RoadVitals

1997 Blue Bird School Bus Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
3
Latest Jan 17, 2006
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Jul 28, 1998

What this page shows

Our database holds 3 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1997 Blue Bird School Bus. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–3 of 3

Driver assistanceExterior lighting
Filed Jan 17, 2006
1 death reported

DT*: THE CONSUMER STATED THE BACK UP ALARM AND REVERSE LIGHTS DID NOT OPERATE PROPERLY WHICH RESULTED IN A FATALITY. WHEN THE CONSUMER HAD THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE, THERE WERE NO BACK UP LIGHTS OR AUDIBLE WARNING AND SUBSEQUENTLY A BUS DRIVER WAS STRUCK. THE PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED. THERE WAS A POLICE REPORT TAKEN AT THE SCENE. *JB

NHTSA ID
10147959
Incident
Jan 17, 2006
Mileage
90,000 mi
Body & structure
Filed Sep 13, 2004

EIGHT (8) OF OUR DISTRICT OWNED BLUEBIRD TC 2000 SCHOOL BUSES HAVE BODY CRACKING PROBLEMS. THESE BUSES RANGE FOR 1997 TO 2003 YEAR MODELS. ALL BUSES HAVE EXPERIENCED CRACKING AT THE REAR PILLARS, ROOF BOWS AT THE SIDE WINDOWS, AND AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE DOOR AS WELL AS EMERGENCY EXITS. WITHIN THE FIRST FEW MONTHS OF SERVICE. ALL BUSES HAVE BEEN REPAIRED AS PER BLUEBIRDS SPECIFICATIONS, AT PROFESSIONAL BODY SHOPS. AT LEAST FOUR TIMES, YET THE BODIES CONTINUE TO CRACK. WE ARE NOT THE ONLY SCHOOL DISTRICT HAVING THESE PROBLEMS, I KNOW OF ONE OTHER LOCAL DISTRICT THAT IS EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM AND HAVE HEARD THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHERS. BLUEBIRD IS BECOMING MORE RELUCTANT TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM IN A TIMELY MANNER. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE INTEGRITY OF THE ROOF STRUCTURE ON THESE BUSES, ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT "WE" HAVE EXPERIENCED WITH THE CARPENTAR BUSES.*AK

NHTSA ID
10090922
Incident
Oct 1, 1997
Fuel system
Filed Jul 28, 1998

FLEX FUEL LINE FROM RIGHT REAR TANK TO STEEL LINE FAILED CAUSING LOSS, OF FUEL, UNABLE TO HAVE REPAIRED UNDER RECALL DUE TO A LACK OF PARTS. (QCAW)

NHTSA ID
538385

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.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .