Strut, shock or spring failure on the 2010 Nissan Versa
When strut, shock or spring failure gets reported
Owners of the 2010 Nissan Versa report strut, shock or spring failure at a median of 52,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 47,500 miles and a quarter after 82,500 miles, from 33 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 105,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 37,500 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 79,200 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.
9% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36,400 miles | 47,248 miles | 52,684 miles | 83,245 miles | 115,600 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 $500–$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 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2010, at a median of 52,500 miles, and latest on the 2007 at 72,500 miles.
By volume the 2009 carries the most reports, with 130; the 2010 has 34. 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.
Since purchase (pre-owned with ~28k miles in 2/12) car made popping noises around both front tires when turning intermittently. Had it looked at by local mechanic; could not find issue. 5.10.13 heard loud popping noise when car was just sitting in driveway. That evening began to pull out of driveway to horrible grinding/screeching noise. Stopped and parked car. Towed car to local mechanic. Broken coil spring was diagnosed. Began researching, this problem is all over the internet with others having the same issues at various years and mileages of the versa. Nissan regional consumer affairs office (kelly x458169) offered to reimburse tow and send a service credit for $125.00 but not to admit that there was a legitimate problem with this part of the vehicle and would not cover the entire cost or to replace the other one, which the nissan dealer (that I had to tow to from the other mechanic) suggested. There are a countless people that have endured this defect and there needs to be a recall/service completed to check all coil springs. This is dangerous. If driving at high speeds it could easily shred the tire, cause one to lose…
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 nissan versa. The contact stated that while turning at 20 MPH, the front passenger's tire deflated. The spare was installed and the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was found that the passenger front coil spring failed and punctured the tire. The mechanic also stated that the driver front coil spring also needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 nissan versa. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 MPH, a grinding noise was heard. The contact merged to the shoulder of the road and noticed it was the driver's side front coil spring that had fallen out. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for a diagnostic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 28,000.
Also reported on the 2010 Nissan Versa
Airbag inflator rupture
Other suspension problem
Other body or interior problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin
Other engine problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 34 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 strut, shock or spring failure happen on the 2010 Nissan Versa?
Across 33 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 52,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 47,500 miles and a quarter after 82,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is strut, shock or spring failure on the 2010 Nissan Versa?
34 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