Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2012 Nissan Versa
Only 7 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
There are 8 reports of control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2012 Nissan Versa, 7 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 17th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 9,800 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 $700–$3,000 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 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2017 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2012 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 dismissed the pull I felt while driving my new nissan versa since feb. 2012 as being new to driving on mountainous roads.... But after having a major scare this weekend where my steering went completely out I am not sure if it is not all connected. When driving I can not let my hands off the wheel at all with out it significantly moving towards the next lane/curb. Then this weekend when sitting in traffic (yes it was very hot outside) with AC on I traveled a few feet beyond the traffic light and went to make a right turn when my steering became so hard that it took all my strength to keep the car from colliding with signs/off road. It was like I lost power steering... I got it to an empty parking lot near by and turned the car off for about 1 min. The check engine light was on and oil light. I restarted the car and steering had returned. Called the dealer and they took me in right away and "looked at it" and said there were "no trouble codes stored" and "electric power steering motor may have got hot enough for the control module to shut it off to prevent damage". Does this mean I can't steer my car if it gets hot outside???????…
On oct. 15, 2012, I was exiting the highway and while applying the brakes, the pedal went to the floor, making a clicking noise, with very little force, the car barley stopped, only when assisted by the use of the parking brake. It was taken to the dealer that day and I was told they could not replicate the problem and all mechanical components were in good shape, and could not find the problem. The same circumstances have been repeated on feb. 13 2012, with 19841 miles and again on oct. 28 2013, with approximately 29000 miles. The dealer currently (nov. 1 2013) has the car and again says they cannot locate or replicate the problem. I have contacted nissan corporate, and was told to receive a second opinion. Another dealership service manager was contacted and stated there was a known problem with the ABS control module from another model, however the dealership will not replace it because(quoting from a service adviser) "nissan isn't in the habit of throwing parts at a car and hoping for a resolution". The dealer has stated that without replicating the problem there is nothing they can do. *tr
I purchased a 2012 nissan versa from henderson nissan on 7/6/14. Here is everything I've been through: 7/24/14- entire transmission replaced after my car lost complete power in the middle of an intersection on the las vegas strip. (had 58,658 miles) 5/28/15- ip cover recall. 11/16/15- transmission replaced again! Along with a factory recall. (had 73,918 miles) 7/22/16- ECM software was updated. (had 83,354 miles) 7/26/16- locking system now out. (had 83,400 miles) the car had 39k miles when I purchased it. It now has 86k miles and the transmission is going out again! As soon as my warranty ends, I'm screwed! Each time the transmission has gone out, I've lost power on the car. It just dies no matter how slow you are going. The first time I was in motion. The second time I was stationary thankfully! I reported this to nissan's affairs dept. And got no where!
Also reported on the 2012 Nissan Versa
Airbag inflator rupture
Other powertrain problem
CVT failure
Complete transmission failure
Other engine problem
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 8 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2012 Nissan Versa?
Across 7 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 10,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2012 Nissan Versa?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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