2008 Nissan Rogue: sudden loss of power

Filed Apr 25, 2026 · Engine, Transmission · TX

On February 6, 2025, while driving at highway speed, the lower radiator hose ruptured, causing complete coolant loss. The CVT transmission overheated, seized, and the engine was destroyed. Vehicle lost motive power at speed without warning. Repair estimate: $20,356.16. Vehicle declared total loss and sold for salvage at $400. Nissan Technical Service Bulletin NTB14-002b acknowledges this identical failure chain in 2008-2012 Rogues and prescribes a supplemental cooler kit (cost under $85) as the fix. Nissan has not included this VIN in any recall despite the identical mechanism. Loss of power at highway speed constitutes a safety-related defect under 49 U.S.C. § 30118.

Filed Nov 18, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · NY

Sudden loss of power after driving on highway for a few hours. Car does not go above 2500 RPM or 50MPH. Shutting car off for a few minutes fixes the problem until it happens again a few hours pater.

Filed Oct 16, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · NY

Sudden loss of power while driving on highway after a few hours. Car cannot exceed 40 MPH.

Filed Jul 29, 2021 · Fuel system, Transmission · NY

The transmission shudders, jerks, whines, roars loudly. Yes it’s available for inspection. I was driving up a hill with my grand children in the car, and it started shuddering. Didn’t seem to be getting gas at all. The tank was full. Then it started rolling backwards down the hill. Needless to say my grand children were scared to death as I was also. No I haven’t spoken to anyone about the problem, as I don’t know who to talk to? Nobody has looked at it yet. I figured the transmission went, so I haven’t bothere$ with reaching out, until a friend told me hers did the exact same thing. So we looked it up. Yes it seemed to be shuddering before but never lost power and rolled backwards. There were no warning lights, or signs of it quitting. There was no acceleration at all. Just slowly lost power. It was still running but when you push the gas pedal you got nothing. Not even the reving of the motor!03/29

Filed Sep 15, 2018 · Transmission · 86,000 miles · KS

Cvt transmission failure. At 86000 miles. I was on street and heard a grinding noise and it just popped. It lost power no acceleration. I luckily coasted to a dirt road where as soon as I turned it stopped. Would not go. Had it towed to dealership where they've had for 7 days so far. I'm out 445$ on rental car so far. They pay for transmission but 300+ other stuff I have to pay. So I'm out 800+ $ frankly I dont really have. I know could be worse but this is unexpected $ I had to pay plus keep up on regular bill's. Not right.

Filed Jul 20, 2018 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · NY

Driving in summer our 2008 nissan rogue list power going up hills. We lost power and car slowed down. Stalked our once. We were doing highway driving

Filed Oct 15, 2016 · Acceleration · 115,000 miles · NM

During prolong periods of driving (2-2.5 hours) at approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle experienced a loss of acceleration without warning. Rpvs will not go past 2500. Speed will drop to 45-50 MPH. I've almost been rear-ended twice because of the sudden loss of power (the speed drops instantly). It's been happening constantly since june 2016. Driving short distances within the city is not a problem, but can't drive safely on 75mph highways without losing power.

Filed Jul 25, 2016 · 128,000 miles · AZ

I bought a new 2008 nissan rogue in 2008. I'm on the 3rd transmission on this car. Each time the same thing goes wrong. When the transmission gets hot on a longer than 2 hour trip, it loses power. On 7-23-16 on a 400 mile trip, half way into the trip it starts to slowly lose power. The fastest I can go is 60 MPH. Going up hills it's about 45mph at full speed. This is the same thing that happened to the other 2 transmissions. Now I have 128,000 miles on this vehicle. Is it still a free replacement on the transmission? I probably only have about 50,000 miles on this latest transmission. My question is, will the dealer replace it free of charge?

Filed Mar 14, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 94,000 miles · CO

My car had a lost power driving back from rocky mountain national park and I was forced to pull over and turn off my car it started up and I was able to make it back safe but I think it has something to do with the CVT. I really sucks and I don't feel safe driving my car right now.

Filed Jul 8, 2015 · Transmission · 66,300 miles · CA

On a road trip from los angeles to las vegas, encountering normally hot temperatures, and after several hours of driving, the car lost power could only attain speeds of 50 MPH or less up hills. This is a clear and present danger to the occupants when other cars are easily going 70 - 75 MPH. If you pull off the road, the cars have a tendency to lurch forward and with dangerously poor acceleration. From reading the car forums, this is a known problem with this particular model, where the CVT transmission apparently over-heats and puts the car into "limp" mode. The fix has been to replace the transmissions and install an additional transmission cooler, however many dealers try to charge the customer for the cooler, and the nissan factory is now hesitant to replace the transmissions even though their longevity and reliability has undoubtedly been compromised if the over-heating problem was experienced. There should be a mandatory recall demanded by the ntsb before someone is killed or injured due to this lack of acceleration. The problem is difficult to reproduce at the dealer because it involves a multi-hour road trip and hills. This is a safety issue that needs to be addressed, please.

Filed Jun 30, 2015 · Transmission · 88,000 miles · NJ

After 5 hours of operation, while climing upgrade near charlotte nc, vehicle slipped out of gear and lost power. This repeated over a series of inclines for the next 50 miles and nearly resulted in several rear end accidents. During these incidents,the vehicle both lost power and the cruise control unexpectedly shut off. Local nissan dealer confirmed it was due to a known heat issue with CVT transmissions, and an advisory was out to inspect and advise when reported. Nissan instructed an additional cooling appliance be added to keep the fluid cool so operation was normal. Issue is this should be a recall based on assumption that any vehicle will drive at highway speeds for several hours and eventually have to encounter relativly easy upgrades on our highways. Transmission failure under these circumstances is inevitable, and so will be potentially fatal or at least injury inducing incidents.

Filed May 18, 2015 · Acceleration, Electrical · 94,600 miles · PA

After driving nearly 50 miles on the highway, I got off the exit and stopped at a stop sign. Once it was clear I tried to accelerate but due to some kind of power loss the vehicle would not move. The vehicle lost power and the RPM's dropped under 1000. After a few minutes the power returned to normal and I drove to my original destination. This is the third time this has personally happened to me in this vehicle and I would like to report it so it does not happen to anyone else.