This may have been mentioned earlier, elsewhere; I couldn't find it. Briefly, Takata, a Japanese maker of airbags for vehicles, seems to have sold an enormous number to a great variety of automakers, both of foreign make and American. AFAIK, since airbags do not influence engine emissions, their legality falls under other Federal consideration, namely safety. The Feds require the bags be in the cars. But whether they can enforce their use or not, I'm not sure. IOW, since some vehicles have a provision built-in to turn off the passenger side airbag voluntarily, I'm figgering that shutting all bags off would not be a Federal Violation. Anyhow, here's how it has "hit close to home". My hapless nephew, Mike, living in Flagstaff, bought a Nissan Versa car several years ago, from the local Nissan Dealership. He was notified last week of the Takata recall, which requires his vehicle to be brought to the dealer to have the airbags replaced. The bags have been "deploying" for no reason occasionally, worldwide, apparently. How many, I dunno, but one bag has killed a Canadian man. Imagine you are driving an Interstate at 70 mph, and your airbag explodes in your face. Beyond doubt, you are likely going to die, driving blind. So, Mike took the Versa to Nissan, was given a big, new truck to drive as a "loaner", and they took his keys, and impounded his car! Won't give it back to him! How long? They told him the magnitude of the problem was so great, it would likely be 5 MONTHS before he gets his car back! Can they do that? What advice can I possibly give him? Thanks for bearing with me in this! Frank
The issue with the airbags has been going on for years and is not about airbags deploying prematurely, but rather shrapnel in some cases being blown into occupants faces, etc. during accidents. Here is the timeline and updates... https://blog.caranddriver.com/massi...now-including-full-list-of-affected-vehicles/
Per your specific question... It appears to be part of the settlement with Nissan... Source: USA Today
I got a recall on my 2012 Honda Accord. It had one of those airbags. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the airbag. A few days ago, I got a card saying that Takata has reached some kind of settlement with somebody or other. The language was very confusing but I gathered that if I had suffered any damage as a result of the airbag, I could be rich. I haven't suffered any damage so I put the card in file 13.