The thing about car air bags is it’s quite necessary that they deploy at the right time. Which is why the Japanese maker of safety gear is at the center of a recall of more than three million vehicles, scattered across the Honda, Toyota and Nissan brands. Those companies all have cars that could have defective airbag inflators, causing airbags to possibly deploy abnormally in a crash.

The wonky products were made between 2000 and 2002, said a spokesman for Takata, the safety gear company at the crux of the recall, notes Bloomberg.

According to a press release from Toyota, 170,000 front passenger airbag inflators across several models are involved in the safety recall. Those include certain Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Sequoia, and Tundra, and Lexus SC 430 models manufactured from 2001 to 2003. The company says as many as 510,000 vehicles might have to be inspected to identify problem inflators.

Anyone who owns a Toyota affected by the recall will receive a letter in the mail with further instructions. More information is available at  www.toyota.com/recall, by calling the Toyota Customer Experience at 1-800-331-4331, www.lexus.com/recall and Lexus Customer Satisfaction 1-800-255-3987.

Honda is recalling 1.1 million vehicles, with about 680,000 of those in the United States. Here, the recall covers 2001-2003 Civics; 2002-2003 CR-Vs; 2002 Odyssey. Mailed notification to customers will begin in late-May, 2013. Customers can inquire about recalls by going to www.recalls.honda.com or by calling (800) 999-1009, and selecting option 4.

Nissan has 480,000 vehicles globally in the recall, including the 2000-2004 Maxima, Infiniti FX, Infiniti QX4, Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Sentra, according to reports. We weren’t able to locate a press release on Nissan’s site but customers will likely receive a letter from the company as well, or call your local Nissan dealer.

Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain Vehicles for the Front Passenger Airbag [Toyota]
Toyota Joins Honda, Nissan in Car Recall on Airbag Fault [Bloomberg]
Statement by American Honda Regarding Passenger Front Airbag Inflator Recall: 2001-2003 Honda Civic; 2002-2003 Honda CR-V; 2002 Honda Odyssey [Honda]

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