9 used SUVs with engine and CVT problems that led to recalls or class-action payouts

Used SUV shoppers often focus on mileage and accident history, but powertrain class-action settlements and recalls tell a deeper story about which models cause trouble down the road. Continuously variable transmissions have failed early enough to trigger warranty extensions, and whole engine families have seized, burned or drunk oil at an alarming rate. Here are nine used SUVs whose engine and CVT problems have already been litigated or recalled.

1. Nissan Rogue (2014-2018): CVT Class Action

Nissan’s Rogue was named in a CVT class-action settlement that stretched its powertrain warranty from 60 months or 60,000 miles to 84 months or 84,000 miles for the affected model years, whichever limit arrived first for a given owner.

The extension covers the 2014 through 2018 crossover specifically because its continuously variable transmission was prone to shuddering, slipping or failing outright well before that original mileage mark, according to the terms of the settlement program itself and the wave of owner complaints that led to it being negotiated.

2. Nissan Pathfinder (2015-2018): Same Warranty Fix

The three-row Pathfinder was covered by the identical CVT settlement program as its Rogue sibling elsewhere on this list, with its powertrain warranty likewise extended from the original term out to 84 months or 84,000 miles, whichever came first for the vehicle in question.

Families cross-shopping a used Pathfinder from these model years should confirm the transmission was already serviced or replaced under the settlement, rather than assuming the extended warranty coverage automatically carries over with the vehicle at resale to a new owner years later.

3. Infiniti QX60 (2015-2018): Longest Warranty Extension

Infiniti’s QX60, which shares its CVT with the Pathfinder underneath the sheet metal, received the settlement’s longest extension of any covered model in the program, with coverage pushed from 72 months or 70,000 miles all the way to 96 months or 96,000 miles.

A luxury badge did not spare the QX60 from the same transmission shudder that affected its more mainstream Nissan siblings, making the extended coverage terms worth double-checking before committing to any used purchase of this three-row luxury crossover on the used market.

4. Kia Sorento (2011-2013): Engine Seizure Payout

Early Kia Sorentos were named in a wider Hyundai/Kia settlement covering more than two million vehicles nationwide over engine seizures and failures that added a lengthy 15-year, 150,000-mile extended warranty on the specific engines named in the case.

The settlement also reimburses eligible owners for repairs they already paid for out of pocket before the case was resolved in court, a detail worth raising directly with any dealer currently selling a used Sorento from this particular model era on any used-car lot today or later.

5. Hyundai Tucson (2010-2021): Decade-Long Coverage

More than a decade of Tucson production, spanning 2010 all the way through 2021, falls under the same wide-reaching engine-failure settlement that also covers the related Sorento and several other Hyundai and Kia models sold across that long stretch of years.

That unusually wide model-year span makes the Tucson one of the broadest-reaching single entries in the entire settlement program, and full reimbursement for prior repairs remains on the table for owners who never got around to filing a claim of their own before now.

6. Hyundai Santa Fe (2010-2012): Fire Damage Compensation

Santa Fe SUVs built from 2010 through 2012 were folded into the nationwide settlement covering engine failures and fires across Hyundai’s broader lineup of that era, including several other related crossover and sedan models sold alongside it at the time.

Owners whose Santa Fe was destroyed by an engine fire, or who sold the SUV off entirely because of an outright failure, are eligible for direct compensation under the settlement terms, not just a credit toward some future repair bill down the road later on.

7. Chevrolet Equinox (2010-2013, 2.4L): Oil Consumption Settlement

Chevrolet’s 2.4-liter Equinox engine burned through oil at a fast enough rate that a federal court eventually granted final approval to an excessive oil consumption settlement covering the 2010 through 2013 model years of this compact SUV and its GMC twin.

Used buyers considering this generation of Equinox should plan to check oil levels far more often than they might on another SUV of similar age, since the underlying engine design itself is what pushed General Motors into settling the case in the first place.

8. Ford Escape (2013, 1.6L EcoBoost): Fire Risk Recall

Ford recalled its 2013 Escape’s turbocharged 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine over a potential engine fire risk, just one of several separate nationwide fire-related recalls that were eventually all tied back to that same small turbocharged four-cylinder engine design over time.

The EcoBoost’s turbocharged design ran hot enough under sustained load that repeated recalls followed it over the years, so confirming the recall work was actually fully completed matters far more than usual on a used Escape from this specific early model year of production and sale.

9. Jeep Cherokee (2014): Nine-Speed Trouble

The first Cherokees built with Chrysler’s brand-new nine-speed automatic transmission were recalled nationwide after the gearbox could slip unexpectedly into neutral while the SUV was being actively driven at speed on a highway or busy city street.

Complaints about rough, hesitant shifting followed the 2014 model for years afterward as owners and dealers worked through the transmission’s early software calibration issues one by one, making its full service history one of the first things worth checking closely on any used Cherokee from this generation of the SUV.