The backup camera can go blank on more than 848,000 Jeep, Ram and Dodge vehicles

Stellantis is recalling more than 848,000 vehicles in the United States — Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram models built for the 2026 and 2027 model years — because radio software can prevent the rearview camera image from appearing on the dashboard screen when the vehicle shifts into reverse. Worldwide, the recall covers about 955,000 vehicles, with roughly 107,000 more spread across Canada, Mexico and other markets outside North America. The company announced the recall on August 17, 2026, and says it has not received any reports of accidents or injuries connected to the defect.

A blank rearview screen is not a comfort feature failing quietly in the background. Every new vehicle sold in the United States has been required to include a rear-visibility system since 2018, which means a software bug that disables one is knocking out equipment federal regulators mandated specifically to prevent a documented category of injuries and deaths.

A Software Bug, Not a Hardware Failure

Stellantis traces the defect to radio software rather than a faulty camera or wiring harness, which is part of why the company can fix it with an over-the-air update instead of a dealership part swap. When the bug triggers, the camera feed simply does not reach the dashboard display the moment the driver shifts into reverse, leaving the screen blank exactly when a driver would normally glance at it to check for a child, a pet or an obstacle behind the vehicle.

The automaker has not detailed how often the failure occurs across the affected build window, or whether certain trims and radio hardware combinations are more prone to it than others. What the recall filing does specify is the fix: owners will get a prompt directly on the vehicle’s media screen once the software update is ready to install, with no dealer visit required to complete it.

An over-the-air fix sets this recall apart from the more familiar kind, where owners have to schedule a service appointment and wait for a part to arrive before a defect is resolved. Because the underlying problem lives in code rather than in a physical component, Stellantis can push a correction to hundreds of thousands of vehicles simultaneously once the update is finalized, provided each vehicle’s radio hardware has the connectivity needed to receive it.

Eleven Nameplates Span Three Model Years

Stellantis’s recall notice lists a wide spread of 2026 and 2027 model year vehicles: the Chrysler Pacifica, Pacifica Plug-in Hybrid and Voyager; the Dodge Charger; the Jeep Cherokee, Compass, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Grand Wagoneer and Wrangler; and the Ram 1500, 2500 and ProMaster. That list spans minivans, midsize and full-size SUVs, a pickup truck and a commercial van, which points to a shared radio or infotainment software platform rather than a defect isolated to one vehicle segment or assembly plant.

Because the affected models share underlying software rather than a single production run, the recall’s scope was set by which build dates ran the flawed code, not by which nameplate a vehicle carries. A Ram 1500 built one week could be clear of the defect while one built the next week is not, which is why Stellantis is notifying owners individually rather than by broad model-year alone.

Mirrors Become the Backup Plan for the Backup Camera

“If the rearview camera image does not appear, drivers should remain aware of their surroundings and use their rearview and side mirrors when reversing,” Stellantis said in guidance to owners. That instruction effectively asks drivers to fall back on the exact visibility method the 2018 federal rear-visibility mandate was designed to supplement, since regulators adopted the requirement specifically because mirror-only visibility was leaving blind spots directly behind vehicles that cameras cover far more reliably.

The federal rule behind that mandate did not emerge from an abstract safety preference. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted it after finding that back-over crashes involving light vehicles caused an average of 210 deaths and 15,000 injuries a year in the United States, with children under age 5 accounting for 31% of those fatalities. A camera failure does not disable a vehicle the way a brake defect would, but it does strip away the specific safeguard regulators built in response to that casualty pattern.

Small children are the population that rule was written to protect most directly, since a toddler or preschooler standing behind a pickup or SUV can sit entirely inside the blind zone that side and rearview mirrors alone cannot cover, regardless of how carefully a driver checks them before reversing. That is the specific gap a rearview camera is designed to close, and the specific gap that reopens for the length of time an affected vehicle goes without the software fix.

Notices Arrive by Mail Starting in September

Stellantis says recall notices will be mailed to affected owners beginning in September, carrying instructions for confirming eligibility and completing the software update once it becomes available. Owners with questions in the meantime can reach Stellantis customer care directly or check recall status through the company’s Mopar recall lookup tool using a vehicle’s identification number. Separate reporting on the campaign, including its full scope across Stellantis brands, puts the worldwide total in the same range Stellantis itself has disclosed.

The company has not said how long the software rollout will take to reach all 848,000 U.S. vehicles, or whether the fix will arrive in stages by region or nameplate. Until an individual vehicle receives the update, its rearview camera remains only as reliable as the software build installed the day it left the factory.

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This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.