Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2000 Nissan Maxima
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
Owners of the 2000 Nissan Maxima report control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 155,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 109,750 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45,250 miles | 47,625 miles | 72,177 miles | 146,250 miles | 155,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $700–$3,000 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 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1999, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 85,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 18; the 2000 has 14. 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.
The check engine light went on while on a trip. The codes indicated oxygen sensors on the front and rear banks. The car has 45,000 miles on it and this is the third time it has needed oxygen sensors replaced, each time at approximately 15,000 miles. This is a defective part, also each time they reflash the ECM "so it does not happen again", this is defective parts and nissan should extend the warranty on them. At $650 for the repair, it is a very expensive maintenance item. *ak
The check engine light went on while on a trip. The codes indicated oxygen sensors on the front and rear banks. The car has 45,000 miles on it and this is the third time it has needed oxygen sensors replaced, each time at approximately 15,000 miles. This is a defective part, also each time they reflash the ECM "so it does not happen again", this is defective parts and nissan should extend the warranty on them. At $650 for the repair, it is a very expensive maintenance item. *ak
Check engine light (cel) came on for the third time in 3 years. First time at 27000 miles was due to error in ECM program. 2nd or 3rd times (43000 and 61000 miles) were both due to ignition coils. Both times all six ignition coils had to be replaced by nissan authorized service center.*ak
Also reported on the 2000 Nissan Maxima
Other electrical problem
Misfire or rough idle
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Engine sensor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 14 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 control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2000 Nissan Maxima?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2000 Nissan Maxima?
14 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 81 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