The defect
Champion Bus, Inc. (Champion) is recalling certain model year 2009-2015 Crusader, Stacked Rail, and CTS RE vehicles manufactured April 5, 2010, to October 14, 2015, equipped with Recaro Ergo-M Commercial Bus Driver Seats. The affected seats have J-Brackets that may be missing welds which could allow the seat belt anchorage assembly to separate from the J-Bracket.
The risk
If the seatbelt anchorage assembly separates from the J-Bracket, the bus driver may not be properly restrained in the event of a crash increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
Champion will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats to determine if welds are missing. Any J-Bracket that is missing welds will be removed and replaced, free of charge. The recall began on February 25, 2016. Owners may contact Champion customer service at 1-810-724-6474, or Johnson Controls (manufacturer of Recaro seats) customer service at 1-248-484-3203.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Champion Crusader | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
Components: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion CTS-RE | 2009 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2010 | 0 | 6 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2011 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2012 | 0 | 4 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2013 | 0 | 5 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2014 | 0 | 5 |
| Champion CTS-RE | 2015 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion Crusader | 2009 | 0 | 10 |
| Champion Crusader | 2010 | 0 | 8 |
| Champion Crusader | 2011 | 0 | 5 |
| Champion Crusader | 2012 | 0 | 5 |
| Champion Crusader | 2013 | 0 | 6 |
| Champion Crusader | 2014 | 0 | 7 |
| Champion Crusader | 2015 | 0 | 5 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2009 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2010 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2011 | 0 | 3 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2012 | 0 | 4 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2013 | 0 | 4 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2014 | 0 | 4 |
| Champion Stacked Rail | 2015 | 0 | 2 |
Other seats recalls in 2016
43 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the seats; Champion Bus, Inc. filed 16 campaigns in all.
| 16V933000 27 Dec 2016 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 16V932000 27 Dec 2016 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 16V874000 5 Dec 2016 | Ford Motor Company |
| 16V816000 10 Nov 2016 | Bentley Motors, Inc. |
| 16V794000 1 Nov 2016 | Winnebago Industries, Inc |
| 16V770000 24 Oct 2016 | Kia Motors America |
| 16V718000 7 Oct 2016 | REV Ambulance Group Orlando, INC. |
| 16V703000 30 Sept 2016 | Halcore Group, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016