Approximately 138,000 Toyota vehicles from the late 1990s and early 2000s—including RAV4 SUVs and Celica and Supra coupes—have been recalled for dangerous Takata airbags that can cause serious or fatal injuries to vehicle occupants.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these airbags may have improperly sealed inflators. As a result, they may allow too much moisture in, which could cause the airbags to deploy without enough force to protect occupants in a crash, or the airbags could rupture and spray sharp metal fragments directly at the people sitting in front of them. Both conditions could cause serious injuries or death.
The Takata airbags in this recall are of a different design from those included in a previous recall of Takata airbags made between 2002 and 2015. Unlike those airbags, the ones in these Toyotas have what are called non-azide driver frontal airbag inflators (NADI). They were produced between May 1, 1995, and Aug. 31, 1999, and were also used in vehicles from Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi.
If you plug your car’s 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) into NHTSA’s website and a recall doesn’t appear, it means your vehicle doesn’t currently have any open recalls. Because automakers issue recalls often, and for many older vehicles, we recommend checking back regularly to see whether your vehicle has had a recall issued.
