Complete transmission failure on the 2008 Nissan Rogue
When complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Nissan Rogue report complete transmission failure at a median of 117,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 87,500 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 26 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 5,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 155,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 149,250 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
19% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,750 miles | 86,500 miles | 117,977 miles | 135,250 miles | 155,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $2,800–$8,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 16 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2022, at a median of 48 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 61; the 2008 has 27. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Issues since 5/5/8 just after purchasing new 08 nissan rogue sl AWD transmission failure/lunging forward, rattling noises, missing during acceleration, and sever vibration on acceleration. Continuous problems under 35mph. Nissan claims its normal and will not replace transmission until it completely fails. *tr
I have a transmission rattle/clanking noise which is fairly constant in the car, except at high acceleration. I have complained numerous times to nissan about the problem, but nissan is currently considering this sound normal. It has been getting worse, and I am concerned about a transmission failure, which could cause an accident. *tr
Shortly after purchasing a 2008 nissan rogue sl AWD, I began experiencing a grinding, rattling noise coming from which I now know is the CVT transmission. Started at less than 3000 miles, very faint and inconsistent but becoming much louder, more consistent and unmistakable. After the third trip to my dealer about this noise and several other issues I am having with my 5 month old vehicle including a major water leak, they finally got on the phone to nissan usa. The service manager advised me that nissan is aware of this transmission "issue", they are working on a fix, there have been many transmissions replaced but that is not correcting the problem. I was told to sit tight and wait for nissan to come up with a resolution. I was told that the vehicle is safe to drive because there have been no reported failures from this issue. My problem is, which rogue owner with this problem (and it seems like there are many) is going to be the first one to have a transmission failure at highway speeds? I currently have less than 5,000 miles on my rogue and don't trust it. *tr
Also reported on the 2008 Nissan Rogue
Other powertrain problem
CVT failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other body or interior problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 27 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does complete transmission failure happen on the 2008 Nissan Rogue?
Across 26 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 117,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 87,500 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is complete transmission failure on the 2008 Nissan Rogue?
27 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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