- Vehicles
- 4,886
- Built between
- Apr 2017 – Apr 2018
- Models
- 2
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- Manufacturer
- Owners notified
- 1 August 2018
- Repaired
- 68%
- Unrepaired
- 1,581
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between April 2017 and April 2018. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2018-2019 Blue Bird ALL AmericanBuilt April 2017 to April 2018
- 2018-2019 Blue Bird VisionBuilt April 2017 to April 2018
Repair progress
1,581 of 4,886 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2019.
68% repaired — 3,305 of 4,886 reported
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
Blue Bird Body Company (Blue Bird) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Blue Bird All American and Vision school buses. The primary and secondary air brake gauges on the instrument cluster may intermittently indicate "0 PSI" instead of the correct air pressure in the tanks. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 121, "Air Brake Systems."
What could happen
If the gauges do not correctly display the air pressure that is in the tanks, the operator will not be able to know when the air pressure is actually dropping, increasing the risk of a crash.
What gets fixed
Blue Bird will notify owners, and dealers will update the display software, free of charge. The recall began on August 1, 2018.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtApril 2017 to April 2018
- Recall reported to NHTSA25 April 2018
- Owners notified1 August 2018
- Latest repair reportQ4 2019 — 68% 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 25 April 2018.
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 customer service at 1-478-822-2242. Blue Bird's number for this recall is R18ZE-SB.
Official source
- Manufacturer's recall number
- R18ZE - SB
- Recalling manufacturer
- Blue Bird Body Company
- Safety standard
- FMVSS 121
- 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.