general problems of the 1999 Nissan Sentra

I had just entered a 3-lane highway and was driving 25-30 mph in the rain at night, when the engine suddenly just stopped! I had no lights, no brakes, no horn, no steering. By some small miracle, the emergency brake stopped the car,and I had a cell phone. The police got there before anyone hit me. Sheehy Nissan service dept. Said that this is a common occurance with Sentras, and several years were recalled for defective components for the same kind of problems, but 1999 was not included. Therefore, the repairs as estimated would cost me roughly one grand. Forgot to mention that my son and baby girl were with me when the car failed on the highway. Aren't the dealers required to report this sort of thing to the manufacturer?.

While driving at 35-40 mph driver lost control of vehicle, hit a stone wall and then rolled over on its top,dual airbags did not deploy, causing head injuries. There was no indictation of airbags being defective.