1997 Thomas Conventional Recalls, Complaints & Specs

8 safety recalls list the 1997 Thomas Conventional. Check your own VIN below.

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8 safety recalls for the 1997 Thomas Conventional

Most recent first. Recall repairs are free at any authorised dealer. Click a recall for the full defect, consequence and remedy text.

1. Unknown or other

   NHTSA 00V360000 Reported November 3, 2000 11,500 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: certain school buses equipped with a storage compartment overhead to the left of the driver fail to meet FMVSS no. 222, "school bus passenger seating and crash protection."

   Remedy: Dealers will add padding to the sides of the storage compartment. Owner notification began february 8, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the…

2. Seats

   NHTSA 00V362000 Reported November 3, 2000 6,500 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: certain school buses and transit buses equipped with national seating's series 93b-sb driver seat. A bracket attaching the gas spring shock to the height adjuster of the seat can deform and break. This bracket is located at the top of the height adjuster.

   Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat base and add reinforcement to the seat assembly

3. Seats

   NHTSA 99V173000 Reported July 2, 1999 2,175 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. Restraining barriers and reinforcement plates may be installed incorrectly. Nuts used to secure the plate the floor may be missing or the reinforcement plate may be mounted in a non-standard location. This does not meet the requirements of FMVSS no. 222, "school bus passenger seating and crash…

   Remedy: Dealers will inspect the barriers and plates, install any nuts that are missing, and mount the reinforcement plate correctly.

4. Seats

   NHTSA 99V175000 Reported July 2, 1999 744 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: transit and school buses equipped with air suspension driver seat. Tether belts used to anchor the seat belt assembly to the floor were not installed on buses equipped with an air ride driver seat. This does not meet the requirements of FMVSS no. 210, "seat belt assembly anchorages."

   Remedy: Dealers will install the tether belt assembly.

5. Exterior (visibility)

   NHTSA 98V309000 Reported December 7, 1998 500 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses built on a navistar chassis. The cross view mirrors do not comply with the requirements of FMVSS no. 111, "rearview mirrors." the entire top surface of cylinder h is not visible as required.

   Remedy: Owners will be provided with a repair kit and detailed instructions. If an owner so desires, thomas built dealers can perform the repair for them.

6. Seats

   NHTSA 98V229000 Reported September 17, 1998 4,300 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school and transit buses equipped with national seating series 93b-sb driver seat. A bracket attaching to the height adjusting shock absorber on the driver's seat can deform and break.

   Remedy: Dealers will add a reinforcement to the bracket, or if the bracket is deformed and/or broken, the entire seat base will be replaced.

7. Visibility: rearview mirrors/devices

   NHTSA 98V011000 Reported January 21, 1998 241 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. These vehicles do not comply with the visibility requirements of FMVSS no. 111, "rearview mirrors."

   Remedy: New mirrors which incorporate mirror arms that will move the cross view mirrors forward will be installed on these vehicles.

8. Seats

   NHTSA 97V192000 Reported November 1, 1997 2,391 vehicles potentially affected THOMAS BUILT BUSES, INC.

   Vehicle description: school buses. The flip seats installed on these buses do not meet the rearward push requirements of FMVSS no. 222, "school bus passenger seating and crash protection."

   Remedy: Owners will be provided with repair parts and a detailed repair procedure. If an owner so desires, thomas built will perform the repair for them.

No owner complaints on file

NHTSA has no owner complaints on file for the 1997 Thomas Conventional. For context, the average model year in NHTSA's database has dozens; a zero can mean a reliable vehicle, a rare one, or both.

Compare Thomas Conventional model years

Recall and complaint counts for every Thomas Conventional model year in NHTSA's database.

Checking a specific 1997 Thomas Conventional

Other Thomas models

• School Bus21 complaints
• Thomas11 complaints
• Bus7 complaints
• Mvp EF7 complaints
• Saf-T-Liner5 complaints
• C23 complaints
• FS-653 complaints
• CL1002 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.