Advice needed on Rogue, 2nd gen

[Scarlet731]

We are choosing between 2014 Rogue & Outback. I would like to know about the interior comfort and ride experience. General comments on any aspect are welcome. One worry are the seats, as they seem to end sooner than other seats. On longer trips: do you find them becoming uncomfortable on the back of the thigh? Are they too confining after an hour?

Is any of the new suspension and braking tweaks a problem either with the ride or with brake wear?

Does the transmission become loud if the car is fully loaded and one cruises at 70 - 75 mph?

[mremansam]

We are choosing between 2014 Rogue & Outback. I would like to know about the interior comfort and ride experience. General comments on any aspect are welcome. One worry are the seats, as they seem to end sooner than other seats. On longer trips: do you find them becoming uncomfortable on the back of the thigh? Are they too confining after an hour?

Is any of the new suspension and braking tweaks a problem either with the ride or with brake wear?

Does the transmission become loud if the car is fully loaded and one cruises at 70 - 75 mph?

Hi Scarlet,

I am a first-time Nissan owner and just got my 14 Rogue SL on 12/27. So far, I have been very pleased with the seat comfort. I am 6'1" and have had several passengers of varying heights that have (so far) registered no complaints. After a three hour drive, I can attest that the seats in the Rogue are very comfortable. I do believe the "zero gravity" feature to be marketing babble but the seats are great.

It is too early to tell about brake wear but the stopping distance is more than adequate and I find the ride to be a perfect mix between soft and sporty. This is unlike most vehicles, I found the CRV to be too squishy and the Forester to be much to firm.

After having four passengers in my Rogue going 70-75, I was very pleased that it did not become overburdened and whine. So far I am very pleased. The interior fit and finish is best in class as far as I can tell. This after driving nine other vehicles in the segment.

Best of luck in your search.

[ImStricken06]

id be more worried about the timing BELT in the subaru, versus the timing CHAIN in the nissan. that for me is a deal breaker. chain wins all day, every day. ask your dealer how much it costs to replace the timing belt every 60-80k - versus the self adjusting via oil pressure, timing chain

[Rockhound2.0]

We are choosing between 2014 Rogue & Outback. I would like to know about the interior comfort and ride experience. General comments on any aspect are welcome. One worry are the seats, as they seem to end sooner than other seats. On longer trips: do you find them becoming uncomfortable on the back of the thigh? Are they too confining after an hour?

Is any of the new suspension and braking tweaks a problem either with the ride or with brake wear?

Does the transmission become loud if the car is fully loaded and one cruises at 70 - 75 mph?

We've only had our '14 Rogue for two weeks, but here's what I can share...

1) Interior Comfort & Seats: the longest trip I've taken so far is a one-hour drive and I had no fatigue issues. I've had lower back issues in the past and some cars are uncomfortable for me - the Rogue has been great. The seats are short on thigh support like you mention, but I haven't noticed that to have any comfort repercussions - I think that is due to the upright seating position. The seats aren't too confining for me - I'm used to a little more side bolstering, but this isn't meant to be a corner carver.

2) Ride & Brakes: the ride comfort is quite good in the Rogue - it feels planted, solid, very refined and quiet. Most bumps are absorbed well. Can't speak to brake wear yet with 400 miles on the odometer, however. With as unobtrusive as the chassis control features operate, I doubt they contribute to too much brake wear - at least I hope not.

3) Highway cruising: one of the things I loved about the CVT in my wife's Versa was how it kept the RPMs low at 70+ MPH with only a 1.8L under the hood. My Mazda3 with a 2.3L turns higher RPMs at the same speeds with a conventional 5-speed AT. For comparison, a Honda Fit 5-speed MT is a buzzy mess, turning near 4k RPMs at 70 MPH.

I haven't noted the exact RPMs in our Rogue yet, but it also keeps the engine hushed at low RPMs cruising at 70 MPH. Give it an abrupt stab at the accelerator and you'll dial up the RPMs - but the CVT is better at allowing smooth operation, rather than a conventional auto that would kick down to shift out of overdrive.

id be more worried about the timing BELT in the subaru, versus the timing CHAIN in the nissan. that for me is a deal breaker. chain wins all day, every day.

Great point. I was shocked when my brother-in-law needed a new timing belt in his '08 Acura TL - surprised Honda still used a belt as well. I like Nissan's use of timing chains.

I'm not well educated on Subaru's boxer engines, but I think they also need careful attention to head gasket replacement - and that's not something I've had to worry about on Nissan's engines.

[Leonard1818]

Subaru was annoying to us. They lost a sale. We went in to look at a forester and they only had 2 on the lot. The salesman immediately told us how they were so highly sought after that they were probably going to sell over MSRP and bla bla bla bla bla... ended up pulling up an Outback or whatever the wagony one is... my wife humored him and went for a drive (I stayed inside with my daughter). She came back and we left. Peace out Subaru... if you can't even let us test drive the vehicle we came in to look at, you're off the list.

[Leonard1818]

With that said, the Outback seems like a decent vehicle in my opinion. I noticed it had a lot of luxury-type features and some things (like power passenger seat) that others don't offer. I was just put off by their sales approach.

[Rogue One]

Subaru was annoying to us. They lost a sale. We went in to look at a forester and they only had 2 on the lot. The salesman immediately told us how they were so highly sought after that they were probably going to sell over MSRP and bla bla bla bla bla... ended up pulling up an Outback or whatever the wagony one is... my wife humored him and went for a drive (I stayed inside with my daughter). She came back and we left. Peace out Subaru... if you can't even let us test drive the vehicle we came in to look at, you're off the list.

Not having one in stock appears to be their modus operandi. They were nice people at our local Subaru dealership, just no real stock on hand. My partner bought an '11 Outback that was one of the worst POS he's ever owned. Intermittent engine problems and a rear hatch that wouldn't stay latched. Repeated trips to the dealership failed to resolve the problems, so he dumped it.

[jamesm123]

I've only had our new 2014 rogue since Saturday, I was torn between it and the Forester. The interior and seats in the Nissan are much better than the Forester IMO. I generally preferred the looks better on the Nissan (both inside and out), so bought it (they were about the same prices similarly equipped). It was a really close decision (many test drives between the two). The Subaru has a better AWD, better visibility (in the Forester), liked the CVT better on the forester, and liked the placement of the emergency brake on the Subaru. One thing I LOVE about my Nissan is the navigation with the turn by turn between the dials, I was close to getting a VW Toureg because it had that, when I read it was in the Rogue SL, the decision was made. Good luck, both are great vehicles.

[ricbrk]

Good Luck on your 2014 Rogue. Our 2013 was great until about 3,000 miles. Gas mileage dropped off by 5 mpg, engine screams going up any grade or passing another car, drowns out the radio. Navigation consistently gets lost ? Vibration in steering wheel around 40 mph that goes away if you accelerate or decelerate. "Rotated tires, no difference". The paint on these vehicles isn't great. We took 1 trip and it has more paint chips in 3,000 miles than our 5 year old Suzuki. Interior is great, comfortable and roomy. Car goes in on January 8th. They're going to update navigation and check out the CVT. They are attributing the loss in mpg to the CVT transmission allowing the engine to rev high. Normal driving, this car is smooth. Can't hear it run at idle. They are also thinking the vibration is CVT related, but feel it is normal. The service people seem great and genuinely interested in helping. On a trip, with the exception of the engine noise, this is the most comfortable car we've owned, and I'm 6'3". People I know who own various brands of CVT's, have said they are loud going up hills, so maybe this wasn't a good choice of car living in the mountains. This Rogue was very quiet new, hopefully they can return it to it's old self.