Thomas Built Buses preliminary evaluation PE09027
DOOR GLASS DETACHMENT. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the door on 3 model years (2008–2010). Opened May 21, 2009, closed Sep 24, 2009 after 4 months. It led to safety recall 09V344000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedTHIS INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED AFTER A FLEET NOTIFIED ODI THAT IT HAD LOST A FRONT DOOR GLASS PANEL WHILE THE BUS WAS BEING OPERATED. A FIELD INSPECTION REVEALED TWELVE MORE BUSES HAD LOOSE DOOR GLASS PANELS. ODI IS ALWAYS CONCERNED WITH OBJECTS THAT SEPARATE FROM VEHICLES AND COULD POSSIBLY STRIKE ANOTHER VEHICLE OR HIT A PEDESTRIAN. ODI'S FINDINGS WERE RELAYED TO DAIMLER AND THEY COMMENCED AN INVESTIGATION. DAIMLER WILL CONDUCT A SAFETY RECALL TO CORRECT THIS CONDITION ON APPROXIMATELY 13,945 BUSES. DAIMLER BELIEVES THAT THE ENTRANCE DOOR GLASS MAY BE INADEQUATELY BONDED TO THE DOOR FRAME. DAIMLER WILL NOTIFY THE AGENCY IN THE NEAR FURTHER AS TO WHAT CORRECTIVE ACTION THEY PLAN TO TAKE. THIS RESOLVES THE ISSUES RAISED BY THIS INVESTIGATION AND THEREFORETHIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2008 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2; 2009 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2; 2010 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE09027 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 09V344000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE09027 still open?
No. It closed on Sep 24, 2009 and led to recall 09V344000.
Which vehicles does PE09027 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 3 model years: 2008 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2, 2009 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2, 2010 Thomas Built Buses SAF-T-Liner C2. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.