Champion American Coach, Champion American Crusader, Champion American S2, Champion Challenger, Champion Crusader, Champion Defender, model years 2012 to 2018. Filed by Champion Bus, Inc. and reported to NHTSA on 30 August 2018. 219 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Champion Bus (Champion) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Champion American Coach, American Crusader, American S2, Challenger, Crusader, Defender, and Impulse vehicles, equipped with certain S-Series and K-Series Titanium Wheelchair Lifts, models K200, K201, K550, K551, S200, S2201, S550 and S551. The wheelchair lift …
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 18V573 cover?
- Champion American Coach, Champion American Crusader, Champion American S2, Champion Challenger, Champion Crusader, Champion Defender, Champion Impulse, model years 2012-2018.
- What is wrong with them?
- Champion Bus (Champion) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Champion American Coach, American Crusader, American S2, Challenger, Crusader, Defender, and Impulse vehicles, equipped with certain S-Series and K-Series Titanium Wheelchair Lifts, models K200, K201, K550, K551, S200, S2201, S550 and S551.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- If the wheelchair lift platform stops above the vehicle floor, the wheelchair user can tip inwards toward the vehicle when exiting the lift, increasing their risk of injury.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. Dealers will replace the injection molded cam with an aluminum machined cam, free of charge. The recall began November 1, 2018. Owners may contact Champion customer service 1-810-724-1753 extension 415 or Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884 or by emailing Ricon at Admin18E044@wabtec.com.
- 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: “If the wheelchair lift platform stops above the vehicle floor, the wheelchair user can tip inwards toward the vehicle when exiting the lift, increasing their risk of injury.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 18V573 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | Champion Bus, Inc. |
| System at fault | Equipment Adaptive/Mobility |
| Reported to NHTSA | 30 August 2018 |
| Model years | 2012-2018 |
| Vehicles named | CHAMPION AMERICAN COACH, CHAMPION AMERICAN CRUSADER, CHAMPION AMERICAN S2, CHAMPION CHALLENGER, CHAMPION CRUSADER, CHAMPION DEFENDER, CHAMPION IMPULSE |
What the notice says today
The consequence
If the wheelchair lift platform stops above the vehicle floor, the wheelchair user can tip inwards toward the vehicle when exiting the lift, increasing their risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the injection molded cam with an aluminum machined cam, free of charge. The recall began November 1, 2018. Owners may contact Champion customer service 1-810-724-1753 extension 415 or Ricon customer service at 1-800-322-2884 or by emailing Ricon at Admin18E044@wabtec.com.
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 289 notices in the record whose component field names equipment adaptive/mobility. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 36 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
- Champion American Coach recalls: 6 US campaigns
- Champion American Crusader recalls: 7 US campaigns
- Champion Challenger recalls: 17 US campaigns
- Champion Crusader recalls: 13 US campaigns
- Champion Defender recalls: 13 US campaigns
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 18V573, wording as read on 16 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/18v573/
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
- 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
- 12V040: MODEL YEAR 2011-2012 ABC-M1235 TRANSIT BUSES MANUFACTURED FROM MARCH 9, 2011, TO NOVEMBER 18, 2011, BUILT ON A FREIGHTLINER CUSTOM CHASSIS
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 18V573 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
a8760122 - Consequence
177ce4c6 - Remedy
fe9bccc0
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 18V573 · 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 American Crusader, 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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