The Used Car Index

2020 Spartan Gladiator problems

NHTSA lists 1 complaints for the 2020 Spartan Gladiator, 0 of them mention a crash and 0 mention a fire. 0 complaints mention an injury, with 0 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-08.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as SPARTAN GLADIATOR.

At a glance

Complaints
1
With crash
0
With fire
0
With injury (complaints)
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0
Recalls
7
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
1,746
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
5

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
VISIBILITY/WIPER1100.0%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
visibility or lighting1100.0%0.92
Severities
LabelCountShare of taggedMean confidence
low1100.0%0.89

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 1 tagged complaints of 1 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

7 recalls.

21V436000

Date: 2021-06-09. Systems: EQUIPMENT.

Defect: Four Guys Stainless Tank & Equip., Inc. (Four Guys) is recalling one 2020 Pumper firetruck equipped with an Akron Bass battery-powered 3600 wireless remote controller. The wireless remote controller's sleep mode is disabled, and results in the batteries discharging faster than normal.

Consequence: Inability to use the wireless remote controller can hinder firefighting efforts, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy: Four Guys will request owners return the affected wireless remote controllers to Akron Brass for a software update, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a schedule for recall notification. Owners may contact Four Guys customer service at 1-814-634-8373.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V203000

Date: 2020-04-08. Systems: PARKING BRAKE.

Defect: Marion Body Works Inc. (Marion Body Works) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Spartan Gladiator and MetroStar Emergency Response chassis vehicles modified by Marion Body Works. The park brake control line may loosen and possibly come out the fitting while the vehicle is in motion.

Consequence: If the air line comes out of the fitting while the vehicle is in motion, the park brake can inadvertently be applied and the vehicle could suddenly decelerate, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Marion Body Works dealers will inspect and properly tighten the park brake control line, free of charge. All of the vehicles will be repaired before being delivered to customers, free of charge. Owners may contact Marion Body Works customer service at 1-715-754-5261.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V163000

Date: 2020-03-20. Systems: PARKING BRAKE.

Defect: SVI Trucks is recalling certain 2019-2020 Spartan Fire Gladiator and MetroStar Emergency Response vehicles modified by SVI Trucks. The park brake control line may loosen and possibly come out the fitting while the vehicle is in motion. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 121, "Air Brake Systems."

Consequence: If the air line comes out of the fitting while the vehicle is in motion, the park brake can inadvertently be applied and the vehicle could suddenly decelerate, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: SVI dealers will inspect and properly tighten the park brake control line, free of charge. All of the vehicles will be repaired before being delivered to customers, free of charge. Owners may contact SVI dealers customer service at 1-888-784-1112. SVI Truck's number for this recall is 20V138.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V138000

Date: 2020-03-10. Systems: PARKING BRAKE.

Defect: Spartan Motors USA (Spartan) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Fire Gladiator and MetroStar Emergency vehicles. The park brake control line may loosen and separate, possibly causing the park brake to be unintentionally applied.

Consequence: If the park brake is applied while the vehicle is in motion, the vehicle may suddenly decelerate and experience a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Spartan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and tighten the fitting control line, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 26, 2020. Owners may contact Spartan customer service at 1-800-543-5008. Spartan's number for this recall is 20005.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V828000

Date: 2019-11-19. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, AIR.

Defect: Marion Body Works Inc. (Marion Body Works) is recalling certain 2005-2020 Emergency Response Gladiator and Metrostar vehicles equipped with pneumatically-controlled automatic tire chain systems. The air pressure control lines may not be pressure-protected.

Consequence: Without the control line being pressure-protected, in the event the control line is severed, air may suddenly be lost from the service reservoir system, causing the brakes to apply unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Marion Body Works will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the routing of the control lines, rerouting them into the auxiliary air reservoir as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 22, 2019. Owners may contact Marion Body Works customer service at 1-715-754-5261 or Spartan customer service at 1-800-543-5008.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V674000

Date: 2019-09-23. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, AIR.

Defect: Spartan Motors USA (Spartan) is recalling certain 2004-2020 Emergency Response Gladiator and Spartan vehicles equipped with a pneumatically-controlled automatic tire chain system. The air pressure control lines may not be pressure-protected. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 121, "Air Brake Systems."

Consequence: Without the control line being pressure-protected, in the event the control line is severed, air may suddenly be lost from the service reservoir system, causing the brakes to apply unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Spartan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the routing of the control lines, rerouting them into the auxiliary air reservoir as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 4, 2019. Owners may contact Spartan customer service at 1-800-543-5008. Spartan's number for this recall is 19017.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

19V523000

Date: 2019-07-12. Systems: STEERING, SUSPENSION.

Defect: Spartan Motors USA (Spartan) is recalling certain 2014-2020 Emergency Response Gladiator and MetroStar vehicles equipped with an independent front suspension and Koni shocks. The front shocks may separate from their upper mount on the front suspension. The loose shock may contact and damage the steering gear housing, possibly causing a steering fluid leak and a loss of power steering assist.

Consequence: A loss of power steering assist increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Spartan will notify owners, and dealers will install new shock bolts, and shims if necessary, free of charge. The recall began August 20, 2019. Owners may contact Spartan customer service at 1-800-543-5008. Spartan's number for this recall is 19015.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

5 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM2
EQUIPMENT1
INTERIOR LIGHTING1
POWER TRAIN1
STEERING1

10249132

Date: 2023-12-21. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: INTERIOR LIGHTING.

This service bulletin is about certain vehicles equipped with 92 inch or longer roof mounted light bars that could experience fracture of the light bar mounting brackets, as well as provides instructions to replace the light bar bracket with improved bracket design.

10249131

Date: 2023-12-11. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STEERING.

This service bulletin is about the power steering fluid level sensor could exhibit leaks where sensor seals against power steering reservoir and provides instructions on replacing current power steering level sensor with improved sensor design.

10203393

Date: 2021-07-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EQUIPMENT.

This service bulletin provides instructions to replace with new height control valves for front IFS height control valves that may fail.

10172397

Date: 2020-02-27. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

This service bulletin provides instructions for resolving a potential "blank" fuel reading on the LMC panel.

10161060

Date: 2019-05-09. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: POWER TRAIN.

This service bulletin provides a solution if the pump shift valve exhausts system air pressure when pilot pressure is reduced.

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
GLADIATOR1

Same model, other years

All model years | All Spartan models

Other Spartan models, 2020

Sources

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