1996 Freightliner FLD120

Routine

Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the service brakes, air. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Service Brakes, Air1
000
Electrical System › Wiring › Interior/Under Dash1
010

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System › Wiring › Interior/Under DashFire
Filed Jun 11, 2000IL

THIS IS A 1996 FREIGHTLINER IM AM BUYING OFF OF BUSKE LINES INC. I WAS IN A RESTURANT EATING IN A RESTURANT IN INDIANA. I WAS NOTIFIED THAT UNIT WAS ON FIRE. I RAN TO TRUCK AND FIRE HAD GUTTED INSIDE OF CAB MY DOG WAS TRAPPED IN THE SLEEPER AND WAS KILLED I NOTICED NO SMOKE WHEN I LEFT TRUCK BUT SMELLED SOMETHING LIKE HOT PLASTIC I CHECKED BUT DID NOT FIND ANYTHING BURNING. TRUCK WAS THEN TOWED TO ST LOUIS MO I WAS INFORMED BY FIRE DEPT AND SHERRIF THAT IF I WOULD OF LAID DOWN I WOULD HAVE PROBELY BEEN KILLED DUE TO TOXIC FUMES PRODUCED BY SMOKE. IN RECENT MONTHS I HAVE SEEN IN PERSON A MINIMUM OF 10 OTHER TRUCKS SAME YEAR AND MODEL WITH SAME FIRE DAMAGE STARTING IN THE SAME AREA. I ALSO HAVE A WIREING JUNCTION BLOCK THAT WAS TAKEN FROM ANOTHER TRUCK SAME YEAR THAT HAS MELTED AND STARTED TO BURN BUT WAS REPLACED BEFORE IT CAUGHT ANOTHER TRUCK ON FIRE. THIS TRUCK HAS BEEN REBUILT BUT AM STILL AFRAID OF FIRE IN WIRING I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT FREIGHTLINER WITH NO RESPOSE . ALSO NOT ONLY IN MY UNIT BUT OTHERS AT NIGHT WHEN YOUR DASH LIGHT ARE ON ALL GUAGES [ESPECIALLY WHEN HEATER IS ON] YOU CAN NOT PLACE YOUR HAND ON ANY GUAGE AND LEAVE IT THERE BECAUSE IT IS EXTREMELY HOT IN MY OPINION THIS WOULD ALSO BE A MEANS OF A FIRE STARTING SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS . I AM DOING MORE INVESTIGATION ON MY OWN FOR MORE FIRES OF THIS NATURE PLEASE NEED YOUR HELP I HAVE OVER 28 YEARS OF DRIVING AND HAVE NEVER HAD ONE CATCH FIRE IS IT GOING TO TAKE A HUMAN LIFE TO CORRECT THIS ..THANK YOU. *

Service Brakes, Air
Filed May 19, 1998MI

BRAKES FAILED RESULTING IN REAR END COLLISION.

2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2000
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20080200Routine
20070200Routine
20061200Routine
20050100Routine
20040100Routine
20030100Routine
20015000Routine
20008010Routine
19995010Routine
19983000Routine
19971100Routine
1996 — this page2010Routine
19951000Routine
19941100Routine
19931300Routine
19921100Routine
19910100Routine
19900100Routine

Compare every FLD120 year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.