My son is turning 16 at Christmas and we want to buy him a car. We are were looking at CRV and Rav4. Was not a big fan of either. We then drove the CX-7 and loved it. But then when checking the reliability and found lots and lots of problems.

While watching the football game I saw an ad for the Rogue. Got on this forum and read many, many positive posts and thought our search had ended. We had found the car we were going to buy him.

We went to the Nissan dealer today and drove the Rogue. Loved most things about the car. The handling was awsome. The technology is great. But the two things really concerned us. First, the back window seemed really hard to see out. Even the side windows in the back are hard to see out of. This is a big worry. I would like to hear from some people that own the car how big of an issue is this day in and day out? How hard is it to see when parking the car?

The other concern was the cargo space. My son needs a car his snowboard will easily fit into. We measured the from seats to the back door and it was 72". It looked to us this was smaller then the RAV4, CR-V and CX-7.

Love the forum.

Bart

The back window seems to be a personal preference thing - some think it's an issue, most don't. My wife (who drives the Rogue 95% of the time) thinks it's fine. I'm pickier, but it doesn't bother me either.

Keep in mind that if you have back seat passengers and/or cargo stacked in back, you're going to be dependent on your side mirrors anyway.

I would hesitate to turn a Rogue over to a new driver. One can take down the front passenger headrest and clear some visibility to the side - it helps a qood bit . But you'll need to remember if there is a passenger in the front and put it back in. But having a new driver trying to weave in and out of traffic, possibly text messaging as most teens do, with the limited visibility of the rogue makes me very nervous. Let me know if he comes out this way in a rogue.

The back window is no problem at all for me, just be sure to adjust the mirrors to avoid blind spots. I actually can see better backing up in the Rogue than my 06 RAV4.

I have no issue with the rear window, As far as the side rear windows go you cannot see out of the third row windows on any SUV or wagon very good.

I moved from driving a Subaru Legacy sedan to the Rogue. It was a huge adjustment at first because I couldnt just look out the back to see if I can turn into traffic. Basically now I have learned to use my mirrors much more, I just have to be careful of the spots on the sides.

But since you are buying for someone who is just starting out I would be a little weary only because it is a different vehicle to learn on.

I think that many vehicles these days have more difficult blind spots, as manufacturers are more worried about style than safety. However, I wouldn't say its a bad idea to learn on a vehicle like this. In fact, it may be better that they learn to use the mirrors as they're intended. Its somewhat like learning how to drive with a stick shift, it may be more difficult at first, but I think you take more away from the experience and learn to be a better driver.

That is definitely true. I had been used to not using the mirrors and just looking over my shoulder, which isnt an option now. But I have realized that the mirrors are far safer and more efficient if you know how to use them and how to judge when things are safe.

Like someone said though, kids are always texting and what not, but if you feel that your kid is responsible enough to handle it then I say go for it. The safety features are great.

If a teenager is texting while reversing in ANY car, then rear visibility doesn't really matter does it? They deserve whats coming to them.

I hear motorcycles have great rear visibility!

The window is not huge, but I am mirror dependent anyway. Why buy your kid a brand new car anyway! Buy'em a beater and work out the driving kinks and then maybe a better car...maybe. Can I be your kid?