NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Audit Query AQ18-003: Recall Administration Concerns
- Closed
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened Audit Query AQ18-003 on July 19, 2018 and closed it on December 6, 2021. NHTSA's investigations file lists 6 Diono models for it.
Updated daily from NHTSA's investigations file
Key facts
- NHTSA number
- AQ18-003 (also written AQ18003)
- Investigation type
- Audit Query An administrative investigation into compliance with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting Early Warning data on time or carrying out a recall.
- Status
- Closed December 6, 2021
- Opened
- Closed
- Vehicle or equipment manufacturer
- Diono
- Component
- Child Seat
- Vehicles and equipment
- 6 Diono models, including the Olympia and Pacifica
A recall appears here only when NHTSA's investigations file links one to the investigation; NHTSA's summary or record can name others.
NHTSA's summary
As NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation wrote it for Audit Query AQ18-003.
On September 14, 2017, Diono LLC (Diono) submitted a Part 573 Recall Report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing various noncompliances with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213 in 519,052 child restraints manufactured by Diono (NHTSA Recall No. 17C-003). On July 19, 2018, NHTSA opened Audit Query (AQ) 18-003 to better understand and evaluate Diono's compliance with its Safety Act obligations. On July 20, 2018, NHTSA sent an Information Request (IR) letter to Diono requesting information as part of its AQ18-003 investigation.
NHTSA's inquiry led it to determine that Diono had violated several provisions of the Safety Act, and regulations thereunder. Diono did not dispute that certain violations did occur. Rather, Diono asserted that the principal violations were committed by past employees and prior ownership. Diono represented that a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) formally joined Diono in November 2017, and that since that time, the organization has been overhauled and new policies and processes have been put in place. NHTSA and Diono entered into a Consent Order on January 19, 2021, to resolve AQ18-003. As part of the Consent Order, Diono agreed to pay a civil penalty of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) and agreed that an additional civil penalty of three hundred eighty thousand dollars ($380,000) (Abeyance Amount) would be deferred and held in abeyance pending Diono's satisfactory completion of the requirements of this Consent Order. Failure to comply with the Safety Act or terms of the Consent Order may result in the Abeyance Amount or portions thereof coming due.
In the Consent Order, Diono also agreed to several performance obligations. Diono is required to have a consultant advise and assist Diono to develop a training plan and to train Diono employees on topics such as the Safety Act and regulations. The consultant is also required to conduct an audit of Diono's compliance with the Safety Act and regulations thereunder. Diono is required to submit to NHTSA a written report from its consultant detailing the factual findings and recommendations of the audit.
Diono is also required to provide a detailed statement to NHTSA regarding any new or revised procedures that address the result of the audit and the recommendations of the consultant. Diono has agreed to repurchase or replace seats recalled under NHTSA Recall No. 17C-003, for those owners who need to use the seat in a harness mode for children over sixty-five (65) pounds with a lap belt only and who do not have a tether anchorage available, under certain terms and conditions. Diono also agreed to provide supplemental reports to NHTSA relating to its early warning reporting, by providing a statement to NHTSA's Trends Analysis Division (TAD) if it does not have any information to report for that quarter. The Consent Order also requires Diono and its consultant to have quarterly meetings to discuss the actions Diono has taken to satisfy the terms of the Consent Order.
Based on the Consent Order, this audit query investigation, AQ18-003, is closed. Closure of this AQ has no bearing on the terms of the Consent Order, including Diono's ongoing performance obligations or legal obligations, and does not represent a determination by NHTSA as to Diono's performance under the Consent Order to date.
Vehicles and equipment listed for this investigation
NHTSA's investigations file lists these vehicles and equipment for Audit Query AQ18-003. A listed model year means only that an investigation names it; it says nothing about any particular vehicle. Model years with a try.vin recall page link to that page's NHTSA investigations section.
Diono
Diono Olympia
- model year not given
Diono Pacifica
- model year not given
Diono Radian R100
- model year not given
Diono Radian R120
- model year not given
Diono Radian RXT
- model year not given
Diono Rainier
- model year not given
What an NHTSA investigation is
NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) looks into possible safety defects in vehicles and equipment, often after owner complaints. An investigation usually starts as a Preliminary Evaluation, or as a Recall Query when it concerns whether an existing recall covers the right vehicles or fixes the problem, and ODI can upgrade it to a more detailed Engineering Analysis. A Defect Petition asks NHTSA to open an investigation, and Audit and Equipment Queries are administrative investigations into whether companies complied with federal vehicle safety requirements, such as reporting, recall and certification rules.
An open investigation is not a finding that a safety defect exists, and NHTSA can close one without a recall.
To see whether a specific vehicle has an open recall, enter its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Free VIN check: decode a VIN to see its year, make and model.
Sources
NHTSA's investigation record for AQ18-003
Investigation details come from NHTSA's investigations file, which try.vin imports once a day. The investigation types are described from the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General's May 2023 report on NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA's petition rules (49 CFR Parts 552 and 557) and NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation procedures. How try.vin reads NHTSA investigations.