Choosing A Rental Car? Here's Why The Nissan Rogue Crossover Is The Perfect Pick

Many rental car agencies today will offer you a choice of vehicles within your price point. If you are renting a crossover, and if the Nissan Rogue is one of the many choices offered to you, we suggest you give it a try. We did, and it made a tour of America's West a very pleasant journey.
Why a Crossover?
There are many reasons to start with a two-row crossover. Crossovers like the Rogue are much easier than sedans to enter and exit. If you have a child on your trip, like we did, helping them buckle into a car seat is much easier with a crossover than with a sedan. Your back will thank you.

Visibility is also better. Crossovers are higher up and have a larger greenhouse than do sedans. You aren’t going to be speeding around corners and pushing the limits of your rental car, so any handling or performance advantage that may be offered (real or imagined) by a sedan is really no benefit when you are on a family road trip.

Loading cargo in and out is a constant during road trips. Crossovers like the Nissan Rogue don’t just offer more cargo space than a sedan, the cargo is much more user-friendly. The load height is perfect and there is no lip to have to pull your heavy suitcase up and over.

We drove over 1,500 miles in a well-worn 2018 Nissan Rogue SV. Despite its original tires and over 34,000 miles of wear and tear, the Rogue was smooth, quiet and very comfortable.
Nissan Rogue Features
There were a few features in this Rogue that we really appreciated. The first was Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Most rental vehicles do not come with navigation, but navigation is critical to a stress-free road trip. We used Google Maps via Android Auto for our navigation while our passenger used an iPhone to play Amazon music via BlueTooth. Our Nissan Rogue rental also had SiriusXM satellite radio. That was a great option when we wanted a switch from our own set list. We also used Pandora via Android Auto. All of this was seamless and simple to do thanks to Nissan’s very intuitive menus. One vehicle choice our rental car company made available to us was the 2018 Toyota RAV4. Toyota’s RAV4 does not offer Android Auto – even in its new 2019 models.
Rental Car Safety

Having the family along on a trip means safety is a real concern. The 2018 Nissan Rogue is an IIHS Top Safety Pick. The Dodge Journey was another vehicle choice made available to us, but rather than a Top Safety Pick, the Journey has Poor crash test results. Our Nissan SV rental also had automatic emergency braking. Something the Journey didn’t offer on any trim in 2018.

According to our trip computer, the Nissan SV returned between 31 and 36 MPG during our travels. There is no fuel economy penalty of any significance in a crossover this size compared to an equally-roomy midsized sedan.

The next time you have a choice of rental vehicles, look for a Nissan Rogue. Feel free to tell us in the comments below how your latest rental vehicle worked out.

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