Nissan Rogue vs Toyota RAV4: which is more reliable?
The Nissan Rogue and the Toyota RAV4 are level on the federal record — 65/100 against 65/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Nissan Rogue
- 15 model years scored
- 6,107 owner complaints on record
- about 79 complaints per year on the road
- 72 recall campaigns, 40 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (88/100) · worst 2023 (34/100)
Toyota RAV4
- 14 model years scored
- 4,499 owner complaints on record
- about 58 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 26 safety-critical
- best year 2013 (88/100) · worst 2020 (32/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Rogue against RAV4
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
| Year | Rogue | RAV4 | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 41 AVOID | 52 CAUTION | -11 |
| 2024 | 58 CAUTION | 46 AVOID | +12 |
| 2023 | 34 AVOID | 69 CAUTION | -35 |
| 2022 | 66 CAUTION | — | — |
| 2021 | 61 CAUTION | 53 CAUTION | +8 |
| 2020 | 88 BUY | 32 AVOID | +56 |
| 2019 | 80 BUY | 35 AVOID | +45 |
| 2018 | 66 CAUTION | 76 BUY | -10 |
| 2017 | 65 CAUTION | 81 BUY | -16 |
| 2016 | 67 CAUTION | 84 BUY | -17 |
| 2015 | 65 CAUTION | 82 BUY | -17 |
| 2014 | 70 BUY | 84 BUY | -14 |
| 2013 | 83 BUY | 88 BUY | -5 |
| 2012 | 87 BUY | 81 BUY | +6 |
| 2011 | 85 BUY | 75 BUY | +10 |
What owners actually complain about
Nissan Rogue
- Power Train — 1,389 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 1,166 complaints
- Engine — 938 complaints
Toyota RAV4
- Electrical System — 907 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 814 complaints
- Engine — 718 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Rogue's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the RAV4's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Nissan Rogue — avoid: 2023, 2025.
Toyota RAV4 — avoid: 2019, 2020, 2024.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Nissan Rogue prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota RAV4 at about $30,500 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 31.0 against 30.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Nissan Rogue or the Toyota RAV4 more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Nissan Rogue scores 65/100 against the Toyota RAV4's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Nissan Rogue and Toyota RAV4 years should I avoid?
Nissan Rogue: 2023, 2025. Toyota RAV4: 2019, 2020, 2024. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Nissan Rogue and the Toyota RAV4?
The largest complaint group on the Nissan Rogue is Power Train (1,389 complaints); on the Toyota RAV4 it is Electrical System (907).
Is the Nissan Rogue or the Toyota RAV4 cheaper to own?
A recent used Nissan Rogue prices at about $30,500 and a Toyota RAV4 at about $30,500, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.