What could cause an ECU to go bad?

[Warm Pudgy]

So I haven't been driving my SC for about a year now. After having 3 shops tell me they can't find anything wrong with it, I finally took it to a dealership to figure out what was wrong with it.

Turns out its the ECU, like I suspected all along.

So, before I pop in a new one. Is there something that could have caused my old one to have gone bad. Or was it just it's time to go?

 

[sideshow]

old age
alot of Toyota ecus are shitting the capacitors after 15 to 20 years

 

[Warm Pudgy]

That's what I'm hoping.

 

[zen]

bad upbringing

hanging around with the wrong type of semiconductor..etc..