I had a seat belt buckle go bad in my Chevy
P/U, found one from the same year in a wrecking
yard, got it and brought it home, cleaned the
spilled soda and crap off of it, and went to install
it, and the damn thing is different, bigger clip, don't
fit at all

Same year and all !!
Moral of the story is, different parts used in different
vehicles, or perhaps in different assembly plants thru
the country, as well as other factors like new suppliers
or problems with parts that get replaced with better
ones mid year in production.
My 89' Kick is a Japan built, no recall as far as I know,
but the seat belts still work fine, never had trouble.
Wild