Some shoppers will be put off by the Rogue's poor sight lines, but I suspect the majority will respond to the crossover with a collective shrug. When similar money can buy a handsome interior, a vast cargo area or engaging performance, the Rogue's unremarkable nature leaves it behind.

At last winter's $29,000 SUV shootout, editors from Cars.com, USA Today and PBS' "MotorWeek" noted how average the Rogue was. But when the evaluations were tallied up, the Nissan landed seventh out of nine. Average, it seems, is not good enough.