Carpenter Cadet Recalls & Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA lists 8 safety recalls and 0 owner complaints across 9 model years of the Carpenter Cadet (1973–1997).

Pick your Carpenter Cadet model year

• 1973
• 1990
• 1991
• 1992
• 1993
• 1994
• 1995
• 1996
• 1997

All Carpenter Cadet recalls (8)

Every NHTSA safety campaign that lists a Carpenter Cadet, most recent first, with the model years each one covers.

1. Seats

   NHTSA 00V207000 Reported August 3, 2000 3,205 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. Additional reinforcement bars were installed while performing a previous seat recall (98v-238). These bars were installed into the protection zone on the back of the seats.

   Remedy: Carpenter has gone out of business. Dealers were to remove the additional steel reinforcement.

   Model years: 1996, 1997

2. Frame and members (structure)

   NHTSA 00V015000 Reported January 22, 2000 3,633 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school bus with side emergency doors. The body side posts for the emergency door can crack.

   Remedy: Carpenter has gone out of business. Owners were to be provided with free parts, repair instructions, and reimbursed for the labor involved.

   Model years: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995

3. Seats

   NHTSA 98V238000 Reported September 28, 1998 3,255 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. The back panel of the passenger seats was not adequately welded.

   Remedy: Carpenter will provide owners with detailed inspection instructions and provide them with the necessary parts to repair these seats.

   Model years: 1996, 1997

4. Body (structure)

   NHTSA 96V097000 Reported June 7, 1996 3,382 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. Passenger's clothing can unknowingly become caught in the handrails at bus doors when exiting the bus.

   Remedy: Carpenter is sending corrective parts to owners along with installation instructions.

   Model years: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996

5. Body (structure)

   NHTSA 96V042000 Reported March 5, 1996 20,950 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Passengers' clothing can unknowingly become caught in the handrails at bus doors when exiting the bus.

   Remedy: Insert a block between the lower handrail mount and the bus sidewall to stop the clothing from being caught.

   Model years: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995

6. Body (structure)

   NHTSA 93V032003 Reported April 14, 1993 8,950 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER INDUSTRIES, INC.

   Passengers clothing can unknowingly become caught in the handrails at bus doors when exiting the bus.

   Remedy: Replace or reposition the handrails to stop clothing from becoming caught.

   Model years: 1990, 1991, 1992

7. Labels (equipment)

   NHTSA 76V058000 Reported April 16, 1976 28 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER BDY WRKS, INC.

   Model years: 1973

8. Labels (equipment)

   NHTSA 76V053000 Reported April 9, 1976 59 vehicles potentially affected CARPENTER BDY WRKS, INC.

   Model years: 1973

Other Carpenter models

• School Bus23 complaints
• Carpenter0 complaints
• Cbw 3000 complaints
• Classic0 complaints
• Classmate0 complaints
• Counselor0 complaints
• SCL-18010 complaints

Source: NHTSA recall and complaint databases and EPA fuel economy data, October 2026. Complaint counts are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. Recall counts are safety campaigns that list this model year; whether a particular car was already repaired depends on its VIN. How this data is compiled.