Polaris preliminary evaluation PE15016
Front wheel failure. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the wheels on 1 model year (2015). Opened Apr 20, 2015, closed Oct 16, 2015 after 6 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedWe opened this PE after receiving an allegation of a sudden, catastrophic, right front wheel failure. Since opening it, we have met with dealer service personnel, interviewed owners, monitored various web forums, and requested information from Polaris. We are unaware of any additional wheel failures occurring in the six months since we began investigating this subject. Currently, no actionable defect trend exists which would justify continuing to investigate this matter. Consequently, this PE is closed. We will continue to monitor owner complaints, web forums, EWR data, etc and, if warranted by new facts, we will reopen an investigation.
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 closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2015 Polaris Slingshot.
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 PE15016 a recall?
No. A preliminary evaluation is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is PE15016 still open?
No. It closed on Oct 16, 2015 without a recall.
Which vehicles does PE15016 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 1 model year: 2015 Polaris Slingshot. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.