2021 Thomas Built Buses Minotour problems

What is wrong

Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Thomas Built Buses Minotour school buses. The forward seat barrier behind the driver may not provide sufficient protection to passengers. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 222, "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection."

Risk

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

Remedy

Dealers will replace the barrier, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 9, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1‑800‑547‑0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL959.

Recall number 22V840000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2008-2021 Thomas Built Buses Minotour school buses. The driver may be able to release the park brake and shift the transmission out of Park and into a drive gear while the wheelchair lift is deployed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 403, "Platform Lift Systems."

Risk

If the vehicle is put into drive while the wheelchair lift is deployed, the vehicle may move forward or backward, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy

DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will have the wheelchair lift wiring modified as needed, free of charge. DTNA issued owners an interim notification on January 6, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 19, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1‑800‑547‑0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-868.

Recall number 20V690000 · Recall details

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) after receiving one Vehicle Owner Questionnaire (VOQ) complaint related to four school buses built on General Motors (GM) van chassis. The VOQ alleged transmission failure resulting in a loss of all forward gear. In ODI's pre-investigative discussions with GM, ODI learned that valve body separator plates had been machined out of tolerance during production periods between October 2016 to April 2017 and February 2021 to April 2021. This out of tolerance machining may create excessive wear to the valve body check balls, possibly resulting in an inability to engage drive or reverse. The potential loss of drivability only begins when shifting from a park or neutral transmission selection and does not occur during a functional drive cycle. The average failure mileage of vehicles which experienced this condition is within warranty and related claims or complaints did not include any accidents, injuries, or fatalities. After discussions with GM, Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 23-NA-142 (the federal safety agency ID number 10243753) was released in September 2023. This technical service bulletin provides a procedure for technicians to replace the forward check ball and separator plate if found to be the cause of a customer's concern. During the course of the investigation, GM also released a Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP) N232428780 (the federal safety agency ID 10253316) in February 2024, to notify school bus and ambulance fleets of the concern and to proactively mitigate the risk in these essential-operation vehicles. Recently, ODI contacted multiple school bus fleets, verifying that there have not been any stranded buses mid-route from this condition. Additionally, ODI has not received any additional VOQ complaints since the opening of this investigation. Based on the available information, including GM's TSB and CSP, this PE is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI report cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Numbers document, go to

PE23016