Federal regulators and Stellantis are telling owners of roughly 225,000 older Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles to stop driving immediately. The reason: unrepaired Takata airbag inflators that can rupture during a crash, firing metal shrapnel into the cabin instead of cushioning the impact. At least 27 people have died in the United States from defective Takata inflators, and hundreds more have been seriously injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Every one of these vehicles was recalled years ago. The owners just never got the fix.
What triggered the “do not drive” alert
In a joint consumer alert issued in early 2026, NHTSA and FCA US (the Stellantis subsidiary that sold these vehicles) escalated their language from a standard recall notice to a formal “Do Not Drive” warning. That designation is rare. It means the agency believes that simply starting the engine and pulling onto a road puts occupants at immediate risk of death or serious injury.
The inflators in question use a chemical propellant, ammonium nitrate, that can degrade over time, particularly in hot and humid climates. When a degraded inflator fires during a collision, the metal housing can fracture and send fragments through the airbag and into the driver or passenger. NHTSA says the risk increases with every year the inflator goes unrepaired, which is why vehicles from the early 2000s are now considered the most dangerous.
Which vehicles are affected
The stop-driving order covers select 2003 through 2016 model-year vehicles sold under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram nameplates. According to NHTSA and Stellantis communications, affected models include but are not limited to:
- Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 (various model years)
- Dodge Charger and Challenger
- Chrysler 300
- Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee
- Dodge Durango
The only way to confirm whether a specific vehicle is included is to check its 17-digit Vehicle Identification Number against NHTSA’s database (more on that below). Not every car from these model lines is affected; the alert targets only those with specific Takata inflator part numbers that remain unrepaired.
The problem is not evenly distributed. In the Houston area alone, FCA US estimated that roughly 19,000 of the 225,000 affected vehicles are still on the road, a concentration that reflects the region’s heat, humidity and large vehicle population. Similar clusters exist across the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Southwest, where the climate accelerates the chemical breakdown inside the inflators.
Why so many cars are still unrepaired
The Takata airbag crisis is the largest automotive recall in U.S. history. Across all automakers, approximately 67 million Takata inflators have been recalled domestically, with more than 100 million worldwide. Within the Stellantis family alone, more than 6.6 million inflators have been subject to recall, according to company and regulatory disclosures.
Yet completion rates on older vehicles remain stubbornly low. Many of these cars and trucks have changed hands multiple times since the original recall notices went out. Second- and third-hand owners often have outdated registration addresses, making them nearly impossible to reach by mail. Others received the notices and simply never scheduled the work, either because they did not understand the severity or because getting to a dealer felt inconvenient. That gap between recall and repair is exactly what prompted the escalation to a “Do Not Drive” warning.
How to check your vehicle in minutes
The fastest way to find out if your car is affected is NHTSA’s free VIN lookup tool. Enter the 17-character Vehicle Identification Number (found on the driver-side dashboard near the windshield or on your registration card) and the site will display every open recall tied to that vehicle, including whether a Takata airbag campaign is outstanding.
If you do not have the VIN handy, the NHTSA site also allows searches by make, model and year, though the VIN search is more precise. Stellantis has also set up outreach campaigns that include direct mail, email, phone calls and, in some high-concentration areas, door-to-door canvassing to reach owners who have not responded to previous notices.
What to do if your car is on the list
If the lookup confirms an open Takata recall, do not drive the vehicle. Contact your nearest authorized Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram dealer to schedule the airbag replacement. Stellantis has confirmed that the repair will be performed free of charge, and replacement parts are currently available.
Because the whole point of the warning is to keep these vehicles off the road, many dealers will arrange towing or mobile repair service so owners do not have to drive a high-risk car to the shop. That practice has been part of earlier Takata campaigns and is encouraged in the latest joint guidance from NHTSA and FCA US. If a dealer near you cannot accommodate the repair quickly, ask about loaner vehicles or rental reimbursement; Stellantis has offered these options in prior rounds of the recall.
The bottom line
This is not a recall that can wait for a convenient weekend. The vehicles covered by this alert carry airbag inflators that federal regulators consider an immediate threat to life. The repair is free, parts are in stock, and checking takes less than a minute online. If you own or know someone who owns an older Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram, run the VIN now. A two-minute search could be the difference between a routine repair and a fatal malfunction.
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