- Vehicles
- 225
- Built between
- Aug 2011 – May 2016
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 18 July 2016
- Repaired
- 24%
- Unrepaired
- 170
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between August 2011 and May 2016. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2012-2016 Ameritrans 285Built August 2011 to May 2016
Repair progress
170 of 225 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2020.
24% repaired — 54 of 225 reported
- Owners not reachable
- 1
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
Ameritrans Bus, Inc. (Ameritrans) is recalling certain model year 2012-2016 285 shuttle buses manufactured from August 1, 2012, through May 13, 2016 and built on Ford E-450 chassis. The certification labels may have an inaccurate gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of 49 CFR Part 567, "Certification."
What could happen
If the GVWR is unknowingly exceeded, vehicle handling may be adversely affected, increasing the risk of a crash.
What gets fixed
Ameritrans will notify owners, and dealers will remove and/or reposition bus seats as necessary and install a corrected labels, free of charge. The recall began on July 18, 2016.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtAugust 2011 to May 2016
- Recall reported to NHTSA19 May 2016
- Owners notified18 July 2016
- Latest repair reportQ2 2020 — 24% repaired
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 19 May 2016.
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 Ameritrans customer service at 1-574-262-8935.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- Ameritrans Bus, Inc.
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 567
- 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
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to 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.