Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale 2026: seat belt recall, affected VINs and the fix

© RusPhotoBank

48,777 vehicles in total, but the suspected defect affects only 1.6% of them. NHTSA opened campaign 26V510 for 40,386 Dodge Hornet (MY 2023–2025) and 8,391 Alfa Romeo Tonale (MY 2023–2026) vehicles. The cause isn’t in the electronics or the powertrain: a rear side seat belt can twist, after which the mechanism stops retracting the webbing freely or holding the correct tension.

For a passenger, that’s already a passive-safety issue. If the belt doesn’t sit flat and doesn’t restrain the occupant as designed, the risk of injury increases in certain types of crashes. And there’s no separate warning as the fault develops.

The case didn’t start from a single complaint. As of July 30, FCA US was aware of 484 warranty claims potentially linked to the issue. The company hasn’t identified any crashes or injuries tied to it. Stellantis Europe engineers acknowledged as early as July 1 that under certain conditions the defect can stem from a design weak point, and on July 30 the regulatory committee classified it as a safety defect.

NHTSA isn’t requiring owners to stop driving every Hornet and Tonale: on page 3 of the report, the Do Not Drive and Park Outside fields aren’t checked. But if a specific rear belt remains twisted, doesn’t retract or doesn’t hold tension, it can’t be relied on as a functioning restraint. Dealers will replace the rear side belt retractors free of charge.

There’s a less obvious follow-up to this campaign. NHTSA separately registered recall 26E053 for 1,458 Mopar belt assemblies sold as replacement parts, covering eight part numbers; the same twisting scenario applies to these components. If a part is already installed, it must be inspected and replaced if necessary, while an uninstalled defective kit may be bought back.

For the Hornet, the recall arrives essentially at the end of the model’s life cycle. SPEEDME reported in July that Dodge Hornet production had already wound down, with fewer than 90 new units left in official US inventory. That makes VIN checks especially relevant when buying a remaining dealer unit, not just for current owners.

The situation is different for the Tonale: the model remains in the lineup, and SPEEDME has already covered the crossover’s upcoming successor, expected in 2027. That makes this recall practically significant for the used market too — a new retractor should be confirmed by the completed campaign, not just by a belt that looks fine.

FCA plans to begin mailing official notices to owners on September 24, 2026.