Nissan Rouge purchased brand new in August of 2015. 91,115 miles. Last Friday I began hearing a humming sound. Took it too the dealer today who told me my transmission needed to be replaced.
Hi Yvette1, Can you add a little more detail and form a question for the community to try to help you with?
Noise starts around 30mph and gets louder the faster I go. When put in park or nuetral and hit gas, no noise. My question is what other issues could it be? Are Nissan known for transmission issues this soon?
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If hearing the noise at a steady mph, and you then push on the gas or release the gas, does the noise change?
No, but mechanical things can have problems no matter the brand . The question is are you out of the warranty period ? If so then find an independent transmission shop for a second opinion. That may have a charge .
Does it change when the transmission shifts gears? If you hear the noise and shift to neutral, does the sound continue? Do this only when there is no traffic around.
There are many other things this could be, such as a wheel bearing. What does the noise sound like?
I believe this transmission is a CVT. Nissan has had problems with them.
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Yes, but this year and model is much better than average for minor and major transmission reliability, according to Consumer Reports.
then the next set of questions to ask would be…
#1. was CVT fluid ever replaced?
#2. was the vehicle driven mostly in city / stop&go traffic?
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One relevant thing I have noticed on CVTs, on steady highway driving they are shifting more, whereas a conventional transmission stays in the same gear. Which may mean more wear.
In more detail, on a highway at a steady 70 MPH under cruise control, with a conventional auto transmission, the computer controls speed via throttle and the transmission stays in the same gear (within limits)
With a CVT, under the same conditions, every minor uphill and downhill, the CVT is changing the drive ratio. You can see the RPMs change, going up downhill and down uphill, even though the speed remains constant.
CVT is very different from “conventional transmission”, so when it “shifts”, it only relocates the steel belt up or down on the plates, no real wear is involved here, THEORETICALLY
in reality, what wears CVTs the most is a belt slippage, which is in direct connection to two factors: fluid deterioration and the sheer force applied
although NIssan is “famous” for not recommending to change the CVT fluid ever, but only to “inspect it” under the normal schedule, their “premium” maintenance schedule recommends 30K miles to be the fluid replacement interval… read it as “if you really want your car to work after warranty (60K) lapses, you better do it”
on the second point, every time a driver makes a full-throttle acceleration, especially from the standstill, it is a chance for a slippage, which actually makes for a mechanical damage on the friction surface, and a deteriorating CVT fluid is only a factor contributing further here
further on “jack rabbit starts”: it makes for the worst possible input/output shaft plates ratio, so the chance to slip is at its worst
I’ve also watched a few YouTube videos from mechanics who actually repair CVT transmissions, they tell another big damaging factor is the way driver handles the icy conditions: if he is letting wheels spin fast and then finally melts the ice and hits the road: it makes for a terrible jolt through CVT, resulting in deep nicks… that mechanic’s statistics was that this kind of “dead meat” starts arriving to his shop shortly after roads get icy in his area
I’m driving CVT-equipped 2012 Nissan Altima, and my take from all of this was:
- change CVT fluid, religiously!
- do not do jack-rabbit starts, unless absolutely needed
- drive on snow/ice carefully
still, my wife’s 2013 NIssan Sentra CVT was gone around 40K miles, although she was not abusing the car… I was really stupid to buy a new generation of CVTs, the first year in production 
I’m seeing a recall on the CVT torque converter for the 2WD version with the 2.5L engine , tsb 15-038. And several other customer interest bulletins related to the CVT, make sure those have all been addressed, in particular be sure they review CAN-16-109 “misdiagnosis of cvt noise”. Going forward suggest to be sure to follow the manufacturer’s maintenance interval & fluid spec recommendations to the letter, especially for the transmission. If you are out of warranty, but just barely, you might be able to get some help for this from Nissan. Don’t hesitate to ask, asking can’t hurt, can only help.