Other engine problem on the 2003 Nissan Maxima
1 crash 1 fire 2 of the 67 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 2003 Nissan Maxima report other engine problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 57 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 30,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 175,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 143,280 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.
12% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30,720 miles | 69,000 miles | 94,400 miles | 135,000 miles | 174,000 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
Of these reports, 1 a crash and 1 a fire are 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 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.
While the consumer was driving at an undetermined speed check engine light appeared on the dash, causing the vehicle to stall. Consumer contacted dealer on two separate occasions but the problem still occurs.*ak
Consumer received recall 03v511000 concerning engine cooling /electric vehicle: at any speed, the check engine light will illuminate and stay on. When the light comes on, the engine loses considerable power. Consumer claims that this make, model, and year is on recall. The recall number that was given does not correspond with the problem this vehicle is having.*ak
Dt: the consumer stated on 2003 nissan maxima the rear brakes went out at 27,000 miles. After they were fixed in june there was a clicking noise coming from them. The vehicle died on july 11, 2005, while in traffic. She pulled the vehicle over and after 5 tries the vehicle finally started. The temperature gauge went all the way to hot, and the set light came on. The dealer stated that 7 service codes came up and they stated that the computer needed to be replaced. About 10 miles before this happened the vehicle surged, but no lights came on. It was a really hot day, she was going about 60 MPH. The vehicle is currently at the service department for both issues. *ak
Also reported on the 2003 Nissan Maxima
Other lighting problem
Other electrical problem
Airbag inflator rupture
No-start or intermittent start failure
Engine sensor failure
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 67 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 2003 Nissan Maxima?
Across 57 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 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 2003 Nissan Maxima?
67 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.4 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