Champion M1235, model years 2011 to 2012. Filed by Champion Bus, Inc. and reported to NHTSA on 3 February 2012. 30 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Champion bus (champion) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 abc-m1235 transit buses manufactured from march 9, 2011, to november 18, 2011, built on a freightliner custom chassis. the grid heater ground wire may contact the relay power terminal and rub and chafe, potentially resulting in a short circuit.
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 12V040 cover?
- Champion M1235, model years 2011-2012.
- What is wrong with them?
- CHAMPION BUS (CHAMPION) IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 ABC-M1235 TRANSIT BUSES MANUFACTURED FROM MARCH 9, 2011, TO NOVEMBER 18, 2011, BUILT ON A FREIGHTLINER CUSTOM CHASSIS.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- AN ELECTRICAL FAULT OR SHORT CIRCUIT COULD CAUSE A VEHICLE FIRE.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. FREIGHTLINER WILL NOTIFY THE OWNERS, AND INSPECT THE BUSES AND CORRECTLY ROUTE THE GROUND WIRE AS NECESSARY THE REPAIRS WILL BE PERFORMED BY FREIGHTLINER AUTHORIZED FACILITIES FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 2, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHAMPION AT 1-810-724-6474.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “AN ELECTRICAL FAULT OR SHORT CIRCUIT COULD CAUSE A VEHICLE FIRE.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 12V040 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | CHAMPION BUS, INC. |
| System at fault | Exterior Lighting:Turn Signal |
| Reported to NHTSA | 3 February 2012 |
| Model years | 2011-2012 |
| Vehicles named | CHAMPION M1235 |
What the notice says today
The consequence
AN ELECTRICAL FAULT OR SHORT CIRCUIT COULD CAUSE A VEHICLE FIRE.
The remedy
FREIGHTLINER WILL NOTIFY THE OWNERS, AND INSPECT THE BUSES AND CORRECTLY ROUTE THE GROUND WIRE AS NECESSARY THE REPAIRS WILL BE PERFORMED BY FREIGHTLINER AUTHORIZED FACILITIES FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON FEBRUARY 2, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHAMPION AT 1-810-724-6474.
What it said before
This campaign is in the register but not yet in the dated wording archive, so we cannot yet say whether its text has moved. It enters the archive on the next pass.
This is one of 663 notices in the record whose component field names exterior lighting. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 43 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 12V040, wording as read on 17 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/12v040/
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
Other Champion notices we hold
- 19V554: 2019 Challenger, Crusader, Defender and LF Transport and Goshen G-Force, Impulse and Pacer II shuttle buses equipped with Prolo roof emergency escape hatches
- 18V842: 2016-2018 Federal Coach Spirit
- 18V573: 2012-2018 Champion American Coach, American Crusader, American S2, Challenger, Crusader, Defender, and Impulse
- 16V295: model year 2016 Champion Bus Challenger shuttle buses manufactured January 29, 2016, to April 4, 2016
- 16V010: model year 2009-2015 Crusader, Stacked Rail, and CTS RE
- 14V748: model year 2014-2015 LF Transport, HCAC, Defender, Crusader, and Challenger transit buses manufactured September 2, 2014, to October 14, 2014
- 14V303: model year 2014 Defender shuttle buses built on Freightliner M2 chassis, equipped with Eaton-brand hybrid automated transmissions
- 14V302: model year 2014 Defender shuttle buses built on Freightliner M2 chassis equipped with IMMI-brand L9 seat belt buckles
All 11 Champion campaigns we hold · Every manufacturer in the record
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 12V040 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
63d20ccd - Consequence
987223f7 - Remedy
fbb3915a
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 12V040 · how the whole register is watched
This notice names one vehicle among several registers that have written about it. Every notice this site holds for the Champion M1235, in all seven, is kept on that vehicle's own page, with the newest in each.
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Owners of these cars
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