Since I used to do this as part of the day job at one newspaper group, I'm qualified. Not sure why I haven't been blogging reviews of vacation car rentals before, but better late than never.
I've had the option of a Rogue on one previous vacation among mid-sized rentals and ultimately went with a Hyundai Santa Fe.
It turned out to be Rogue vs Jeep Compass this time, and I already knew the Compass was shorter and since my current version of Car Camping is to turn a mid-sized SUV into a temporary RV, the Compass was going to be too short.
Nissan has shortened the Rogue in the last couple of years.
And, for 2022, dropped a 3-cylinder engine under the hood as the base option. You read that right. I even popped the hood once to see if that's what I had, because I wasn't sure I had a 2022 model. Well, there was so much in the way of heavy metal foil covering various inputs to the engine that I couldn't even find plug wires to count to either "three" or "four." But, given that the I-3 is paired with an 8-speed tranny, and on mountain roads of the southern Rockies, I was doing a lot of short upshifts in climbing, I venture that's what I had.
Plus? Especially when I found the "Eco" button, gas mileage was good. Between state and US highways on those mountains and some interstates, I was pushing 35mpg. This was an AWD, but I rarely had that turned on.
Minus of sorts? Downsizing. At my height, it was a bit tight on that car camping at times. Related? After you drop the second seat, it rides higher than the back floorboard, and it takes some funky configuration and use of suitcases or backpacks underneath that "floorboard" to even this out.
Definite minuses? Cheapness up front for the driver.
The Rearview Mirror does not auto-dim at night.
The rearview mirror does not have a digital compass readout built into a corner.
The driver's seat is totally manual. Yep, nothing on power adjustments. And the manual adjustments are only six-way: forward-back, tilt-nontilt on seat back, and lumbar. And, the lumbar was cheap compared to my 20-year old Camry, which is also power on the other four-way control options PLUS it's eight-way, also having tilt-nontilt on the seat "butt" as well as back. Yes, this was the SE top-line Camry, but also, it's 20 years old, and it also has the other two above options.
So, if you are interested in a 2022 Rogue, on the last list of issues, you'll probably want to look beyond a base version.
