kots1 wrote:I disagree with ImStricken and agree with FollowingFront on the reliability of Ford.
My 2008 Nissan Rogue was great for city driving but I live in sunny California where we have wide roads and Vegas is just about 3 hour drive from home. Since I hit 60K mile on the odometer, my Nissan Rogue would not make it to a 200 mile drive to Vegas without taking 2 1-hour breaks in between. I, among many Rogue owners have experienced the fail-safe mode driving for an hour on a 90 to 100+ degree summer weather. I have to take breaks and let it cool down and hope that we make it to Vegas. It became frustrating since this happened early on when Nissan was still not sure about this issue. No CEL light and OBD II scanner did not pick up any error message. Needless to say, Nissan couldn't do anything about it since they cannot duplicate the problem and there were no error codes (CEL). It was only recently after numerous complaints and Nissan has extended their CVT warranty that I attempted to contact them again. Now, they agreed to replace my CVT for free given that I have brought this issue to their attention numerous times in the past and also they know for sure now that this is a real issue. My Nissan got its CVT replacement at 89K. I rarely drive it now except going for a quick grocery or quick lunch dinner close by.
On the other hand, my 2006 Ford Crown Vic was a dream to drive to Vegas. It has heavy duty shocks, heavy duty cooling system and just plain beefy American muscle car. I admit that it is not without its own problems but it's mostly superficial and not something as serious as engine or transmission problems where I would get stranded in the middle of the road due to failure. So far the issues that I had were easy to fix and I was able to fix myself. Some of the issues: the cooling fan failed and needed replacement, changed worn out blender actuator responsible for producing heated air in the cabin, unable to fill up gas in high setting due to dirty purge evap canister solenoid - cleaned with air compressor and works now. And this is considering that it has 110K miles and 1400+ of idle hours so realistically, after converting idle hours to mileage, it is 156,200 effective miles on this car. Not bad for such a high mileage and abuse that it has gone through. Not to mention, driving it to Vegas is like driving on my sofa. It is just very comfortable and big inside. And lastly, it is very simple to maintain. No special CVT fluid and most mechanic can change the transmission oil without any special knowledge. Changing the serpentine belt and tensioner was a 15 min job compare to 1 hour+ job with the Rogue - having to take out right wheel, fender and work my belt down there in tight spaces.
Kots
Thank you for sharing your experiences and I, too, would be disappointed if I face the issues you mentioned with the Rogue. However, I am not sure comparing 90s beefed up Ford design for a specific application to a 2007 Nissan design, which is designed for efficiency and passenger space, is fair. It would be more fair if Rogue is compared to New Ford Escape. Also, I am not sure you heard it but out of all the car models sold in US, the least reliable car is Ford Cmax according to consumer reports. Also, ford went down 20 spots in reliability ratings in the last 2 years.
I am not here to bash Ford, they make very nice cars these days ( the new fusion is gorgeous) but they have significant issues in reliability.