NHTSA EQ EQ10001

On July 30, 2008, Ricon reported that certain 6-way power seat bases, produced between January 1, 2006 and May 14, 2007, contain a weld on the pivot shaft that may fail due to poor (cold) welding.A failed pivot shaft weld can cause the driver's seat to become detached from the seat base, possibly causing injury to the driver and increasing the risk of a crash.NHTSA assigned recall number 08E-046 to this matter.On February 5, 2010, the Recall Management Department (RMD) requested Ricon provide its customer list of all recipients that purchased the defective seat bases.Ricon did not respond.After several e-mail exchanges and a second IR letter mailed on April 2, 2010, Ricon responded with its customer list on April 9, 2010.RMD mailed IR letters to the 10 companies on Ricon's list.Those being: Siebert Mobility, Hoglund Bus Co., Inc., Ilderton Conversion Co, New England Wheels Inc, Northern Bus Sales, Inc., Sunset Vans, Inc., The Mobility Specialist, Thomas Bus Sales of IA, Vantage Mobility International, Malley Industries Inc.Only The Mobility Specialist filed a subsequent Defect Report with NHTSA for new vehicles it modified with these seat bases.It was assigned recall number 10V-270.RMD received responses from nine of the above companies.Eight of those companies were not required to file a Defect Report for their units for the following reasons:Hoglund Bus Co and Northern Bus Sales, Inc. sold their units over the counter and did not install the units.Siebert Mobility purchased only the assets from the former Arkansas Convention Center and Siebert was not provided any sales records for customer contact.Ilderton Conversion Co and Thomas Bus Sales of IA did not actually perform their installations but contracted them out to other companies.New England Wheels only installed their units on used vehicles.Malley Industries Inc. installed their unit on a Canadian vehicle.Vantage Mobility International (VMI) is a distributor that re-sold their units to 250 dealers.VMI did not