Thomas Er Recalls & Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA lists 6 safety recalls and 1 owner complaint across 8 model years of the Thomas Er (2001–2008). The most-complained-about year is 2003.

Pick your Thomas Er model year

• 2001
• 2002
• 2003
• 2004
• 2005
• 2006
• 2007
• 2008

What Thomas Er owners complain about

Across all model years, owners have filed 1 complaint with NHTSA. The 2003 model year has the most, with 1.

• Other: school bus stop arm assembly1

All Thomas Er recalls (6)

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

1. Fuses and circuit breakers (electrical system)

   NHTSA 08V622000 Reported November 26, 2008 18,198 vehicles potentially affected DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA

   Daimler trucks is recalling 18,198 my 2003-2009 thomas built er, mvp-er, hdx, and mvp-ef school and transit buses equipped with a dual power switch and manufactured from february 1, 2002 through october 17, 2008. Solid state circuit breakers may trip unnecessarily potentially resulting in a loss of power to the bus chassis and body…

   Remedy: Thomas built bus dealers will replace the solid state dual power switch with a mechanical circuit production (mega fuse). The recall is expected to begin during april 2009. Owners may contact thomas built at…

   Model years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

2. Hinge and attachments (structure)

   NHTSA 08V087000 Reported February 26, 2008 243,435 vehicles potentially affected DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA

   Daimler trucks is recalling 243,435 my 1995-2008 thomas built school buses manufactured between january 1994, and march 10, 2008. (additional buses have been added to this recall campaign. Please see supplemental report no. 4) the emergency exit door handle begins corroding around the securing roll pin and square drive mechanism causing…

   Remedy: Daimler trucks will notify owners and will replace the handles with a more robust handle free of charge. Repairs will be performed by thomas built buses dealerships. The recall began on august 18, 2008, and…

   Model years: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

3. Fuses and circuit breakers (electrical system)

   NHTSA 07V544000 Reported November 29, 2007 33,303 vehicles potentially affected FREIGHTLINER LLC

   Certain 2001 through 2008 thomas built fs-56, er, mvp er, hdx, and mvp ef school buses manufactured from october 23, 2000, through january 24, 2006, equipped with tyco pc board and type ii auto reset circuit breakers. Type ii auto reset circuit breaker temperatures may exceed the rating of the tyco pc board causing the boards to melt…

   Remedy: Thomas built will notify owners and repair the buses by replacing the type ii auto reset circuit breakers with manual circuit breakers, and the jumper cable. The recall began on march 28, 2008. Owners may contact…

   Model years: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

4. School bus stop arm assembly (other)

   NHTSA 05V347000 Reported August 3, 2005 5,954 vehicles potentially affected FREIGHTLINER LLC

   Certain 2002-2005 my thomas built minotour, conventional, mvp-er, er, hdx, and mvp-ef model school buses manufactured between january 8, 2002, and march 8, 2005, equipped with specialty mfg "5" series stop arms originally sold in or currently registered in states other than the following states: alaska, colorado, connecticut, delaware,…

   Remedy: For those buses operated in or near any of the states listed above, thomas built is encouraging the bus owners to obtain the replacement switch. For those buses operated in the warmer states, dealers will replace the…

   Model years: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

5. School bus stop arm assembly (other)

   NHTSA 05V340000 Reported July 25, 2005 13,583 vehicles potentially affected FREIGHTLINER LLC

   Certain 2002-2005 my thomas built minotour, conventional, mvp-er, er, hdx, and mvp-ef model school buses manufactured between january 8, 2002, and march 8, 2005, equipped with specialty mfg "5" series stop arms originally sold in or currently registered in the following states: alaska, colorado, connecticut, delaware, idaho, illinois,…

   Remedy: Thomas built will notify its owners and replace the original switch with a switch pack that is not sensitive to extreme cold weather and will inspect to ensure the microswitch heater wiring is properly connected free…

   Model years: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

6. Vehicle speed control

   NHTSA 05V208000 Reported April 27, 2005 153 vehicles potentially affected FREIGHTLINER LLC

   Certain my 2002-2005 thomas built saf-t-liner er school buses and er transit buses manufactured between november 2002 and february 2005 and equipped with john deere 8.1l compressed natural gas engines models hfn01 and hfn03. The engine control unit and throttle can unexpectedly surge. These units fail to conform to federal motor vehicle…

   Remedy: John deere will notify the customers of freightliner/thomas built and will update the engine control unit software free of charge. Owners may contact john deere at 1-800-jd-engine.

   Model years: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

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.