Complete transmission failure on the 2016 Nissan Rogue
When complete transmission failure gets reported
Owners of the 2016 Nissan Rogue report complete transmission failure at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 19 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 98,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 100,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 58,800 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
5% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43,600 miles | 64,000 miles | 83,000 miles | 98,600 miles | 102,400 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 $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 2016 has 52. 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.
Tl* the contact leased a 2016 nissan rogue. The driver stated that the transmission failed to function properly. An independent mechanic determined that the vehicle was not safe to drive and suggested that it be serviced by the dealer who sold the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated and the gears were difficult to shift. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (hilltop nissan, 258 nj-10, east hanover, nj 07936, (973) 887-5400) where the transmission was replaced twice, but indicated that it needed to be replaced a third time. The dealer was uncertain if they could offer a loaner vehicle until the failure was remedied. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 45,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2016 nissan rogue. While driving 65 MPH, the transmission failed. Upon depressing the accelerator pedal, a loud dragging noise was heard. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the CVT was faulty. A dealer and the manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.
My 2016 nissan rogue experienced an abrupt and total failure of the CVT transmission. I was not able to accelerate and the vehicle would lurch and lose power. This abrupt failure makes me feel very unsafe for myself and my family that rides in this car, had it stalled on the busy st louis mo interstates we would have been hit and possibly killed, luckily I was on a busy, but less traveled road and I was able to limp the car to the dealership. My vehicle only has 41,000 miles on it. Once I got to the dealership, I insisted that they ride with me so they knew what was happening and not try to say that they couldn't replicate the issue when driving it alone. The service professional was very upfront and honest with me and told me it was definitely the transmission and nissan has tons of these issues with their vehicles. My car has been in the shop for over a week now for a transmission rebuild. However, nissan is not offering an extended warranty or anything on it, even though they know they are faulty and dangerous, I will only have 20,000 miles left on my warranty once I pick my care up from the dealership. Nissan doesn't offer…
Also reported on the 2016 Nissan Rogue
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
CVT failure
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Wiring harness or short circuit
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 52 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 2016 Nissan Rogue?
Across 19 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 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 2016 Nissan Rogue?
52 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 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