2018 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-LINER HDX: complaints, problems and recalls

Reported: 2017-02-27 (February 27, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses. The upper pinch bolt that secures the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels may not have been properly tightened.

Consequence: The loose pinch bolt may result in a loss of steering and vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the steering shaft pinch bolt, tightening it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on February 24, 2017. Owners may contact DTNA Customer Service 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for the recall is FL-733.

Reported: 2017-02-27 (February 27, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX transit buses. The upper pinch bolt that secures the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels may not have been properly tightened.

Consequence: The loose pinch bolt may result in a loss of steering and vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the steering shaft pinch bolt, tightening it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on February 24, 2017. Owners may contact DTNA Customer Service 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for the recall is FL-733.

Reported: 2017-05-11 (May 11, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner EFX and Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses. The occupant seats may have been installed without under-rail washers, reducing their anchorage strength.

Consequence: Without under-rail washers, in the event of a crash, the seats may come loose, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats and replace the mounting hardware, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on June 28, 2017. Owners may contact DTNA Customer Service 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for the recall is FL-737.

Reported: 2017-05-11 (May 11, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX transit buses. The occupant seat lap belts may have been anchored to the seat instead of the bus structure.

Consequence: A seat lap belt anchored to the seat instead of the bus structure may not properly restrain the seat occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats and modify the seat belt anchorage if necessary, free of charge. An interim notification was sent to owners on June 15, 2017. The recall began on February 6, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA Customer Service 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for the recall is FL-736.

Reported: 2017-05-11 (May 11, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses. The occupant seat lap belts may have been anchored to the seat instead of the bus structure.

Consequence: A seat lap belt anchored to the seat instead of the bus structure may not properly restrain the seat occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats and modify the anchorage if necessary, free of charge. An interim notice was mailed to owners on June 15, 2017. A second notice will be mailed when the remedy becomes available. The recall is expected to begin on July 9, 2017. Owners may contact DTNA Customer Service 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for the recall is FL-736.

Reported: 2017-09-21 (September 21, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX and Saf-T-Liner C2 school buses. A reinforcement bracket may be missing from the seats that have 3-point seat belts.

Consequence: Without the reinforcement bracket, the seat may not be adequately secured, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats, installing any missing reinforcement brackets, free of charge. An interim notice was mailed to owners on November 7, 2017. The recall began on March 15, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-747.

Reported: 2017-09-21 (September 21, 2017)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX and Saf-T-Liner C2 transit buses. A reinforcement bracket may be missing from the seats that have 3-point seat belts.

Consequence: Without the reinforcement bracket, the seat may not remain adequately secured, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the seats, installing any missing reinforcement brackets, as needed, free of charge. An interim notice was sent to owners on November 7, 2017. The recall began on March 14, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-747.

Reported: 2018-03-26 (March 26, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX, Saf-T-Liner EFX, and Minotour school buses, equipped with certain Syntec-brand S3B, Non-Restraint, Wall Mounted Seats. The wall mounting bracket may crack, which may cause the seat to not remain secured in place in the event of a crash.

Consequence: In the event of a crash, if the seat does not remain secured to the wall, the occupant has an increased risk of an injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional wall mounting bracket, free of charge. DTNA issued an interim notification to owners on May 9, 2018. The recall began May 10, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-763.

Reported: 2018-03-26 (March 26, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX, Saf-T-Liner EFX, and Minotour transit buses, equipped with certain Syntec-brand S3B, Non-Restraint, Wall Mounted Seats. The wall mounting bracket may crack, which may cause the seat to not remain secured in place in the event of a crash.

Consequence: In the event of a crash, if the seat does not remain secured to the wall, the occupant has an increased risk of an injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional wall mounting bracket, free of charge. DTNA issued an interim notification to owners on May 10, 2018. The recall began May 10, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-763.

Reported: 2018-04-19 (April 19, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX, Saf-T-Liner EFX, and Minotour school buses equipped with S3B Restraint Wall Mounted Seats. The wall mounting bracket may crack, causing the seat to not remain secured in place in the event of a crash.

Consequence: In the event of a crash, if the seat does not remain secured to the wall, the occupant has an increased risk of an injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional wall mounting bracket, free of charge. Daimler issued owners an interim notification on June 12, 2018. The recall began January 3, 2019. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-769.

Reported: 2018-04-19 (April 19, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner EFX, Saf-T-Liner HDX, and Minotour transit buses, equipped with certain S3B Restraint Wall Mounted Seats. The wall mounting bracket may crack, causing the seat to not remain secured in place in the event of a crash.

Consequence: In the event of a crash, if the seat does not remain secured to the wall, the occupant has an increased risk of an injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional wall mounting bracket, free of charge. Daimler issued an interim notification to owners on June 15, 20 18. The recall began January 3, 2019. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-769.

Reported: 2018-05-29 (May 29, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner EFX and Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses equipped with air disc brakes. The brake caliper mounting bolts on these vehicles may be insufficiently tightened, allowing the bolts to loosen.

Consequence: If the brake caliper mounting bolts come loose, braking performance may be reduced, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the brake caliper mounting bolts and tighten them as necessary, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on July 25, 2018. The recall began September 4, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-772.

Reported: 2018-08-23 (August 23, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2015-2019 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2 and Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses, equipped with certain S-Series and K-Series Titanium Wheelchair Lifts, models K200, K201, K550, K551, S200, S2201, S550 and S551. The wheelchair lift positioning input cam may fail while the lift is in use, allowing the platform to travel higher than the vehicle's floor height.

