- Vehicles
- 406
- Built between
- Jan 2002 – Mar 2005
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- Not yet
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between January 2002 and March 2005. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2002-2005 Van-Con School BUSBuilt January 2002 to March 2005
What the defect is
Van-con 2002 through 2005 model year 15, 16, 20, 25, and 30 passenger school buses built on gmc, chevrolet, and ford chassis. In extremely cold weather, the microswitches used internally to position the stop arm sign in the open and closed positions may malfunction, causing the sign to open or close in an improper position, or to not open at all.
What could happen
Should the stop arm not perform properly, a child or pedestrian may be endangered by passing vehicles should the motorist not stop at the correct location.
What gets fixed
VAN-CON WILL NOTIFY ITS CUSTOMERS AND SPECIALTY MFG. WILL PROVIDE FREE OF CHARGE A SERVICE KIT (PART NUMBER 005178) WITH A SWITCH PACK THAT IS NOT SENSITIVE TO EXTREME COLD WEATHER AND WILL INSPECT TO ENSURE THE MICROSWITCH HEATER WIRING IS PROPERLY CONNECTED FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING AUGUST 2005.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJanuary 2002 to March 2005
- Recall reported to NHTSA5 July 2005
No owner-notification date has been published yet. Manufacturers normally write to registered owners within 60 days of reporting a recall.
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 July 2005.
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 may contact specialty mfg. At 800-951-7867 or van-con at 732-356-8484.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- VAN-CON, INCORPORATED
- Recall initiated by
- ODI
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 may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236; (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.safercar.gov.
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.