- Vehicles
- 297
- Built between
- Jan 2004 – Apr 2004
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 10 June 2004
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between January 2004 and April 2004. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2005 Blue Bird ALL AmericanBuilt January 2004 to April 2004
What the defect is
All american school buses manufactured between january 10 and april 20, 2004, which the inside panels adjacent to the rear center emergency door (or rear center emergency window on rear engine models) do not comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 221, school bus body joint strength. Adhesive was inadvertentlt omitted from these joints on the affected population.
What could happen
The vehicle occupants may be seriously injured in the event of a vehicle crash.
What gets fixed
OWNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THEIR BLUE BIRD DISTRIBUTOR TO HAVE THE INSIDE REAR PANELS REMOVED AND PROPERLY ADHERE THE PANELS. OWNER NOTIFICATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN JUNE 9, 2004.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJanuary 2004 to April 2004
- Recall reported to NHTSA5 May 2004
- Owners notified10 June 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 5 May 2004.
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 blue bird at 478-822-2242.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- R04HS
- Recalling manufacturer
- BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY
- Recall initiated by
- MFR
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.