Reminder of the alert from the Traffic Safety Agency posted on October 10: Traffic safety agency urges vehicle owners and repair professionals to use only certified, original equipment replacement parts

The U.S. Department of Transportation?s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a consumer safety advisory to alert vehicle owners and repair professionals to the dangers of counterfeit air bags. NHTSA has become aware of a problem involving the sale of counterfeit air bags for use as replacement parts in vehicles that have been involved in a crash. While these air bags look nearly identical to certified, original equipment parts?including bearing the insignia and branding of major automakers ?NHTSA testing 1 showed consistent malfunctioning ranging from non-deployment of the air bag to the expulsion of metal shrapnel during deployment.

As of today, NHTSA is aware of counterfeit air bags available for the following vehicle makes and models: see http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/Safety+Advisory:+NHTSA+Alerting+Consumers+to+Dangers+of+Counterfeit+Air+Bags