NHTSA lists 2 complaints for the 2005 Thomas SAF-T-Liner ER, 0 of them mention a crash and 2 mention a fire. 0 complaints mention an injury, with 0 injuries and 0 deaths reported.
Data build 2026-10-10.
NHTSA lists this vehicle as THOMAS SAF-T-LINER ER.
At a glance
Complaints
2
With crash
0
With fire
2
With injury (complaints)
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0
Recalls
1
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
153
Investigations
1
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
1
Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.
Where the complaints are
Top systems
System
Complaints
Share of this vehicle's complaints
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2
100.0%
Top subsystems
System
Subsystem
Complaints
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
WIRING
2
One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.
Model-generated complaint tags: This model year has not been tagged.
Defect: 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 SAFETY STANDARD NO. 124, ACCELERATOR CONTROL SYSTEMS.
Consequence: A SUDDEN ENGINE SURGE COULD POSSIBLY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
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.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
1 investigations; 0 open.
EA07002
Opened: 2007-01-30. Closed: 2007-07-12.
STEERING COLUMN WELD CRACKS
AS A RESULT OF THE ODI INVESTIGATION, FREIGHTLINER HAS AGREED TO RECALL (NUMBER 07V-289) ALL OF THE VEHICLES MANUFACTURED WITH STEERING COLUMNS POTENTIALLY MISSING WELDS.THE RECALL REMEDY WILL INVOLVE INSPECTING THE RECALLED VEHICLES FOR MISSING WELDS AND IF FOUND REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN.EARLY WARNING AGGREGATE DATA SUBMITTED TO NHTSA BY FREIGHTLINER SUGGESTED THAT A STEERING PROBLEM (EWR CODE
Date: 2010-11-29. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES, AIR.
THOMAS BUILT BUS: ALL MODELS OF THOMAS BUSES USING AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTERS. THE AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTERS ARE ROUTINELY BEING ADJUSTED BY SOME OPERATORS AND SERVICE TECHNICIANS TO MAKE BRAKE PUSHROD STROKE APPEAR TO BE WITH LEGAL BRAKE ADJUSTMENT LIMITS, OR TO COMPENSATE FOR MIS-DIAGNOSED OUT OF
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.