NHTSA Complaint #10991379 — 2010 NISSAN ROGUE

CVT TRANSMISSION OVERHEATED DUE TO THE FOLLOWING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS 1. HOT WEATHER (92 F) 2. A LONG DRIVE (OVER 3 HOURS) 3. DRIVING UP HIGHWAY MOUNTAINS IN VIRGINIA. FAIL SAFE ACTIVATED CAUSING THE CAR COMPUTER CPU TO DRASTICALLY CUT POWER TO THE WHEELS. THIS CAUSED A LACK OF POWER SUCH THAT I COULD NOT ACCELERATE UP THE HILL IN EXCESS OF 45 MPH. THE SPEED LIMIT ON THE HILL WAS 70 MPH. EIGHTEEN WHEEL TRUCKS WERE IMMEDIATELY BEHIND MY ROGUE FORCING ME TO PULL ONTO THE ROAD SHOULDER ALLOWING THEM TO GO PAST. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO A LOCAL NISSAN DEALER WHO CONFIRMED FROM EXAMINATION OF THE CAR CPU THAT THE TRANSMISSION OVERHEATED AND THAT AN OVERHEAT CODE WAS FOUND IN THE CPU. THEY ALSO CONFIRMED THAT THE FAIL SAFE WAS ACTIVATED THAT CAUSED THE SEVERE POWER LOSS. THE NISSAN DEALER KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS FROM MY DESCRIPTION. NISSAN IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND EVEN EXTENDED MY TRANSMISSION CVT WARRANTY FROM 6YR/60,000 MILES TO 10YR/120,000 MILES. HOWEVER, THEIR SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM IS TO INSTALL AN AUXILIARY CVT TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLER AT AN EXPENSE TO ME OF $1225. MY DEALER CHECKED WITH NISSAN AND SAID THEY WOULD NOT COVER THE EXPENSE EVEN THOUGH THE TRANSMISSION IN MY CAR IS STILL ON WARRANTY. DOCUMENTATION OF MY EXACT EXPERIENCE CAN BE FOUND ON YOUTUBE @ HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=GG_ZF1EO0PW. THERE ARE SEVERAL MORE VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE UNDER ROGUE CVT POWER LOSS AND DOCUMENTATION ON MANY SITES ON THE INTERNET. IN CONCLUSION, NISSAN IS INSTALLING CVT TRANSMISSIONS IN SEVERAL OF THEIR MODEL CARS WITH A KNOWN OVERHEATING ISSUE AND REQUIRES THEIR CUSTOMERS TO INSTALL A TRANSMISSION FLUID COOLER AT THE CUSTOMERS EXPENSE. THE DRAMATIC LOSS OF POWER IS A BIG SAFETY ISSUE. IN MY CASE I HAD TO SPEED UP TO GET UP THE HILLS AS MY SPEED DROPPED FROM 80MPH DOWN TO 45MPH FINALLY PULLING ONTO THE SHOULDER.