glassBYTEs.com Obtains 573 Report on DOT 430 Recall

When Safelite Auto Glass learned of the issue with the now-recalled DOT 430 tempered products that were breaking in large shards, the company completed a full 573 report for the Office of Defects Investigation, a division of the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. The report, filed by Scott E. Damon of Baker & Hostetler LLP in Orlando, Fla., on behalf of Safelite, says that when a Safelite technician notified Safelite's quality coordinator of the issue with the parts, the company destroyed all DOT 430 parts identified as having the potential defect.

The report goes on to say, "Because Safelite purchases other DOT 430 parts (45 other distinct products) from its supplier, Auto Temp Inc., it was decided that testing needed to be performed on all other 45 DOT 430 products. Auto Temp Inc. performed the testing. The only parts that appeared to be out of specification were the three DOT 430 back glass products, DB10077 YPY, DB10533 YPY and DB10545 GTY."

Auto Temp spokesperson Josh Hammond has advised it cannot comment on whether it has had a problem with the products "for legal and competitive reasons." (CLICK HERE for related story.) At press time, Hammond, who is with a public relations firm, Northlich, was not available for comment.

According to Safelite's report, submitted to NHTSA, Wholesale is located at 85 Fifth Avenue, Suite 30, in Paterson, N.J. The office in Suite 30, which was locked during glassBYTEs.com's visit, appears here.

The 573 report also says, with regard to the product's origin (prior to purchase by Auto Temp from Wholesale Automotive), that "Wholesale Glass Automotive is believed to import the tempered automotive glass from Hangzhou Safety Glass Co. Ltd., DOT code 430."

The contact at Wholesale, located in Paterson, N.J., is noted to be Mr. Andrew An. Continued attempts by glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine to reach Wholesale have been unsuccessful, and a visit to the company's facility in Paterson were unsuccessful as well.

According to the document, Safelite estimates it originally purchased 2,737 suspect DOT 430 parts from Auto Temp, and that 1,080 of these were "destroyed or quarantined," with the remaining 1,657 representing the recall population.

NHTSA spokesperson Eric Bolton told glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine it cannot comment on issues of this sort and that the only information available is that which is available for public viewing, including these documents.

CLICK HERE for full 573 NHTSA report on recall filed on behalf of Safelite on November 13.

CLICK HERE for NHTSA's acknowledgement of Safelite's voluntary recall.

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