Thomas: recalls by model and year

Name: Thomas recall campaigns
Creator: Recall Register
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-works

NHTSA lists 147 vehicle recall campaigns for Thomas. The register has 27 model lines of the make, model years 1973 to 2011. NHTSA has 64 complaints on file for these model lines. NHTSA also lists 2 child seat, tire or equipment campaigns for the make. The equipment pages show them.

Select a model line NHTSA VIN lookup

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Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 30 Sep 2026. Recall file through 30 Sep 2026.

Model lines

27 model lines, in the order of the number of complaints.

Thomas: recall campaigns and complaints for each model line
Model line	Model years	Campaigns	Complaints	Complaints for each model year	Component with the most mentions
School Bus	28	22	21	0.8	Exterior Lighting
Thomas	18	12	11	0.6	Service Brakes, Air
MVP EF	15	24	7	0.5	Structure
Bus	20	14	7	0.4	Seat Belts
SAF-T-Liner	25	25	5	0.2	Air Bags
C2	3	3	3	1.0	Tires
FS-65	2	2	3	1.5	Exterior Lighting
Conventional	28	27	2	0.1	Structure
MVP ER	13	20	1	0.1	Engine and Engine Cooling
Vista	24	16	1	0.0	Engine and Engine Cooling
ER	8	6	1	0.1	Other
ER Model	4	4	1	0.3	Steering
SAF-T-Liner HD	2	3	1	0.5	Structure
Minotour	29	21	0	0.0
MVP	27	18	0	0.0
ER Transit	9	10	0	0.0
All Star	20	5	0	0.0
Mighty Mite	20	3	0	0.0
SAF-T-Liner Conventional	8	6	0	0.0
Transit Liner	12	5	0	0.0
Citiliner	9	4	0	0.0
HDX	6	4	0	0.0
TL960	5	3	0	0.0
CL960	5	2	0	0.0
SAF-T-Liner C2	2	5	0	0.0
Transit Liner ER	2	4	0	0.0
Transit Liner HD	2	2	0	0.0

This table compares the model lines of Thomas only. The NHTSA files have no sales figures. A model line with more vehicles on the road gets more complaints. This site does not compare one make with a different make.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Newest recall campaigns

The newest 5 of 147.

16V407000Received 7 Jun 2016. 717 units.
Structure / Body / Door
Defect, in the NHTSA record
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, 2000-2002 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2000-2001 CL-960, 1998-1999 Vista, 2000-2002 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, and 2000-2002 TL-960 transit buses. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
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.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
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 9, 2016 Parts are available. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-713.
Report filed by Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Manufacturer campaign number FL-713. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 9 Dec 2016. The campaign has 21 make, model and year entries.
16V395000Received 2 Jun 2016. 24,698 units.
Structure / Body / Door
Defect, in the NHTSA record
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.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
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.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
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.
Report filed by Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Manufacturer campaign number FL-713. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 9 Dec 2016. The campaign has 42 make, model and year entries.
15V432000Received 7 Jul 2015. 103,038 units.
Structure / Body / Door
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2002-2013 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner ER, 2001-2005 Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2002-2013 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2013 Saf-T-Liner EFX, 2001-2008 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2005-2013 Saf-T-Liner C2, 2003-2013 Saf-T-Liner HDX, 2002-2003 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, 2002 Vista, and 2002-2003 TL-960 school buses manufactured from February 5, 2001, through May 29, 2012. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
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.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will either replace the stems or protect them against corrosion, free of charge. Daimler issued an interim notification to owners on August 25, 2015. The recall began on December 24, 2015. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-685.
Report filed by Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Manufacturer campaign number FL-685. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 24 Dec 2015. The campaign has 54 make, model and year entries.
15V425000Received 6 Jul 2015. 3,013 units.
Structure / Body / Door
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2002-2004 Thomas Built Buses Saf-T-Liner ER, 2001-2005 Saf-T-Liner Conventional, 2002-2013 Saf-T-Liner MVP-EF, 2013 Saf-T-Liner EFX, 2001-2008 Saf-T-Liner FS65, 2005-2013 Saf-T-Liner C2, 2003-2013 Saf-T-Liner HDX, 2002-2003 Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, 2002 Vista, and 2002-2003 TL-960 non-school buses. In the affected vehicles, the stem that connects the outside emergency door handle to the emergency door opening mechanism may corrode.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
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.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
DTNA will notify owners, and dealers will either replace the stems or protect them against corrosion, free of charge. An interim notice was mailed to owners on August 28, 2015. The recall began on December 24, 2015. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-685.
Report filed by Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Manufacturer campaign number FL-685. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 24 Dec 2015. The campaign has 54 make, model and year entries.
08V622000Received 26 Nov 2008. 18,198 units.
Electrical System / Wiring / Fuses and Circuit Breakers
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Daimler trucks is recalling 18,198 my 2003-2009 thomas built er, mvp-er, hdx, and mvp-ef school and transit buses equipped with a dual power switch and manufactured from february 1, 2002 through october 17, 2008. Solid state circuit breakers may trip unnecessarily potentially resulting in a loss of power to the bus chassis and body electrical circuits causing an unexpected loss of engine power and exterior lighting.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
Unexpected loss of engine power and exterior lighting could result in a vehicle crash.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Thomas built bus dealers will replace the solid state dual power switch with a mechanical circuit production (mega fuse). The recall is expected to begin during april 2009. Owners may contact thomas built at 1-336-889-4871.
Report filed by DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA. Manufacturer campaign number FL-539. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 6 Jul 2009. The campaign has 28 make, model and year entries.

The list shows the newest 5 of 147 campaigns.

Download all 147 campaigns of Thomas (CSV)

Counts by year

Recall campaigns that name Thomas vehicles, by the year NHTSA received the report. The largest year is 2005, with 16 campaigns.

Complaints about Thomas vehicles, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1999, with 8 complaints.

Components in the complaints

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

Thomas: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	Per 1,000	Mentions
Exterior Lighting	160.5	13
Structure	98.8	8
Electrical System	98.8	8
Engine and Engine Cooling	98.8	8
Service Brakes, Air	98.8	8
Seats	74.1	6
Seat Belts	37	3
Tires	37	3
Latches/Locks/Linkages	37	3
Power Train	37	3

Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.

Cite this page

Recall Register. Thomas: recalls by model and year. https://recallregister.com/make/thomas/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 30 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 30 Sep 2026
Investigations that name the make: 22
Units in the campaigns: 1,036,284

Manufacturers in the recall file: THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.; FREIGHTLINER LLC.

The make name is the name in the NHTSA files. The units of a campaign that names 2 makes are in the figure of each make. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

Which Thomas model line has the most recall campaigns?: The Conventional: 27 campaigns for 28 model years. A line with more model years has more campaigns.
Which Thomas model line has the most complaints?: The School Bus: 21 complaints for 28 model years. A line with more vehicles on the road gets more complaints.
Which components do the complaints about Thomas vehicles name?: Exterior Lighting: 160.5 per 1,000 component mentions. Structure: 98.8 per 1,000 component mentions. Electrical System: 98.8 per 1,000 component mentions.
How many units are in the recall campaigns for Thomas?: 1,036,284 units in 147 campaigns. The units of a campaign that names 2 makes are in the figure of each make.