The defect
Spartan Motors Chassis, Inc. (Spartan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Gladiator and MetroStar emergency vehicles manufactured February 18, 2013, to August 5, 2014. The seats in the affected vehicles have seats belts that may be too long to fit smaller occupants. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
The risk
If the seat belt does not properly fit the seat occupant, the seat occupant has an increased risk of being injured in the event of a crash.
The remedy
Spartan has notified owners, and dealers will replace the seat belt buckle, with a shorter belt buckle, free of charge. The recall began November 25, 2014. Owners may contact Spartan customer service at 1-517-543-6400. Spartan's number for this recall is 14019.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Spartan Gladiator | 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2013, 2014, 2015 |
Components: SEAT BELTS | SEATS
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spartan Gladiator | 2013 | 0 | 29 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2014 | 2 | 28 |
| Spartan Gladiator | 2015 | 0 | 26 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2013 | 0 | 21 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2014 | 0 | 21 |
| Spartan Metrostar | 2015 | 0 | 19 |
Other seats recalls in 2014
23 of the 770 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2014 concerned the seats; Spartan Motors, Inc. filed 41 campaigns in all.
| 14V804000 19 Dec 2014 | General Motors LLC |
| 14V769000 3 Dec 2014 | Nova Bus |
| 14V756000 26 Nov 2014 | Allied Recreation Group, Inc. |
| 14V753000 25 Nov 2014 | Aston Martin Lagonda of North America |
| 14V748000 24 Nov 2014 | Champion Bus, Inc. |
| 14V743000 19 Nov 2014 | Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC |
| 14V721000 10 Nov 2014 | BMW of North America, LLC |
| 14V710000 7 Nov 2014 | Ford Motor Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2014