NAV package.

When I test drove the Rav4, that was the first thing I noticed. While sitting in the lot with the salesman in the car, I noticed that I couldn't read the GPS/Radio screen at all since it was sunny that day. When I took it for a test drive, I drove a country block (1 mile in all directions) and at every angle of the sun, could not read the display. The salesman said that it was common for people to buy aftermarket GPS' that stick to the windshield... (WTF?!) That by itself took the Rav4 off of my short list as I depend on GPS.

I have a friend with a 2013 Rav4 (and he loves it by the way) and he confirmed that his GPS is unreadable in the daytime if it's sunny.

-Mc

http://www.rav4world.com/forums/attachm ... screen.pdf

This should help with the display issue a bit but does not fix the fundamental flaw of not having any kind of overhang on the screen. Making it brighter will help though.

As far as seeing the GPS screen, you can see the Rogue's, but it doesn't matter because the system will get you lost continuously. We won't use it on our 2013. On a trip to Canada, it told us to turn next right which we did, then half way down the ramp it says in 100 feet. We had to continue as we couldn't back up. Expecting it to redirect us lost in New York, it didn't. It just kept showing streets. We stopped at a gas station to get directions to get back on the expressway. Once back on, it found itself and we got to Niagara Falls Canada. This isn't the first time this happened. I started setting it to my work, home, and shopping addresses. I'll get to a light where I know I have to turn, and on approach it will say turn in 50, 100 or more feet when the turn is only 15 feet away. I told the Service manager while in for a oil change, and he said it had the latest update. He also recommended I look at the screen that shows distance and not listen to the voice. I asked if Nissan encouraged taking one's eyes off the road to constantly observe a monitor. We use our Garmin. This Nissan GPS issue is not only a problem in our Rogue, our neighbors said their Juke is the same way, and the service manager stated his frontier is the same. He blamed it on the unit manufacturer, not Nissan. They bought the units to install in their vehicles though didn't they.

ricbrk wrote:As far as seeing the GPS screen, you can see the Rogue's, but it doesn't matter because the system will get you lost continuously. We won't use it on our 2013. On a trip to Canada, it told us to turn next right which we did, then half way down the ramp it says in 100 feet. We had to continue as we couldn't back up. Expecting it to redirect us lost in New York, it didn't. It just kept showing streets. We stopped at a gas station to get directions to get back on the expressway. Once back on, it found itself and we got to Niagara Falls Canada. This isn't the first time this happened. I started setting it to my work, home, and shopping addresses. I'll get to a light where I know I have to turn, and on approach it will say turn in 50, 100 or more feet when the turn is only 15 feet away. I told the Service manager while in for a oil change, and he said it had the latest update. He also recommended I look at the screen that shows distance and not listen to the voice. I asked if Nissan encouraged taking one's eyes off the road to constantly observe a monitor. We use our Garmin. This Nissan GPS issue is not only a problem in our Rogue, our neighbors said their Juke is the same way, and the service manager stated his frontier is the same. He blamed it on the unit manufacturer, not Nissan. They bought the units to install in their vehicles though didn't they.

Yeah, I don't really understand why OEM navi units leave SO MUCH TO BE DESIRED... Here's my list of complaints from factory/OEM HU's:

-- Had a 2002 Acura RSX-S (Acura, the luxury brand...). Granted it was the bottom-trim at the time, it was 2002. Came standard with a TAPE DECK. 'Nuff said. I won't get into the "Blows" (Bose) speaker system -- uck.

-- 2008 Honda Civic Si w/Premium Audio and navigation. The speakers/sub were LEAGUES better than the blows system of the Acura, but the navigation was DVD-based (strike one). The method of address entry was insane... so cumbersome, you'd be better to just call the place you're going and ask directions. Even voice recognition -- if you said "find Applebees" or something like that, it would find it, but in California (I live in Ohio). It also did not have USB, but it took Compact Flash cards... what a weird media to use. And it wouldn't read over 999 songs. Needless to say when that one got hit and I replaced it, I got one without the worthless (but $2200 pricetag) navi. I love it w/o nav.

-- Now our 2013 Rav4. It features Toyota's "Entune" thingamajig. You DL an app on your phone and plug your phone into the USB. This is supposed to make it act like an iPod. I have a TON of songs on my phone (and maybe this is part of the problem). When I play them, and I try to advance tracks, it goes SO SLOWLY it's unbearable. Fortunately, we never intended to use it in this way so we just connect via Bluetooth and stream pandora or phone audio this way. You can't browse your music from the screen like when you're plugged in but it switches songs quicker (believe it or not). Everything else about the OEM HU in the Toyota is nice though. Haven't really tried out the navi too much -- we usually just use google maps on our phones ha ha!

I just don't understand how it's so hard to get an OEM Head Unit right. I've put in $199 aftermarket units (non-navi obviously) that functioned better than OEM. And the atrocious prices they charge for the OEM HU makes it that much more ridiculous.