CVT failure on the 2009 Nissan Rogue
When cvt failure gets reported
Owners of the 2009 Nissan Rogue report CVT failure at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles, from 24 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 119,500 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.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38,900 miles | 65,500 miles | 100,000 miles | 145,000 miles | 158,400 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 $3,000–$8,500 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 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2023, at a median of 35,000 miles, and latest on the 2009 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 121; the 2009 has 32. 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.
3rd failure - same problem with 2009 nissan rogue 4cyl w/CVT. Car loses power - when stepping on gas, car only creeps forward, accelerating very slowly as if it's not getting gas or as if you are starting off in a high gear. Attempts to manually downshift have no effect; shifting into neutral allows engine to rev freely. Last two incidents occurred with wife and 2 young children in car on busy road - very high safety risk as the problem occurred without warning, leaving the vehicle suddenly nearly powerless in traffic. First trip to dealer (problem was less severe/frequent first time) prompted service department to "fix" under an open transmission-related service campaign, the description of which did not fit the problem, but the car worked properly upon receipt. Problem returned a month later with greater severity - car had to be towed to dealership. Car was in shop for a week as necessary part was on backorder - "this is a problem we've been seeing lately," we were told. Upon return car never felt fully like it did when new - would often hesitate slightly when going up a grade before pickup returned. Dealer "unable to reproduce"…
I reported a vibration issue within the first two weeks of lease inception on my 2009 nissan rogue sl AWD.. I filed a complaint with the bbb and nissan stated there is no problem. After a nissan dealer found the problem , nissan told the dealer not to repair the SUV. Here is a video. I escalated the bbb complaint to a hearing and nissan stated there was nothing wrong even thou they recived a nissan dealers repair order stateing a problem was found. I had to drive out of state to have it diagnosed has a binding axle shaft. In the sworn in and recorded hearing witnessed my the arbirtrator we agreed to inspect the rogue togrther but has never contacted me or the dealear after we left numerious messages. I have had to retain a lawyer. I can not even begin to tell you how pissed off I am. Nissan ands its dealers are telling everyone there is no problem and that it is designed to vibrate. Nissan has 9 current CVT trans in there model line up and the rogue is the only one that vibrates? I can only hope you search on line to see how many people are complains and nissans prceuder is they test drive the car and that's it. I have asked the…
A few months prior to my transmission fully breaking down, I was experiencing episodes where my rogue would lose acceleration even as the accelerator pedal was pressed as far down as it could. Mainly these episodes would occur after stopping at a stop sign or traffic light. I would begin to press the accelerator; however, the vehicle would not accelerator nor would the RPM's increase. Suddenly, the "engine" would kick in and I was quickly and forcefully propelled forward. There were a few episodes that occurred while driving on the interstate and these episodes were more frightening and they placed me in a very unsafe situation of being rear-ended at high speeds. Then on september 30, 2012, my family was leaving a vacation trip and heading home on our 3+ hour drive. Not 2 minutes on the road did we experience very loud grinding, clunking and odd behavior from our vehicle as it attempted to shift gears. This noise/feeling seemed to minimize as we drove over 40 MPH until it suddenly lost all power. We had to attempt to pull over to the side of the road with our hazards on, and thank goodness no one was driving behind us or I am…
Also reported on the 2009 Nissan Rogue
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 32 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 cvt failure happen on the 2009 Nissan Rogue?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is cvt failure on the 2009 Nissan Rogue?
32 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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