Problems with 2006 Land Rover Range Rover STRUCTURE

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 land rover range rover. the contact noticed a crack on the dashboard that extended to the air bag compartment. the contact was concerned that the air bag could deploy spontaneously. the dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 120,500.

The passenger side airbag on the dashboard is starting to prematurely split on top of the dashboard surface around the entire outline of the airbag. the crack has progressed in a precious outline of the cutout of the airbag. after contacting land rover of america on multiple occasions, they considers this as a "wear and tear" and they state this will not effect the safety of the vehicle. note: this is a common problem that owners of the 2006-2009 models have been experiencing (per multi land rover website forums) that land rover has now redesigned the dashboard on the newer models to have the cutout of the airbag already designed into the dashboard so this type of defect will not occur. i'm very concerned with this type of design defect especially if the airbag is needed during a collision whether it will function properly and the fact that land rover of america is instructing its customer service representatives to advise consumers that this is a "wear and tear" issue. i would appreciate for the dot nhtsa to review my concerns and conduct an investigation with land rover regarding this matter on my 2006 range rover sport. thank you *tr

Passenger side dashboard has cracking around the airbag system. i took it to three independent upholstery shops and they all decline to perform any repair due to safety/liability concerns. they say it is fairly common for my year/make/model vehicle. i'm fearful that this presents some issues with airbag deployment, or may simply be a design flaw by landrover. *tr