2003 Blue Bird Conventional Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2003 Blue Bird Conventional, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Body & structure1100.0%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Body & structure
Reports naming the vehicle structure, frame, body panels, doors, hood and trim.
From owner reports, verbatim
THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMPLAINT IS TO CALL ATTENTION TO A DESIGN DEFECT OF THE 2003 BLUE BIRD CONVENTIONAL/CV200 SCHOOL BUS THAT HAS RESULTED IN BOTH MAJOR INJURIES AND DEATH. THE DESIGN DEFECT IS THAT DURING REAR END COLLISIONS, PASSENGER COMPARTMENT INTRUSION IS MORE LIKELY DUE TO THE RELATIVELY HIGH BUMPER HEIGHT OF 24.5 INCHES. THIS MEANS THAT IF A VEHICLE COLLIDES WITH THE REAR OF THE BUS, SERIOUS INJURY IS LIKELY TO OCCUR WHEN THE INCOMING VEHICLE WEDGES UNDERNEATH THE BUS. IN GENERAL, SCHOOL BUSES MAKE FREQUENT STOPS ALONG THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC SO THE CONDITIONS FOR THIS DEFECT AS WELL AS POTENTIAL SERIOUS INJURY AND DEATH ARE ALARMINGLY FAVORABLE. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO CORRECT THIS 'FAILURE' IN DESIGN. *DT
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .