Other engine problem on the 1999 Nissan Maxima
1 crash 1 of the 19 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 1999 Nissan Maxima report other engine problem at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 91,262 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50,200 miles | 56,000 miles | 74,878 miles | 130,000 miles | 141,462 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 20 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1997, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 67; the 1999 has 19. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I had to replace one coil on my 99 maxima earlier this year. This past friday I had to replace the other 5. From my research on the internet, this is a frequent problem, yet no recall to date. *la
I have a 99 nissan maxima se and I wish I had known about this website before purchasing. After reading the multiple and consistent complaints regarding the flashing "airbag" and "check engine soon" lights, I can't believe there has not been a recall. The defects reported are the same on each individual 99 maxima listed. My vehicle has 90,000 miles on it, no wrecks, regular maintanence as recommended and have spent way too much money on repairs for sensors, cylinder failure and now the airbag malfunction! The service folks want $600.00 to fix that. I have read the technical notices that went out and obviously the defects were not corrected on the cars whose owners are filing the complaints now. I also have a 1993 maxima with 217,000 miles on it. I have now spent more money in repairs on the 1999 that I have had for 2 years than I ever did on the 1993 in the entire 13 years I have owned it! The 1999 model obviously has some serious failures. Again, review the technical notices! Nissan needs to step up to the plate and do the right thing. If not a recall, then at the very least take care of the ones here who have taken their time…
Car began idling very rough when stopped, almost to the point of shaking back and forth. When attempting to accelerate, car seemed like it had almost no power. Same thing happened when climbing hills, to the point where car would almost stop and put driver in danger of being struck from behind by traffic in the same lane. Had to stop driving car and bring to dealer. *nm
Also reported on the 1999 Nissan Maxima
Misfire or rough idle
Other electrical problem
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
No-start or intermittent start failure
Alternator or charging system failure
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 1999 Nissan Maxima?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 1999 Nissan Maxima?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 110 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed