Battery-Powered Ride-On Vehicles Recalled
Name of product: Battery-Powered Ride-On Vehicles
Units: About 141,000
Manufacturer: Dorel Juvenile Group USA, of Columbus, Ind.
Hazard: An electronic malfunction can occur in the ride-on vehicle’s circuit board and/or battery connector, resulting in smoking and melting of components. This poses a vehicle fire hazard and a burn hazard to consumers if components are touched while malfunctioning.
Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 49 reports of overheating or melting components on the ride-on vehicles. No injuries have been reported.
Description: The recalled battery-powered ride-on vehicles include the Pink Corvette®, Torch Red Corvette®, Yellow Race Car Corvette®, Red Electroplate Corvette®, Fire Engine, and Batmobile® with the model numbers listed below. They were sold under the brands Safety 1st and Kid Trax by Safety 1st. The ride-on vehicles were manufactured between January 2004 and August 2005. The manufacture date is located on the underside of the unit and is molded into the plastic body as shown below. The circle on left displays the month of manufacture, the circle on the right displays the year of manufacture. The model numbers are located on the underside of the vehicles near the date code.
Safety 1st Pink Corvette®
50503/50503A
Safety 1st Torch Red Corvette®
50504/50504A
Safety 1st Yellow Race Car Corvette®
50505/50505A
Safety 1st Red Electroplate Corvette®
50521/50521A
Kid Trax Fire Engine
50506/50506A
Safety 1st Batmobile®
50527
Sold at: Major toy stores and mass merchandise outlets nationwide under the brands Safety 1st and Kid Trax by Safety 1st from January 2004 through August 2005 for about $300.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should take the recalled ride-on vehicles away from children immediately and contact the company for a free repair.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Dorel Juvenile Group’s Ride-On hotline toll-free at (866) 611-3022 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit www.djgusa.com.
Comments
My son received a Safety 1st yellow corvette for his 2nd birthday. The lousy thing never worked. We tried everything and even threw away a battery and bought a replacement. It still never worked. We have just found out that it was recalled because of the battery connector. My son is now almost 5 years old. He has had this for almost 3 years and has never used it for more then 5 minutes. I WANT MY MONEY BACK! $300.00 dollars is what we paid and the thing doesn’t work. I have been waiting for another replacement battery from Dorel Juvenile Group for along time. I am so unhappy with Safety 1st. I have wasted alot of money on this car and I want it back.
My son recieved the Fire Truck for Christmas 2005, and it only worked for about 3 months and then jsut quit. I too bought a new battery and it still didnt work. I found about the recall, looked up the web site, and this unit met all the requirements for the recall, but when I called the 800 number they said that this one was not recalled and that basically was out of luck. The customer service was very poor, and I too would like my money back, $300 for a toy that only works for three months is horrible.
I bought my son the yellow corvette for his 4th birthday. The car worked for about 4 days before it started having battery problems. I went back to the store and returned the battery three times, and the car is still not running. Basically it is a $300.00 piece of junk and a total disappointment. What bothers me is that this company does not seem to care able people loosing their money or disappointing their children. There customer services is extremely poor and I will never buy anything else from Safety 1st or the Dorel Corporation.
Yellow corvette battery dead after less than 10 hours use. I see that a BLUE battery connector with a FUSE has been issued as parrt of the recall remedy — ahs anyone had luck with this?
Can anyone say CLASS ACTION??
How do we proceed?? (I can be reached at 626 584 2283)
Yellow corvette is broken!!! Help! 300 dollar toy! Is there any hope????
I couldn’t agree more with the above comments. Our Firetruck worked for about 1 month then just quit. We bought a replacement and it still didn’t work. I too want my $$ back. It’s wrong that they can make a product unsafe and unusable and then say they will send us a kit! I think some law firm needs to get involved. We’ve got to have more rights–like a refund.
The customer service is crap….they said they’d send replacement parts and nothing has been sent weeks later. This company needs to be investigated.
Same as everyone above plus some. My son would be riding along fine, take his foot off the accelerator, and, the car would continue going forward. We have taken it in to be fixed, they replaced everything electrical in the car to no avail. We have had the battery connector replaced, new battery, and a new charger, same, same, same piece of crap. Safety First, your engineers should all be fired for this. Major ripoff!!!!!
I have the BatMobile dead battery. TOYS R US replaced with display but that only lasted 1 week and dead again. Toys R Us never told us that there was a recall on this item sooo now that i AM AWARE my receipt is now passed the 90 days $%#@%% out of luck I guess……………………..
My son was given the green fire truck for christmas last year, purchased from toys r us. Although it is still working, the barrety lasts a mere 5 minutes before the beeping begins. I’ve been unable to find a new battery for it, as a result of this recall i imagine. Not happy at all, next step will be to waste some time with customer service i guess.
I logged on to the web, thinking I could replace my son’s fire engine battery. Came across the recall, really didn’t think it would be that easy. Moved to an area in Jersey where my sons could actually use this piece of garbage, what a discrace. Seems that their is no resolution with fixing it. What a waste of money.
We have the Batmobile too. Same problem, the battery died and we can’t seem to find another one. I am very dissatisfied with this toy. It cost losts of money and my son got only a few hours use out of it. What a waste. I agree, this company should be investigated.
I believe the problems are with the circuit board. Our yellow vette quit and is a piece of junk. This company is a waste and our vette is going to the trash can to be replaced by a Power Wheels!
If anyone is interested in a class action. Please contact us, our car worked for a few weeks, and then it quit. Nobody wants to take responsibility. Somehow it seems like the way America is going, but it is unfair and would never of happened a few years ago. I am going to boycott Toys R US and make sure I tell everyone about this. If they sell trash, it is up to them to make sure that the manufacturer is responsible. If not they are screwing us, but it does increase their bottom line in the short term.
Never ever enter Toys are Us again!!!
I bought the yellow race car corvette a year ago for my 4 yrs old son’s birthday at Toys R Us. After five months, the battery was dead. I checked the battery and I found that there was a leak around the battery connector. I am trying to order for the replacement battery online. Then I learn about the recall and the problem that many of us had been experienced. I guess I don’t have buy a new replacement battery because it just wastes of money. I am totally agree, this company should be investigated.
I am sick and tired of the United States blaming China for all the toy recalls. This is a quality controll issue starting with the United States Toy Manufacturers. Give it a Break and blame the the correct people - US
I, too, purchased the yellow corvette for my son’s 2nd birthday and it never worked from day one. I returned the battery and it still would only run for 30 minutes on a paved flat surface only. I think that it is disgusting that a company can get away with this. I am a nurse how would they like to have a ventilator to work on their family members for only 30 minutes? and could not find anyone to help them? you wouldn’t like that very much, would you? I have to work hard for my money and I am a single mother, I think that all of you have been very unprofessional. If you had any professionalism, you would refund everyone who had problems.shlinda
I bought the fire truck for my son’s in 2004 and I have had no problems until now I just found out about the recall and replaced the battery connector the lights work but there is no power to the fire truck it just makes a clicking noise when I push the petal I will try to replace the battery because I have had it for over 3 years so it could have lost it’s charge if that does not work I guess I’m out of luck too.
I purchased my grandson a corvette (50505), christmas 2007. It has been impossible to put together. Do you know of a service center that I can take the car to , to be assembled.
I live in Bakersfield, California
I bought the yellow corvette two years ago and ever since I took it out of the box the battery beeps it just keeps on beeping. The car also drives funny you push on the pedal and it slams you back in the seat and you let go of the pedal it flys you forward I rarely let me son play in it because I am afraid he is going to get seriously hurt. I am very disapointed with the company because they offered nothing for me in regards to the battery.
I am in the exact situation as Tara (#). Let me know if the new battery fixed the problem.
We have had the corvette for 3 years with not issues with the car or battery until now. I am having a hard time tryig to find a battery in Canada. Anyone know where to fidn a replacement. I did the new connector and I have not had a problem. I definitely would be PO’d if I had the same issue as everyone else!
My child got the red corvette and has not had a chance to ride in it yet, Because it when dead and I cant find the replacement battery or the charger. I guess my search ends here finding out that the company is bogus! Its so sad that big companies take advantage of people who are trying to make their children happy!
I am a UK resident and purchased the Fire Engine for my grandson from Toys R Us. It worked fine for a bit less than a year until suddenly it stopped operating. Like other contributors have remarked, when any of the opoerating controls are pressed all you hear is clicking from relays in the circuit board. Toys R Us would have nothing to do with my complaint because we had lost the receipt. The importer into the UK claimed the company had gone ‘bust’ and there were no spare parts available. I have had electronic engineers look at it but they are unable to build a replacement unit for me as components in the circuit cannot be identified.
Can someone reading this please let me know of the contact details for the company. Many thanks.
My e-mail address is: drw.jts@btconnect.com
David
Yes all the remarks ive read are true. My sons red fire truck quit working. Ive dealt with the so called service center what a joke. Ive tried to get them to sell me the electrical item so i can replace it and the say it needs to be done by a qualified tech. Its not that hard to replace it. I would not recommend anyone buying this product.
After reading all the post, I totally agree. My son receive the corvette for his birthday and it has been nothing but problems. I contacted the manufacture and they are so rude. So much for safety 1st. this car is a piece of crap. I heard others wanting a class action so keep me informed.
We bought the Red Fire Truck for our 3 year old at Xmas. Just got warm enough to start using it. We charged the battery following instructions exactly. The thing worked fine just once. We can’t get it to work now. We don’t know if its the battery or something else. The manufacturer is almost impossible to find on the Net and they don’t answer their phone. I was going to buy a new battery, but after reading the other comments, seems like more wasted money and time.
We purchased a POWERWHEELS JEEP four years ago and the thing still runs great!
I too purchased the fire truck for my son..Paying over $325 to have it assemebled and it worked for literally hour!! Toys R Us wanted nothing to do with my problem and I was just headed out the door to buy a replacement battery, but I guess I’ll just save my money after reading the commetns above!! What a ripoff!! Now that it is finally warm enough to ride it the poor baby has to make the siren noises himself and the thing won’t budge after charging it according to the directions!
same problem, my sons fire engine blew a fuse the first day. replaced it, it runs for about 2 minutes, quits moving and just makes a clicking noise. i have tried to contact the company about getting it fixed but no one ever answers the phone. the lights and sirens work, but it won’t move when you press the pedal. i’ve even ordered a new pedal for it, but that didn’t fix it. any suggestions???
We purchased the yellow and red corvette a couple of years ago for our twin daughters. After the first year the batteries died. We found a place online to order replacement batteries for these. It’s www.batteryspec.com andy they are $34.40 a battery. The code is TR12-12T. This battery is universal and comes with the required connections for the car however, you should go by your local auto parts store and get an inline fuse to replace your current battery connector\fuse. We’ve got one car still running good but over the weekend the one without the fuse died. Anyone have any good circuit boards or know where we can purchase one at?
I have the same problem with yellow corvette. Did you find any solution to this problem. Please e-mail me on zorrozor@gmail.com
Thanks
I am so angry and frustrated! I bought my son a yellow corvette made by Saftety 1st and got about 3-4 uses out of it and then it just died. I called the company and they sent me a new charger which did not work. I then went to a repair shop that Safety 1st directed me to and they wouldn’t even touch the car because they had other ones (same make) there and have been waiting for the parts for almost a year! I went back to Toys R Us and they wouldn’t do anything about it. So basically I spent $300 for a piece of crap and no one wants to take responsibility for it! I want my money back or a replacement! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT buy a Safety 1st product!!! The company does not care that they steal your money and leave you with nothing!!!
I got one of these dead second hand off of Craigslist.
I refurbished it relatively easily. What you need to do is *get rid of the blue or yellow battery connector*. It has a fuse *inside* it that you cannot change without disassabling the the whole connector.
I bought a bigger battery and installed it in the rear of the truck, added a standard automotive inline fuse, and just hooked it directly into the stock controller board. It works like a charm and never overheats. My kids pop fuses when they bump into something and don’t get their foot off the accelerator in time, so I imagine when that happens with the original battery connector you pop the internal fuse and are out of luck.
I can give you more detailed instructions on how to fix the defect in this fun toy. Just email me.
jabeecher at net0.net
Good evening
I am a really hard working Marine Infantryman for 18 years now and I am trained to do whatever I need to in order to complete a mission. here’s my situation I bought the Kid Trax Pink Corvette about 8 months ago for the love of my life, my 6 year old daughter. I purchaced the Vette at Toys R Us for about $300.00. I have called in and replaced a battery once already. just three weeks ago it stopped working again. I went to the store to see if I can do a one for one swap or just buy a new battery but they said that they don’t carry it. My response was “Great you sell the product but not the replacement parts”. I called the company and they didn’t find me on record having the first problem and said to fax or E-mail a copy of the receipt. when they told me that I went on line and found out about the recall. as a father I find no pleasure in any jerking me around, as a Marine it doesn’t happen. I am a little bit more than upset with this situation enough to start contacting individuals with the same problem and getting a “FIRETEAM” together to start this Mission.
I agree fully with all you and lets do the math 34 individuals paying $300.00 each comes out to…$10,200.00 in this guys pocket… well that’s not right at all. Since I am just getting on board I would like to know what you guys have done since, who you talked to and where you left off maybe I can join your little “band of brothers & sisters” in gettting this accomplished or at least make a dent in the people that ripped us off. I haven’t much time because I am deploying to Iraq once again. is there anyone I need to contact?
Thank you for your time
Respectfully
GySgt Rivera USMC
Hi I have a yellow corvette as well, I bought one for my son when he was 2 and now he is going to be 6 he had about 5 hours worth of ride time on this thing and the battery just stopped. I didn’t know what was wrong with it and now I find out about this malfunction. Does anyone know if we can actually get our money back. I honestly thought our kids would get more then 5 hours out of these power wheels.
As others, my son has the red fire truck and it too just abruptly stop working. Thought it was the battery so attempted to order one online and cannot locate one. Paid over $350 at Toys R us. They should be ashamed of selling such merchandise and knowing that they were recalled on several occassions (which we were never informed of) and also knowing the problems they have. They should also be held accountable just as much as Kids First!!!! I can see law action in the near future!
I want my money back too! We bought a new battery & that didnt work, they sent us a new replacement wire & that did not work! Can someone tell me if there is a class action lawsuit for this? lmk, thanks