The SUV market has skyrocketed since its early years, and these days, more and more drivers shop for an SUV. Whether it’s to replace their sedan, truck, or van, SUVs have become the go-to because of their immense versatility, which is a direct byproduct of the second word in the term ‘SUV’: “Utility.” SUVs allow you to do more with your car than only commuting—but the Rogue is different.
The Rogue, which any used Nissan dealer will help you find, is much more than versatile, as efficiency, value, and reliability all play a pivotal role in why the Rogue is such a fantastic product. Today, we’ll explain to you why we believe the Rogue is a great SUV to buy used. Are you ready? Let’s go!
The Rogue’s Performance Throughout the Years
Pre-owned Rogue models are an excellent opportunity to get yourself a vehicle that performs admirably by today’s standards and will continue to offer you the same degrees of versatility that its previous owner had the pleasure of experiencing.
This is because the Rogue, for over a decade, was a vehicle that received its upgrades over time through means other than base performance. That’s not to say there aren’t differences between the powertrain inside of a 2008 Rogue and the 2020 models, but their horsepower and torque output remained a constant for Rogue owners between those twelve model years.
Why is that important? Let’s put this into two perspectives: practicality and value. From a practical standpoint, Nissan had kept its 2.5L I-4 engine with the Continuously Variable Automatic Transmission (CVT) intact for so long because for a compact SUV in its price range—especially for used models—the 170 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque provided the perfect blend of raw power while not forgoing fuel efficiency, which you would likely agree is a crucial facet of any family-oriented SUV experience. Take this as one of those “If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it” type of things.
As for value, retaining the 2.5L I-4 engine for so long meant that Nissan could keep the price of the Rogue relatively low. Even by today’s standards, the Rogue is a highly cost-effective vehicle. However, it doesn’t incorporate the 2.5L I-4 engine (and we’ll circle back to this). Regardless, with ample performance that didn’t need proper fixing, the Rogue is a great vehicle you can save money on if you want splendid performance.
Getting the same performance from the 2008 model as the 2020 one is something you simply don’t see every day, and it works wonders for the overall value proposition of the Rogue. Meanwhile, the 2021 Rogue was an outlier, with a 2.5L I-4 engine providing a slight boost over the preceding model, with its 181 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque making up its improvements of 6.4% and 3.0%, respectively.
Once the 2.5L I-4 engine retired, taking its place was a VC-Turbo turbocharged 1.5L I-3 engine that also comes paired with a CVT. The first Rogue to incorporate the new turbocharged engine was the 2022 model, bringing upgrades across the board.
Performance was uplifted to new heights, with the turbocharged 1.5L I-3 engine providing a modest increase of 11% and 24% in horsepower and torque output, respectively, for 201 hp and 225 lb-ft of torque. Fuel efficiency also saw increased highway and city travel with improved combined ratings in both front- and all-wheel drivetrains.
Automotive Technology That Excites
There was once a time when vehicles began having CD players more often than not, and this was a big deal to prospective pre-owned buyers.
There was once even a time when your average pre-owned car didn’t have air conditioning. As soon as any vehicle with desirable features reaches the pre-owned market, that technology is off to the races, and more people can experience it as the number of pre-owned models with that tech gets larger every year.
In the modern age, we saw the same concept happen again with the rise of the infotainment center. If you’ve been driving for a while, the chances are high that you owned a vehicle that didn’t have a touchscreen. Phones didn’t even begin regularly having touchscreens until around fifteen years ago; cars with touchscreens are even more recent than that.
It’s a good thing because touchscreens, as you’ll find in the Nissan Rogue, are capacitive and don’t require any actuation force—pressure from your finger—meaning you get consistent and fluid controls as your fingers slide across the screen, and this seamless motion makes navigation of Nissan’s infotainment centers a breeze. So, let’s talk a bit more about the Rogue’s cabin interface.
The Rogue has had a screen of some kind for years, but this is one of the areas that has changed the most over the years. Back to something like the 2013 Rogue, there isn’t an infotainment center. Instead, a simplistic 4.3-inch screen displays your radio station details, clock, volume control, etc. Fast forward a year to the 2014 Rogue, and the screen sees a slight upgrade to a 5.0-inch display.
Again, only one year later, an optional 7.0-inch touchscreen was added to the 2015 Rogue with connectivity and various features stemming from NissanConnect. This makes sense because Android Auto wasn’t first released until 2015, and the 2015 Hyundai Sonata was the first to receive the feature; Apple CarPlay wasn’t released until 2014 (but Apple took a different approach with its first compatible models, with the 2014 Ferrari FF taking that spot).
The 2018 Rogue was a tremendous upgrade on the technological front, having a 7.0-inch touchscreen with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s worth noting that vehicle depreciation—the natural decline in the value of a bought car—takes its heaviest toll within the first five years of its release; this means that Rogue models that make the best use of their infotainment centers are now cheaper than ever, and it’ll only get better from here.
We now live in an era where enough people have seen features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and fully understand what they’re capable of, becoming synonymous with what many drivers are looking for with their next vehicle purchase. The 2018 Rogue can be found at a great price, and the same can be said for the 2019 and 2020 models that share the same technological makeup of features.
The 2021 Rogue would mark another shift towards what we now have today, with an 8.0-inch infotainment center coming standard. No doubt, the most notable upgrade came with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which the highest-end trim received.
Infotainment centers are a vocal selling point of modern-day cars. We’re seeing history repeat with the 2024 Rogue bringing infotainment updates you won’t see on the used market this year. This will change over time. However, that’s not to say the tech in the 2024 Rogue isn’t available on the older models because, if you recall, even the 2021 Rogue could come with features like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
But there’s no mistaking that it’s worth being excited about features like the larger screen to eventually make its way to the used market. For now, having the 8.0-inch screen is more than sufficient if it means that you’ll save significant money on your pre-owned Rogue.
The Aptly Named Rogue
The Nissan Rogue’s name is appropriate since it stands alone as what we consider to be the best value in the SUV market. Used Rogues are excellent, and whether it’s performance, efficiency, tech, or even other areas we didn’t mention, like cargo space, the Rogue is a winner every time. Do yourself a favor and experience the Rogue for yourself, because words simply don’t cut it.
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