Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 2001 Nissan Maxima
When control arm, ball joint or bushing failure gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Nissan Maxima report control arm, ball joint or bushing failure at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 108,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 100,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 69,354 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.
18% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32,646 miles | 62,560 miles | 88,722 miles | 100,000 miles | 102,000 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 $400–$2,200 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 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 500 miles, and latest on the 2002 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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 have had a continuous problem with my 2001 nissan maxima cold start sensor and the dealer says no recall has been issued. Has anyone else reported this problem? Also, I was never sent a recall for the suspension, control arm: lower arm. Is it to late to have this replaced? Why was I not contacted or why dealer didn't notify me? What can I do because my front end is making noises? *nm
The driver took the vehicle to dealer for a suspension problem. Driver noticed while driving vehicle shook. The driver was able to maintain control of vehicle, and drove to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic determined that a part for suspension needed to be replaced. . *ak the defective lower control arm part has not been replaced yet. All contact with nissan corp pertaining to this matter has been ignored. *bf *nm
While driving at any speed the steering would be hard to steer. Recall 02v146000 concerning front suspension arm was issued. Dealership would not repair free of charge because the VIN was not included. *ak
Also reported on the 2001 Nissan Maxima
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Other electrical problem
Radiator or coolant leak
Other engine problem
Alternator or charging system 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 control arm, ball joint or bushing failure happen on the 2001 Nissan Maxima?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 65,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control arm, ball joint or bushing failure on the 2001 Nissan Maxima?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 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