- Vehicles
- 1,188
- Built between
- May 2002 – Sep 2003
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA compliance test
- Owners notified
- 15 January 2004
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between May 2002 and September 2003. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2002-2003 Mid Bus GuideBuilt May 2002 to September 2003
What the defect is
My 2002 and 2003 guide school buses manufactured from may 1, 2002, to september 30, 2003. Various seams in the school bus bodies were improperly assembled. Vertical seams in the interior were not bonded as required under federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 221, "school bus body joint strength."
What could happen
In the event of a vehicle crash, the seams of the bus may separate at smaller loads then expected, possibly resulting in serious injury or death.
What gets fixed
MID BUS WILL NOTIFY ITS CUSTOMERS AND ADD ADDITIONAL FASTENERS TO THE ROOF SEAMS, INTERIOR SEAMS, AND THE MOISTURE BARRIER SKIN BELOW THE FLOOR TO ENSURE THAT THE SEAMS ARE AS INTENDED AND IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, DO NOT PREMATURELY SEPARATE. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JANUARY 15, 2004.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtMay 2002 to September 2003
- Recall reported to NHTSA16 October 2003
- Owners notified15 January 2004
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 16 October 2003.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact mid bus customer service at 877-358-6055.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- MID BUS CORPORATION
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 221
- Recall initiated by
- OVSC
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Also, customers can contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.