Other lighting problem on the 2003 Nissan Maxima
When other lighting problem gets reported
Owners of the 2003 Nissan Maxima report other lighting problem at a median of 20,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 86,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 1,200 miles at the tenth percentile to 190,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 186,784 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.
78% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,216 miles | 3,000 miles | 18,000 miles | 27,000 miles | 188,000 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 $120–$1,200 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 7 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 165,000 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.
I have had the xenon HID headlights of my vehicle stolen three times over the past 6 months. I implore anyone even considering purchasing a 2002 or 2003 maxima to reconsider. This is a marked car, and my attempts to gain the manufacturer's attention have failed. I hope if thieves take the lights again, that they steal the whole car, and relieve me of this curse. *jb
Flaw in the design of the factory alarm system allows it to be easily disabled. Flaw/defect in the design of HID headlights in the 2002-03 nissan maxima. The lights are easily pried off the car with a crowbar. Criminals can steal them in less than 30 seconds. Anti-theft kit made available is also defective. Access to engine compartment is gained with a screwdriver or crowbar. Risk of driver injury is increased because of this. *jb
Xenon HID headlights were stolen on the 2nd night I owned this car. Apparently this is a huge problem. The problem lies in the design of the headlights. The hood can be opened without any access to the inside of the car. Once the hood is opened, 2 bolts are all that attach the headlights to the car. An eyewitness claims the thieves had the headlights removed in under 2 minutes. Nissan understands the problem and has designed some attachments to prevent the hood from being opened from the exterior. The kit costs ~$350 to install. *jb
Also reported on the 2003 Nissan Maxima
Other engine 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 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 lighting problem happen on the 2003 Nissan Maxima?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 5,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other lighting problem on the 2003 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