Stellantis Recalls 848,511 Chryslers, Jeeps and Rams Over Rearview Camera Failures

Stellantis is recalling 848,511 Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles in the United States after finding that a radio software error can knock out the rearview camera exactly when drivers need it most: while backing up.

The recall, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under campaign number 26V531, covers a wide swath of the automaker’s current lineup. Owners will not need to visit a dealership. Stellantis plans to push a free over-the-air software update to fix the glitch, the same way a phone receives an app update overnight.

What Went Wrong

NHTSA’s recall filing describes a software fault in the vehicle’s radio module that can interrupt the signal carrying the rearview camera feed to the dashboard screen. When the bug triggers, the camera image simply does not appear after the driver shifts into reverse, leaving them without the wide-angle view federal regulation has required on new vehicles starting in 2018.

That federal requirement came from a 2014 NHTSA rule mandating rearview visibility technology on every new passenger vehicle sold in the US, phased in through the 2018 model year. Regulators pushed the rule through after years of data showing backover crashes disproportionately killed young children and older adults, groups more likely to be missed in a driver’s mirrors and blind spots. Losing that camera image, even temporarily, puts drivers back in the exact situation the rule was written to prevent.

Backup cameras exist to close a real blind spot. Rear blind zones on modern SUVs and pickups can stretch 15 to 20 feet behind the bumper, long enough to hide a small child, a shopping cart or a low fence post from a driver relying on mirrors alone. NHTSA has credited the mandatory camera rule with helping reduce backover fatalities, and a fleet-wide failure of that system carries real safety consequences even without a documented crash on record yet.

Stellantis told regulators it is not aware of any crashes or injuries tied to the defect. The company caught the pattern through its own monitoring of dealer technical reports and warranty claims rather than a spike in customer complaints, according to the filing.

Which Models Are Affected

The recall spans nine nameplates across four brands, concentrated in 2026 and 2027 model year vehicles built with the newer radio software:

Chrysler Pacifica, Pacifica Plug-in Hybrid and Voyager minivans. Dodge Charger. Jeep Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Grand Wagoneer and Wrangler. Ram 1500, Ram 2500 and Ram ProMaster.

That list covers some of the best-selling vehicles in America. The Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 alone account for hundreds of thousands of sales a year, which explains how a single software bug in one radio module ballooned into an 848,511-vehicle recall even though it only touches two model years.

Owners can confirm whether their specific vehicle is included by entering their 17-character vehicle identification number at nhtsa.gov/recalls, or by calling Stellantis customer care. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram owners can reach the automaker at 1-800-853-1403 and reference recall number 78D, the internal code Stellantis assigned the campaign.

A Pattern of Camera Recalls

This is not Stellantis’s first rearview camera stumble this year. The automaker filed two smaller backup-camera recalls earlier in 2026 covering a combined 75 vehicles, both tied to unrelated hardware issues, before this far larger software-based campaign surfaced. NHTSA records also show Stellantis absorbed a separate 2024 recall of up to 1,033,433 vehicles for a related rearview display failure, meaning some owners have now received more than one camera-related notice in recent years on vehicles from the same corporate family.

Camera and screen defects have become a recurring theme across the industry in 2026. Toyota mailed notification letters this month for more than 500,000 Camry Hybrids after an instrument cluster fault could disable hazard lights and seat belt warnings, while Honda separately recalled over 325,000 Odyssey minivans for backup cameras that went dark in reverse. Vehicles have grown more reliant on software to run basic safety features that used to work through simple electrical circuits, and that shift has made a single coding error capable of touching hundreds of thousands of vehicles at once.

What Affected Owners Should Do

The fix arrives wirelessly, so most owners will not need to schedule a service appointment at all. Stellantis will notify registered owners by mail once the update is ready to deploy, and vehicles with active cellular connections should receive the patch automatically in the background. Owners who do not see the update appear, or whose vehicle lacks a strong cellular signal at home, can visit a dealer to have the software applied manually at no charge.

Until the patch installs, drivers of an affected vehicle should treat the backup camera as unreliable and fall back on mirrors, a full head turn over the shoulder, and slow, deliberate reversing, especially in driveways, parking lots and anywhere children might be present. The defect does not disable the camera constantly; it can appear intermittently, which makes it easy to assume the system is working normally right up until the one time it fails.

Owners who bought their vehicle used should also check that the previous owner’s contact information was updated with the DMV and manufacturer, as recall notices go out based on registration records rather than the current driver. A quick VIN lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls takes under a minute and works regardless of who the car is currently registered to, so there is no reason to wait for a letter that might go to the wrong address.

How Big This Recall Really Is

To put 848,511 vehicles in context, that is roughly equivalent to every registered vehicle in a mid-sized American state changing hands overnight. It is also a reminder of how concentrated modern vehicle platforms have become. A handful of shared radio and infotainment modules now run across brands that once had entirely separate electrical architectures, so a defect discovered in one Jeep model can just as easily surface in a Ram truck or Chrysler minivan built on the same underlying hardware.

US vehicle recalls hit a five-year high earlier in 2026, with more than 23 million vehicles pulled into campaigns industry-wide in the first half of the year alone. Software-triggered recalls like this one are becoming a larger share of that total as automakers pack more computing power into infotainment systems, driver assistance features and camera displays. Unlike a mechanical recall that requires a physical part replacement, software recalls can often be resolved faster and without a dealer visit, but they also mean a single bug buried in one radio module can touch nearly a million vehicles overnight.

The Trend Behind the Trend

Automakers have leaned harder into over-the-air updates for one clear reason: the technology lets a company fix a defect across an entire fleet without the logistical strain of scheduling a million individual dealer appointments. That convenience cuts both ways for consumers. It means fixes arrive faster and with less disruption, but it also means a single line of flawed code can now reach far more vehicles than a bad physical part ever could. A hardware defect is naturally limited by how many units a supplier actually shipped before the problem was caught; a software defect can sit dormant in every vehicle running that code until an engineer happens to find it.

Comparing This Recall to Other 2026 Camera Failures

Set alongside the year’s other camera-related campaigns, the Stellantis recall stands out mainly for its scale rather than the nature of the defect. Toyota’s Camry Hybrid instrument cluster issue and Honda’s Odyssey backup camera failure both trace back to hardware or display faults specific to a single component. The Stellantis fault instead lives in shared radio software distributed across nine different nameplates, which is why one bug reached brands as different as a Ram work truck and a Chrysler family minivan. That structural difference is also why the fix can roll out remotely rather than requiring a physical part swap at a dealership.

For consumers, the practical takeaway is the same regardless of which type of defect caused a given recall: treat every notice seriously, confirm a vehicle’s status directly with NHTSA rather than relying on secondhand information, and follow the manufacturer’s specific remedy instructions rather than assuming a general software update or dealer visit will automatically apply.

Sources:

• CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stellantis-vehicle-recall-rearview-camera/
• Detroit News: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/chrysler/2026/08/17/here-are-the-models-covered-by-recall-of-955000-stellantis-vehicles/91336344007/
• Fox Business: https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/nearly-1m-chrysler-jeep-dodge-ram-vehicles-recalled-over-camera-glitch
• autoevolution: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/multiple-stellantis-north-america-brands-hit-with-844027-vehicle-recall-274956.html