Hello,
Hope all is well with you!
It seems Rogue's giving up on the tailgate strut/spindle seems to be very common and here we are at my wife's 2018 Rogue. The tailgate opens up all the way to the top, then comes down and stops at halfway, I tried pretty much everything like resetting/recalibrating, but nothing helped, finally took it to the dealership, paid $175 for diagnosis, and came up with a suggestion of replacing the struts/spindles for ~$1400. Honestly didn't expect such an expensive fix on a Nissan. Then searched around and ordered the spindles on Amazon for around $175 hoping to find a video on YouTube as lately pretty much everything can be found on YouTube but surprisingly, I could not find one for this issue. I kind of have an idea to replace the struts/spindles but the wiring is what puzzles me out, has anyone out here replaced it or come across a post/video about it?

Thanks much for your time!

You need to take the rear section of the headliner down to get at the connectors. That's a complete PITA job on a gen2 Rogue, because the interior is assembled top-down. That means it needs to be disassembled bottom-up. The lower cargo trim needs to come loose (not off, but all the fasteners need to come out) and then you can get the C/D-pillar trim out, which is a single piece. Tools needed will be 10 and 14 mm deep sockets, a small hook tool, a needlenose pliers, a pushclip pliers, and a plastic prybar.

1) Remove all the cargo shelving
2) Using the plastic prybar, remove the plastic wishbone underneath the striker for the hatch lock
3) Remove two push-clips, one at each end of the vertical inside wall of the sill plate
4) Using the plastic prybar, pry up and remove the sill plate
5) Remove the 10mm screws in the cavities for the tonneau bar
6) Locate and remove two plastic covers on each side at the base of the cargo trim, then remove the 10mm screws behind them
7) Using the plastic prybar, pop the covers off the upper 2nd row seat belt bolts. Unscrew the bolts (14mm) and let the belts hang
8) Pull off the top halves of both rear door gaskets and let the gaskets hang. Remove the entire hatch gasket
9) Using the hook tool, locate a tab at the top of the grab handle trim above each rear door (2 trims per handle). Pull the tab towards you and simultaneously pull up on the plastic part with the tab. It will slide upwards and come out of the handle. When both are removed, the handle will slide off the two metal retainer springs
10) Using the needlenose, compress and remove the retainer springs from the rectangular holes. Be careful to not let them fall backwards into the hole. It's best to use a pliers with a sharp tip and grab the pawls on the springs that keep them flat against the metal. Pinching the body of the spring may distort it and make reassembly a PITA
11) Reassemble the handles, trims and springs into an assembly. That's how they come at the factory, once they're reassembled they'll simply pop back into the holes when the job is finished. Don't try to put them back in the way you removed them, it will drive you nuts
12) Remove a 10mm screw holding the 2nd row center seat belt holder to the roof, then remove the holder. For 3rd-row let the belt and buckle hang
13) Fold down both rear seats. Starting at the back, pop the entire lower cargo trim panels loose from the upper panels at the seam, then pop them loose from the car body. Let the panels tilt inward when loose, it's not necessary to remove them
14) Again starting at the back, pry the C/D-pillar trim panels loose from the car body. Then pull downward on the section directly above the opera window, there are two pawls up there that must come out vertically and not horizontally. Remove the pillar trims from the car
15) Using the plastic prybar, remove three clips along the back edge of the headliner which hold the headliner to the roof
16) You can now carefully pull down the rear section of the headliner to access the spindle connectors.
17) Reassembly is in reverse order, except for 9~11 (which won't be necessary, the grab handles will just snap into place) and 8 (which you should do last)

Other folks on this site frequently wish to drop the headliner for your reason and others, such as replacing the sharkfin antenna. If you attempt the job, post pics! Many others will appreciate it!

This should help out with the grab handles:
how-to-removing-spring-type-nissan-grab ... 30963.html

Thanks, VStar650CL for your detailed response, appreciate your time and effort on this!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to install it myself as the work seems to be extensive. But I got it installed through a technician at a nearby dealership for $377 (labor) and it worked exactly as expected.

This is the product I ordered on Amazon, currently, it is on sale for $135.99.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BLY ... =UTF8&th=1