Nissan Rogue VC-Turbo Engine Recall: When a Software Patch Meets a Bad Bearing

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Written and legally reviewed by Steven Nassi, Founder & Managing Partner, RockPoint Law P.C. · Published June 27, 2025 · Updated June 9, 2026 · Source: NHTSA Campaign 25V437000

The official NHTSA filing

Can I keep driving while I wait for the repair?

A bearing defect the size of an engine, and a fire

An engine bearing is small, but everything in the engine rides on it. This recall targets the bearings inside Nissan's VC-Turbo engines, which Nissan concedes “may have manufacturing defects that can lead to engine failure.” When a main bearing lets go, it doesn't fail quietly. It can take the whole engine with it.

Nissan's filing describes how bad it can get: a bearing failure “may cause a breach in the engine block, allowing hot oil to be discharged, increasing the risk of an engine fire.” That's the difference between a stranded car and a burning one. An engine that can fail without warning, and can ignite when it does, is among the most serious defect types a vehicle can carry.

The VC-Turbo (variable compression turbo) is one of the most mechanically complex four- and three-cylinder engines on the road, and a bearing manufactured out of spec inside it does not heal with miles. It tends to announce itself as a ticking or knocking under load, rising oil consumption, or a metallic rattle on a cold start, symptoms owners often report climbing as the bearing wears, right up until the engine seizes or throws a rod.

Here is what should give every owner pause: the defect is in the hardware, physical bearings, but Nissan's remedy is to reprogram the ECM software. A software update may adjust how the engine runs to reduce stress on the bearings, but it does not replace a bearing that was manufactured defective. By filing recall 25V437000, Nissan has formally acknowledged the engines left the factory defective. Whether a reflash actually cures that is exactly the question a Lemon Law claim is built to test.

What Nissan's own filing says about the risk

It's worth separating what is documented from what is hype. What follows is taken from Nissan's own disclosure to NHTSA under campaign 25V437000. The account comes from the manufacturer's safety filing, not from us and not from a sales brochure. Read in plain English, the filing describes a two-stage failure: first the defective bearing degrades and the engine can lose power or stop running; then, if the bearing seizes hard enough, it can punch through the engine block, and the hot oil that escapes can ignite.

Two details make this category of recall especially serious for owners. The first is that the failure can arrive with little warning and at speed, a sudden loss of motive power in traffic is its own crash hazard, before any fire. The second is that a fire originating in the engine bay is fast and hard to control; it threatens not just the vehicle but everyone in it and anything parked nearby.

Looking to gauge the real-world frequency of this problem? You can read owner reports for these engines yourself: search your year and model in the complaints database at NHTSA.gov. We deliberately don't quote a complaint tally here, because bare totals are easy to attribute to the wrong thing, but the pattern of engine-failure and stalling reports tied to the VC-Turbo is part of why this recall exists at all.

Why a software fix for a hardware defect raises the stakes

Owners are right to ask a hard question here: how does reprogramming software fix a physically defective bearing? Often it doesn't fully, and that gap is precisely where your rights come in.

A recall obligates Nissan to attempt a free remedy, nothing more. It does not refund you, replace your Rogue, or compensate you for an engine you can no longer trust or a fire risk you didn't sign up for. A Lemon Law claim is your personal right to a real remedy when that fix comes up short. The recall is the proof; the claim is the leverage that turns it into compensation.

There is a second, quieter harm a recall never addresses: diminished value. A Rogue with a documented VC-Turbo bearing recall on its history is worth less at trade-in or private sale than the car you thought you bought, reflash or not. That lost value is real money, and it is part of what a properly built claim seeks to recover, alongside a buyback, a replacement, or cash.

Three things drive almost every Lemon Law claim, whether under state law or the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and an engine-failure recall helps satisfy the first two before you ever pull into service:

• A substantial defect, an engine that can fail and even catch fire is about as substantial as a defect gets, it strikes safety, value, and the basic use of the vehicle.
• The manufacturer's knowledge: recall 25V437000 is Nissan's written admission, on the record, that the VC-Turbo bearings are defective across the model line.
• A reasonable number of failed repair attempts. This is the part you build, by documenting the ECM reflash and any engine symptom, noise, or failure that appears afterward.

How many failed repairs turn a recalled Rogue into a buyback?

There is no universal national threshold, states set their own Lemon Law limits, and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act sits over all of them. But the triggers below are common across most state statutes, and a defect that can cause fire or sudden engine failure generally qualifies as a “serious safety defect,” which in many states lowers the number of attempts required. Treat this as a map, not a verdict, the figures that actually apply depend on where your vehicle is registered.

Protect the car, and the record

Owners who recover the most treat every dealer visit as evidence. Here is the path that keeps your options open:

1. Step 1 · Confirm

   Verify your VIN and apply the remedy

   Check your 17-digit VIN at NHTSA.gov or call Nissan at 1-800-647-7261 (Infiniti 1-800-662-6200) with recall R25A8/A9 or R25B1/B2. If included, have the free ECM reprogramming done at an authorized dealer.

2. Step 2 · Document

   Get the repair order, in writing

   Keep the repair order showing the date, mileage, software version, technician notes, and the recall number. For a software remedy, that proof of what was done and when is essential to any later claim.

3. Step 3 · Observe

   Listen to the engine

   After the reflash, watch for knocking, ticking, oil consumption, warning lights, or any loss of power. If the engine shows symptoms, log the date, mileage, and what you heard or saw, a developing bearing failure is exactly what to capture.

4. Step 4 · Act

   If the engine isn't right, call counsel

   If engine problems appear or persist after the reflash, or Nissan can't make the engine right in a reasonable time, you may qualify for a buyback, replacement, or cash. That's the threshold where RockPoint Law takes over the fight.

What happens when you bring it in for the fix

The recall remedy itself is quick, which is part of what makes this recall unusual, and worth scrutinizing. Here is what a realistic dealer visit looks like, and what to ask for while you're there:

• The fix is software, not parts, the ECM reprogramming is typically an hour or less of dealer time, with no engine teardown. That's the point owners should weigh carefully: a physical bearing defect is being addressed with a calibration change, not a new bearing.
• Ask for a loaner if the engine is symptomatic, a routine reflash usually won't require a loaner, but if your engine is already knocking, burning oil, or has failed, you are entitled to ask for alternative transportation while it's diagnosed, and to get that request in writing.
• Get everything documented, insist the repair order lists the recall number (R25A8/A9 or R25B1/B2), the software version before and after, your mileage, and any symptoms you reported. A vague “performed recall” line is worth far less later than a detailed one.
• Don't accept “no trouble found” as the end, if you reported engine noise or a power loss and the dealer applies the reflash and sends you off, that visit still counts. Keep the paperwork and keep observing. A symptom that returns after a documented attempt is the heart of a claim.
• Know your parts-and-engine fallback, if the bearing has already damaged the engine, the real remedy is an engine replacement, which can mean weeks out of service while parts are sourced. Track every day the car is unavailable. Cumulative days out of service is itself a Lemon Law trigger in many states.

Related recalls we're watching for owners

If any of these are in your driveway too, we take the same litigation-authority approach. We watch engine and safety recalls across makes:

• Toyota Tundra V35A Engine Recall: internal engine debris and bearing failures
• Ford Explorer Engine Hard-Parts Recall: internal mechanical failure
• Nissan NV200 Engine Stall Recall: fuel-pump-fuse short, engine stall
• Nissan Kicks Instrument Cluster Recall: blank display