Total Complaints
1 filings
WESTERN STAR 4900 · model year
1 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report, and 2 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2002WESTERN STAR4900 carries 1 consumer safety complaint in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 0 fires, 1 injury, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2002 4900 is tires:sidewall with 1 filings. Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 2 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle, the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
No open NHTSA investigation overlaps the 2002 4900 in the current dataset. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page, a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
1 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| TIRES:SIDEWALL | 1 |
EQUIPMENT
Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2002-2017 Freightliner Cascadia, Century Class, Columbia and Coronado trucks and Western Star 4700, 4900, 5700, 5900 and 6900 trucks. These vehicles are equipped with Kidde Plastic-Handle or Push Button 'Pindicator' Fire Extinguishers tha
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
ON CERTAIN TRUCKS FITTED WITH OPTIONAL IN-CAB BATTERIES, THE DUAL SUCTION/RETURN LINES MAY CONTACT THE CAB POWER HARNESS RESULTING IN CHAFING THROUGH.
I was driving my dump truck on highway 99 in Washington county, North Carolina carrying a load of milling when the front driver side tire blew out causing me to lose control and end up in a deep ditch on the opposite side of the road. Luckily there was know one traveling in that direction. My dump truck was totaled.
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.