The defect
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 1998-2002 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2000-2002 Saf-T-Liner ER, 2000-2017 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 1998-1999 Vista, 2003 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2013-2017 Saf-T-liner C2, 2000-2002 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, 2013-2017 Saf-T-Liner HDX. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode.
The risk
If the stem corrodes, the door handle could detach from the emergency door opening mechanism, delaying the opening of the door and the evacuation of the bus. In the event of an emergency, this may increase the risk of injury to the bus occupants.
The remedy
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will either replace the stems or protect them against corrosion, free of charge. An interim notice was sent to owners on July 28, 2016. A second notice was mailed to owners on December 16, 2016. Parts are available. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-713.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| Thomas Vista | 1998, 1999 |
| Thomas Built Buses Conventional | 1999 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2003 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-EF | 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 |
Components: STRUCTURE:BODY:DOOR
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 1998 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2000 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2001 | 0 | 6 |
| Thomas SAF-T-Liner Conventional | 2002 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas Vista | 1998 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas Vista | 1999 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses Conventional | 1999 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2013 | 1 | 18 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2014 | 0 | 18 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2015 | 2 | 20 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2016 | 0 | 25 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2 | 2017 | 0 | 28 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2000 | 1 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2001 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner ER | 2002 | 1 | 5 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner FS65 | 2003 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2013 | 0 | 23 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2014 | 0 | 30 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2015 | 0 | 31 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2016 | 0 | 29 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner HDX | 2017 | 0 | 32 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-EF | 2000 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-EF | 2001 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-EF | 2002 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2000 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2001 | 0 | 2 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2002 | 0 | 4 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2003 | 0 | 3 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2004 | 0 | 1 |
| Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner MVP-ER | 2005 | 0 | 1 |
Other structure recalls in 2016
58 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the structure; Daimler Trucks North America LLC filed 213 campaigns in all.
| 16V957000 31 Dec 2016 | Forest River, Inc. |
| 16V952000 27 Dec 2016 | Southwest Products |
| 16V908000 16 Dec 2016 | Keystone RV Company |
| 16V896000 14 Dec 2016 | DRV Suites |
| 16V898000 14 Dec 2016 | KZRV, L.P. |
| 16V893000 13 Dec 2016 | Thor Motor Coach |
| 16V891000 12 Dec 2016 | Ducati North America |
| 16V867000 2 Dec 2016 | Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016