Consequence: If the wheelchair lift platform stops above the vehicle floor, the wheelchair user can tip inwards toward the vehicle when exiting the lift, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the injection molded cam with an aluminum machined cam, free of charge. The recall began December 6, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL785.

Reported: 2018-10-05 (October 5, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Thomas Built school buses Saf-T-Liner C2, Saf-T-Liner HDX and Saf-T-Liner EFX school buses. The brake caliper mounting bolts may have been insufficiently tightened.

Consequence: Loose brake caliper mounting bolts can reduce brake effectiveness, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA has notified owners, and dealers will check and tighten the brake caliper mounting bolts, free of charge. The recall began December 3, 2018. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-794.

Reported: 2018-12-19 (December 19, 2018)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX, C2, and EFX School Buses, equipped with Detroit Axle axles. The affected vehicles may have loose steering tie rod arm bolts.

Consequence: Loose tie rod arm bolts may lead to separation of the tie rod arm, affecting vehicle steering, and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA has notified owners, and dealers will inspect the steering arm and tie rod arm bolts for to make sure that they are properly tightened, installing new fasteners as necessary, free of charge. The recall began February 9, 2019. Owners may contact Daimler Trucks at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-802.

Reported: 2019-06-11 (June 11, 2019)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2010-2020 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner C2, 2016-2019 HDX, and 2017-2019 EFX school buses equipped with Bendix Air Disc Brakes. The driver side rear brakes may drag.

Consequence: The dragging brakes may lead to high temperatures at the wheel end, increasing the risk of smoke and fire, possibly resulting in the bus having to be evacuated, which can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install a new caliper with an updated clearance adjustment mechanism, free of charge. The recall began August 9, 2019. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-818.

Reported: 2019-10-04 (October 4, 2019)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner EFX, Minotour, Saf-T-Liner C2, and Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses equipped with SynTec S3B or S3C seats. The seats may have been manufactured with styrene blocks that may not provide sufficient impact absorption in certain specific areas around the steel seat frame of the back support. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection."

Consequence: The lack of impact absorption increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will install additional impact material between the re-bond back and the vinyl back cover to increase the amount of absorption, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on November 29, 2019. The recall began June 22, 2020. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-832.

Reported: 2019-11-19 (November 19, 2019)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses equipped with Detroit DD8 Engines and Allison Transmissions. The Flex-Plate/Torque Converter fasteners may have been insufficiently tightened.

Consequence: The loose bolts can become lodged in the starter, disabling the bus, resulting in an evacuation in an uncontrolled traffic situation, increasing the risk of an injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and tighten the fasteners, as necessary, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on December 13, 2019. The recall began August 7, 2020. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-839.

Reported: 2020-05-05 (May 5, 2020)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2010-2020 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses. The lettering on the instruction label for the rear emergency exit window may be too small. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 217, "Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release."

Consequence: Small lettering may be difficult for occupants to read, delaying the reaction time to open the exit, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: DTNA will notify owners and mail a new label to attach to the exit window by first class mail, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on June 17, 2020. The recall began September 10, 2020. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-849.

Reported: 2021-05-07 (May 7, 2021)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DNTA) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX School Buses. The sealing washer may not seat correctly in the pilot bore holes, allowing the high pressure fuel rail assembly to leak.

Consequence: A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel rail and fuel lines, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on June 21, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-886.

Reported: 2021-06-17 (June 17, 2021)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2018-2022 Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner HDX School Buses. These school buses may have been manufactured with an incorrect passenger seat configuration that does not provide the proper amount of seat back protection. As such, these school buses fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection."

Consequence: In the event of a crash, the seats may not adequately protect the occupants, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the rear passenger seats, free of charge. No owner notification will be distributed, all units were repaired on August 12, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-892.

Reported: 2021-08-25 (August 25, 2021)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX school buses equipped with an ISL or L9 engine. The power steering hose may be routed with inadequate clearance between the hose and the power cables.

Consequence: A worn power steering hose increases the risk of a fire.

Remedy: DTNA will inspect the power steering hose routing and modify it as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on October 17, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA's customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL898.

Reported: 2021-08-25 (August 25, 2021)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2016-2021 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner HDX transit buses equipped with an ISL or L9 engine. The power steering hose may be routed with inadequate clearance between the hose and the power cables, potentially damaging the power steering hose.

Consequence: A damaged power steering hose can leak, and increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: DTNA will inspect the power steering hose routing and modify it as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on October 17, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA's customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL898.

Reported: 2022-07-19 (July 19, 2022)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2014-23 Thomas Built Buses HDX and 2014-22 EFX school buses equipped with 39-inch S3C seat frames and 3-point flex seatbelts. The passenger seat frames may crack and rotate from fatigue.

Consequence: Cracked passenger seat frames may not adequately secure passengers in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will secure the seat frames with brackets, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mail December 4, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA's customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL946.

Reported: 2022-08-19 (August 19, 2022)

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2011-2021 Thomas Built Saf-T Liner HDX school buses. The forward seat barriers may not provide sufficient protection to passengers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection."

Consequence: Occupants may collide with the front seat barriers with more force than intended during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will install a spacer between the seat rail and the seat barrier, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 25, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL843. This recall replaces NHTSA recall 19V899.

Reported: 2022-10-12 (October 12, 2022)

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2011-2023 Thomas Built EFX and HDX school buses. The exterior roof panel was manufactured with insufficient joint strength. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 221, "School Bus Body Joint Strength."

Consequence: A school bus exterior roof panel with insufficient joint strength may separate during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will add additional mechanical fasteners to secure the joints, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 2, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL957.