2020 Nissan Rogue Sport: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport
On the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport, the failure owners report most often is cooling fan failure, with 6 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 90,000 miles. Overall it scores 62 out of 100, high risk for a 2020.
High risk for a 2020 — 230th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. 63 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 26 named failure modes on the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport, and the three most-reported carry 27% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Cooling fan failure leads with 6 reports and about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other electrical problem follows with 6 reports.
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure follows with 5 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into cooling (12), electrical (11) and transmission (9).
At what mileage it happens
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 7 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 26. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 1 mentions a crash. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.90, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: cooling fan failure at $350–$1,300, other electrical problem at $250–$2,000, ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure at $250–$1,500 and other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
48% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooling fan failure | cooling | 6 | 1 | — | 20k | — | 0.1 | $350–$1,300 | Moderate |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure | electrical | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,500 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 5 | 3 | — | 120k | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$1,900 | High |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 4 | 1 | — | 39k | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Other brake problem | brakes | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$1,800 | High |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Misfire or rough idle | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,600 | Moderate |
| Overheating | cooling | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Fuel gauge or level sensor failure | fuel | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Complete engine failure or seizure | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $4,500–$12,000 | Critical |
| Head gasket failure | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $1,400–$4,000 | Critical |
| No-start or intermittent start failure | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Transmission slipping | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $1,200–$5,500 | High |
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 138k | — | 0.0 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Parking brake failure | brakes | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,300 | Moderate |
| Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault | airbag | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $300–$1,600 | High |
| Seat belt or retractor failure | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.0 | $200–$900 | High |
| Blower motor or climate control failure | hvac | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport draws about 1.2 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 75th percentile of complaint rates among 2020 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 54,804 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2020 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2020 model year
NHTSA has issued 1 recall campaign covering the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport, affecting an estimated 54,804 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover electrical system:ignition:anti-theft:immobilizer/proximity:. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION:ANTI-THEFT:IMMOBILIZER/PROXIMITY:KEY/SENDER
712,458 vehicles 2023-02-16- Defect
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Rogue and 2017-2022 Rogue Sport vehicles equipped with a jackknife style ignition key. The jackknife key may collapse into a folded position while driving.
- Consequence
- Driver contact with a key in the collapsed position could inadvertently shut off the vehicle while driving, increasing the risk of a crash. Additionally, if the vehicle shuts off while driving, the air bags may not deploy in a crash as intended, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will insert a spacer into the key slot of the jackknife key, free of charge. Interim notification letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed March 29, 2023. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 30, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R22C5.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2020 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2020 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2020 — 230th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 6 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2022 comes out best at 54 and 2019 worst at 72, with 2020 itself at 62.
If the model year is negotiable, 2022 and 2021 score lower than 2020 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2017–2022 generation specifically, 2022 is the strongest year at 54 and 2019 the weakest at 72.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2017-2022 generation, 2022 Nissan Rogue Sport scores best at 54 and 2019 Nissan Rogue Sport worst at 72.
What this page cannot tell you
63 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 63 reports, 7 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 11% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport?
The most-reported failures are cooling fan failure (6 reports, median 20,000 miles), other electrical problem (6 reports) and ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure (5 reports). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2020 Nissan Rogue Sport reliable?
It scores 62 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 230th riskiest of the 235 2020 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2020 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Nissan Rogue Sport is best?
Within the 2017–2022 generation, 2022 scores best at 54 out of 100 and 2019 worst at 72. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed