Tesla Recalled 239,000 Vehicles for a Dead Rear Camera. This Week, Ram Recalled 239,131. The Camera Was Never the Problem.

I ran the numbers, then I ran them again, and they didn't get better.

On September 1, Chrysler filed federal recall 26V560: 239,131 Ram 1500 pickups whose rearview camera can show a blue screen instead of what's behind the truck.^[1] Twenty months earlier, Tesla filed 25V002: about 239,000 vehicles whose rearview camera could go dark from a shorted computer board.^[2] Same population size. Same defect category, different decade of the same problem.

That second number is the story, which is why I pulled every BACK OVER PREVENTION recall filed since October 2024 across 28 high-volume models through NHTSA's own recalls API, then read the Part 573 chronologies for the big ones. The failure modes: radio software, infotainment software, APIM software, a video processing module, a panoramic monitor that freezes, a car computer that shorts, and not one failed camera. FMVSS 111, the rear-visibility standard, is being violated by the screen, never the sensor. Your backup camera works fine; the television it reports to is haunted.

Here is the census:

Nissan 24V748 (Oct 2024): Rogue and QX80, infotainment software blank screen, fixed OTA.^[3] Ford 24V801 (Oct 2024): Explorer and Aviator, camera dies above 10 mph, fixed OTA.^[3] Tesla 25V002 (Jan 2025): ~239,000 cars, circuit board short, fixed OTA plus computer replacements.^[2] Toyota 25V744 (Oct 2025): ~1,005,000 Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru vehicles, panoramic monitor freeze, dealer software update.^[4] Ford 26V165 (Mar 2026): 47,587 F-Series trucks, infotainment home screen covering the camera image, dealer or OTA.^[5] Chrysler 26V327 (May 2026): dozens of Wranglers, Rams, and Pacificas, video module software, dealer fix.^[6] Chrysler 26V531 (Aug 2026): 844,027 vehicles across 16 nameplates, radio software, dealer or OTA.^[7] Chrysler 26V560 (Sep 2026): 239,131 Ram 1500s, radio software blue screen, OTA or dealer.^[1]

Four of the eight are Chrysler. Same company, same radio-software failure mode, three filings in four months. I keep a spreadsheet, and it keeps getting longer.

The chronologies tell a second story, about speed. Tesla spotted a spike in computer replacements in November 2024 and filed 25V002 on January 7, 2025: about two months, with 887 warranty claims and zero crashes.^[2] Ford's engineers flagged the F-Series camera reset in March 2025, decided that April it posed "no unreasonable risk," got challenged by NHTSA at a June safety meeting, and filed 26V165 in March 2026: twelve months.^[8] Chrysler opened its 26V327 investigation in February 2025 and filed in May 2026: fifteen months.^[6] Toyota found its monitor defect in bench testing in 2024 and filed 25V744 in October 2025: roughly a year.^[4] Two months versus fifteen. Same regulation. Your odds of driving a blind truck for a year depend entirely on which logo is on the grille.

One more finding, and it is my favorite kind: the data is wrong about itself. NHTSA's recalls API has an overTheAirUpdate flag, and it says False for the Tesla, Ford F-Series, and both big Chrysler recalls. The official remedy text for all four explicitly offers over-the-air updates.^[3] Anyone screening recalls by that flag, researcher or regulator, gets the wrong answer four times out of eight. I checked twice, and it stayed wrong.

What to do: if you own a 2025-2026 Ram 1500, check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; Chrysler's owner letters go out September 24 and the fix is a free radio software update, OTA or at the dealer. More broadly: until your camera recall is remedied, back up like it is 1997. Mirrors, shoulder check, spotter if you have one. The screen is a convenience that became a compliance device and then a liar. And if your automaker offers OTA updates, take them; Tesla's two-month turnaround is what the other seven are being graded against, and most of them are failing.

What this does not prove is as important as what it does. My census queried 28 high-volume models, not the entire fleet, so smaller-volume camera recalls outside the sample are missing. The Part 573 reports for 26V531 and 26V560 were not yet posted when I pulled this together, so Chrysler's internal timelines for those two come from press and API data, not the filed chronology. Lag times are measured from investigation-open to filing; the first field report always predates the investigation, so every lag here is a lower bound.

The counterargument, at full strength: eight recalls in 23 months is the system working. Every defect was caught, every fix is free, and nobody died waiting — Tesla's filing lists zero crashes across 887 warranty claims. Fair. But Ford sat on its camera defect for a year after an internal "no unreasonable risk" finding until NHTSA pushed back, and one company accounts for half the campaigns with the same radio-software failure. The system catches the fires, but it does not stop anyone from striking the same match.