AtWhatMileage
Suspension · 23 owner reports

Other suspension problem on the 2008 Nissan Versa

Reports of this failure 23
With an odometer reading 20
Reports per 1,000 built 0.3 per 1,000
Filed below 36,000 miles 10%
Mention a crash, fire or injury 0
Typical repair $350–$2,000
What it means when it happens Moderate
Rank among this year's problems 3rd

When other suspension problem gets reported

Owners of the 2008 Nissan Versa report other suspension problem at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.

A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 3rd most-reported problem on this model year.

The mileage distribution

The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 79,277 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.

10% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.

The whole distribution

Percentiles of the 20 odometer readings owners gave.
10th25thMedian 75th90th
43,200 miles 53,750 miles 60,730 miles 98,005 miles 122,477 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 $350–$2,000 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 2013, at a median of 20,000 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 90,000 miles.

By volume the 2009 carries the most reports, with 48; the 2008 has 23. 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.

What owners wrote

Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.

The front left driver's side of my 2008 nissan versa hatchback started to thud/thump when turning to the right at low speed. Now the vehicle cannot not turn right quickly, thus I could not avoid an accident in an emergency situation. I have taken to dealer and they cannot reproduce the symptoms, but I encounter daily. *tr

24,500 miles NHTSA complaint 768607 filed 2010-03-02

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 nissan versa. The contact stated that she would hear a clicking noise while turning at low speeds. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and they were unable to diagnose a failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure continued. The vehicle was taken back to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that the front suspension system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 27,000.

27,000 miles NHTSA complaint 894334 filed 2011-12-08

Vehicle has an increasingly loud clunking noise emanating from front suspension when turn is made or small bump/hole is moved over. Sounds as if there is metal on metal and lose components in the suspension. This noise is not apparent at higher speeds and only is audible when going over a bump/pot hole. Additionally, when vehicle turns, there is a noticeable 'klunk' in the steering assembly that is often exacerbated when going over a bump in the road. Steering feels lose when this happens as if joint is malfunctioning. *tr

45,000 miles NHTSA complaint 937360 filed 2012-09-03

Also reported on the 2008 Nissan Versa

Airbag inflator rupture

95 reports median 84k

Strut, shock or spring failure

46 reports median 69k

Fuel pump failure

21 reports median 41k

Other wheel or tire problem

20 reports median 31k

Other engine problem

17 reports median 40k

How far this goes

Complaints are voluntary, so 23 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 suspension problem happen on the 2008 Nissan Versa?

Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 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 other suspension problem on the 2008 Nissan Versa?

23 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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