- Vehicles
- 11
- Built between
- May 2011 – Oct 2012
- Models
- 2
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 21 June 2012
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between May 2011 and October 2012. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2012 Blue Bird ALL AmericanBuilt May 2011 to October 2012
- 2012 Blue Bird VisionBuilt May 2011 to October 2012
What the defect is
Blue bird corporation (blue bird) is recalling certain model year 2012 all american and vision non-school buses manufactured from may 20, 2011, through october 20, 2012, equipped with specialty manufacturing inc. (smi) prolo roof hatches. Increased friction between the rear plate assemblies, p/no. 009327, and the nylon rear pop-up support, p/no. 008956, may result in an opening force of the prolo roof hatches that exceeds federal standard requirements. Thus, these hatches fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 217, "bus emergency exits and window retention and release."
What could happen
In the event of an emergency, egress of the bus may be hindered possibly resulting in injury to the vehicle occupants.
What gets fixed
BLUE BIRD WILL NOTIFY OWNERS. SMI WILL PROVIDE SERVICE KITS ALONG WITH REPAIR INSTRUCTIONS TO DEALERS AND OWNERS, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON JUNE 21, 2012.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtMay 2011 to October 2012
- Recall reported to NHTSA8 June 2012
- Owners notified21 June 2012
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 8 June 2012.
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 blue bird at 1-478-822-2242 or smi at 1-800-951-7867.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- R12VE
- Recalling manufacturer
- BLUE BIRD BODY COMPANY
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 217
- 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
Blue birds recall campaign number is R12VE.OWNERS may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to <a href=http://www.safercar.gov>http://www.safercar.gov</a> .
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.